(1) “Wireless Revolution and Universal Access” from Trends in Telecommunications Reform 2003 by Michael L. Best, MIT (Sept 2003) cyber.law.harvard.edu/digitaldemocracy/best-wirelessrevolution-sept03.pdf

Connecting millions of users, easy. Connecting the world? hmm… Consider the small countries whose citizens have never seen a lolcat. Consider the backwater republicans who refuse to acknowledge the Internet’s existence. Consider the Internet’s lack of a business model. You’d think that all the providers simply acknowledge the fact that maybe the Internet, like early telegraphy is for the rich and urban. People who like technology will go where it is. Maybe I refuse to accept that the access divide has anything to do with the societal hierarchy of power and money. Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t. Whose responsibility is it for a consumer to have internets? Should the world take its constituents in at the last minute?

You’re out in the rain… it’s cold. You have forgotten your umbrella. Perhaps you don’t have one. Perhaps you’ve never heard of rain before. Hey. The rain doesn’t bother you. For thousands of years, humanity has gone on fine without umbrellas. Suddenly, every Jack, Ling Ling and Hamid needs an umbrella? How many cultures actually value the Internet? How many can afford it?

This article, mostly jargon, (and to me jumble) addresses several technical aspects of the internet. The relationship between cyberspace as a public space and accessibility standards has become a matter of USD and UAP (“universal access provider”). Some of these countries that we are trying to connect to the internet don’t have clean drinking water. This statement is perhaps unfounded, however, the sentiment applies as thus: what are our priorities for humanity? High communication, low nutrition? Great emails, bad food? I think that while the bureaucrats argue about what licensing is appropriate for rural India, some other department should get them some shoes.

Questions:
(1) Consider the “break-even” model of the article in box 7.6. What is the price of communication and information to you, an urban, middle-class United States citizen and how does that compare to your income? (Is that more or less than 1.5 percent of your income?)

(2)Consider Thoreau’s take on communication technology. What does Maine have to say to Bhutan?

(3)How can information and communication technology be considered as a basic need (like food, clothing and shelter) in the context of globalization?

(As a side note:4) Does your credibility go up or down if your name is Mr. Best?