RE: [ga] Agenda for GA meeting in Santiago, Chile

[Srikanth Narra <snarra@talus.net>]

I apologize for my usage of term 'bandwidth' (I am out of my depth when it
comes to ip addresses issue) .  

On connectivity and access I think some might have read me in a different
sense than I intended to convey.

Just to clarify so I convey things right...

As far as subcontinent is concerned..

On the issue of connectivity  - the main issue is the cost of PC's and the
cost of phone call to get online - more than anything else. 

Unlike in west - where the cost of PC is not a factor (thanks to falling
prices). Due to strong dollar - weak asian currency conversion rates, etc.
The cost of PC is still a huge investment. 

Typically what happens is - most of the cafes in cities/city dwellers buy
the latest stuff (Pentium III, etc) as the systems get a bit outdated - the
competition forces them to upgrade and the replaced systems move to towns
and from their when replaced they move to villages/smaller towns and from
there to schools, etc. Probably along the way they get a bit souped up by
adding some components,etc or changing to Linux. The bottomline is the life
of a machine is far longer than its in West.

We still have 286's in use - in significant numbers.  Majority might be (I
do not have trade figures on hand - guess estimate) souped up 486 systems
with Win 95 and AMD / Cyrix equavalent of P-133.

As far as infrasturcture is concerned I think we are moving pretty much ok.
From telecom connection and cost of connection issues - in major cities we
must be doing as good or bad as Europe I believe - rest of places its
catching up fast. 

For us software exports is a major earner. We have very high quality real
time video conferencing and satelite up links all over the country. We even
have hi-tech cities build ground up for software development - but these are
for corporations thru / not in individuals range for there personal
interests.

Taken in this context, with regard to conducting meetings online in real
time - I am sure you can understand the challenges involved for the
participants - trying to stay connected online chat wise. 

Hence the request for pre-allocated places in these countries from where
they can go to and participate in an online meeting. 

The basic awareness is certainly there and can be improved upon pretty fast
(One of the RFCs was hosted in Hyderabad, India). We also have strong
tradition of citizens participating in mechanisms like this. The lack of
conviction rates addressing. You will be surprised at the response after
that. 

You also need to consider timezone difference issue a little bit.


Sri

-----Original Message-----
From: R.Gaetano@iaea.org [mailto:R.Gaetano@iaea.org]
Sent: Friday, August 20, 1999 12:39 PM
To: ga@dnso.org
Cc: snarra@talus.net; avc@interport.net
Subject: RE: [ga] Agenda for GA meeting in Santiago, Chile


Srikanth Narra wrote:
> 
> For overwhelming majority of world population bandwidth and even basic
> connectivity to net is a huge issue and yet they have stake 
> in the internet.
> 
> <snip>
>  
> Unlike in West where internet is at fingertip reach 24 hours 
> 365 days. For
> quite a few of us in India its more like a movie going 
> experence. Going to a
> cafe and check email / download / browse, etc once a week or so. Or if
> staying a small town - once a month head to the city and the 
> internet cafe
> to reply or browse. Have net connection to people thru emails 
> - read over
> phone / faxed or delivered. 
> 
> <snip>
> 
> Its a whole new culturenet  - not same as your internet. :)
> 

I think we should think a little bit more over this message.
I wonder whether the points on which we are debating are of any importance
in comparison with the problem of providing better access to all potential
netizen to the Net.

I am more sensible to these kind of issues, also because in my new job I am
less concerned about "Internet Governance", but much more worried about the
poor connectivity we have versus remote locations.

It is true that this kind of problem is outside the charter of ICANN and its
SOs, but is nevertheless frustrating to see how little it is addressed. But
I am assuming that, given also the specific reality of LatinAmerica, this
issue will be part of the "informal" discussions (at the bar?), if not of
the official Agenda.

Regards
Roberto