Broadband Marxism

In this April 2004 article, the authors suggest that "in developing countries, telecommunications lead to more jobs, improved health care, and higher levels of education. The renationalization of telecommunications backbones is analogous to the state-funded building of roads. Roads and highways increase a nation's wealth by enabling commerce. In poor nations, the same can be true of the information superhighway, if politicians choose technology over ideology."

The authors, Sprigman and Lurie, admit that installing land lines is too expensive for developing countries and so they suggest two new technologies as possible telecommunication solutions: wireless-fidelity networks (Wi-Fi) and 'voice calling over the Internet (VoIP). "Wi-Fi uses small, low-power antennas to carry voice and data communications between a backbone and users at schools, businesses, and households, all without laying a single wire, greatly reducing the cost of traversing the last mile."

Excerpt from the article

"Politicians and economists in developing countries searching for new technologies to create jobs and spur economic growth need look no further than their desks. The most vital technology for sparking development is a familiar and unglamorous one: the telephone. In many poor nations, telephone service is available only in large cities-at a price few can afford- and the more widely available mobile phone service remains expensive. As a result, at least 1.5 million villages in poor nations lack basic telephone service.

...Laying land lines can cost up to $300 per foot. Wi-Fi hardware is fitted to existing structures for about $10,000 per base station-a reasonable sum, considering that one Wi-Fi station can provide access to thousands of residences within two miles and that the antennas that attach to customers' homes cost less than $100.

VoIP technology sends telephone calls over the Internet inexpensively by transforming people's voices into data "packets." Conventional phone service requires an open line at either end of a call-an expensive service, not least because every conversation pause wastes bandwidth. By chopping words and pauses into tiny packages that are routed through the least congested part of the Internet, computers make VoIP calls much cheaper. In the United States today, a phone call using VoIP service costs less than half of a call made using traditional telephony; these savings can be duplicated in developing countries.

Together, Wi-Fi and VoIP can make telephone service affordable and accessible in poor countries. But for developing nations to benefit, their governments must rethink who owns the telecommunications networks. Put simply, it's a bad idea to have a monopoly, whether government or private, both control the network backbone and provide retail services to consumers. Such arrangements lead to higher prices and less competitive services."

Click here for the full article online.

Chris Sprigman is a fellow at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society. Peter Lurie is general counsel at Virgin Mobile USA.

This article appeared in "Foreign Affairs" March/April 2004.