<incom> Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] OPEN ACCESS EASSy

Mon Oct 23 16:33:48 CEST 2006

Dear Colleagues

This is a very important subject. I hope there can be progress.

But I am not optimistic ... the critical points in the value chain are
controlled by a lot of people and organizations whose goal is profit
and cash flow maximization in the short run, with almost no interest
in the "value" of what needs to be done for the community of customers
and society as a whole. The "market" economy works best (from the
perspective of the powerful) when it is controlled in a monopoly or
oligopoly mode to the exclusion of competition.

I watched the old AT&T control the political process and decision
making in the USA ... it started in 1907 and lasted until the 1970s
when new technology forced change that AT&T could no longer uniqely
control ... and grudgingly AT&T agreed to be broken up because by then
it was actually bankrupt (though the accounts did not reflect this).

The old PTTs and regulatory frameworks and the political control of
the telecom monopolies are a terrible constraint on progress and the
application of best practice and best technology. They are all totally
top down and wrong when the best paradigm for tomorrrow is community
networks linking upwards as far as everyone wants. I am not convinced
that the proposed paradigm avoids the critical control problems that
have plagued Africa for the past few decades.

Please include me in the information loop as your efforts progress. Thank you.

____________
Peter Burgess
The Transparency and Accountability Network
Tr-Ac-Net in New York
212 772 6918
peterbnyc at gmail.com
Tr-Ac-Net book "Revolutionary Change for Relief and Development"
350 pages http://www.lulu.com/content/477773

On 10/21/06, Bill Kagai <billkagai at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Eric Osiakwan <eric at afrispa.org>
> Date: Oct 20, 2006 7:12 PM
> Subject: [Fibre-for-africa] OPEN ACCESS EASSy
> To: Discuss at afrispa.org, AfriNIC Discuss
> <afrinic-discuss at afrinic.net>, africasource2-l at lists.tacticaltech.org,
> tier at tier.cs.berkeley.edu, Kenya ICT Policy - kictanet
> <kictanet at kictanet.or.ke>
> Cc: Private list for use by EASSY Workshop Participants
> <fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org>
>
>
> OPEN ACCESS EASSy
>
> By Eric M.K Osiakwan
> Visiting Fellow and Scholar, DV Program, Stanford University
> http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
>
> In late 2004, I was admitted to the Digital Vision Program @ Stanford
> University and around the same time invited by the WorldBank through
> its Information for Development Programme (infoDev @ www.infodev.org)
> to join other colleagues to conduct a study "Leveraging New
> Technologies and Open Access Models: Options for Improving Backbone
> Access in Developing Countries (with a Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa)" .
>  The study was done under the auspices of Spintrack AB @
> http://www.infodev.org/en/Document.10.aspx.
>
> Recent experiences in a number of countries with "open access" models
> for the financing and ownership of backbone telecommunications
> infrastructure offer interesting insights into how new technologies,
> including the migration to Internet Protocol (IP) based networks, make
> possible new technical and business models for financing this
> infrastructure buildout. Africa can learn from these experiences and
> adapt.  In this paper, I look at Open Access in relation to the East
> African Submarine System, known by the acronymn EASSy (see http://
> www.eassy.org). In the wake of the fallout in moving this project
> forward,  I build grounds for commonality, charting the path for
> re-engagement by the various constituencies.
>
> Open Access in the context of communication (Open Communication) means
> that anyone, on equal conditions with a transparent relation between
> cost and pricing, can get access to and share communication resources
> on one level to provide value added services on another level in a
> layered communication system architecture.
>
> The concept of Open Access to communication resources is central in
> the ongoing transformation of the communication market from a
> "vertically integrated" market with a few operators owning and
> operating everything between the physical medium and the end-user, to
> an "open horizontal market" with an abundance of actors operating on
> different levels and providing value added services on top of each
> other. Put plainly, anyone can connect to anyone in a
> technology-neutral framework that encourages innovative, low-cost
> delivery to users. It encourages market entry from smaller, local
> companies and seeks to ensure that no one entity can take a position
> of dominant market power. It requires transparency to ensure
> fair-trading within and between the layers based on clear, comparative
> information on market prices and services. It seeks to build on the
> characteristics of the IP network to allow devolved local solutions
> rather than centralized ones.
>
> Open Access is also about broad approach to policy and regulatory
> issues that starts from the question: what do we want to bring about
> outside of purely industry sector concerns? It places an emphasis on:
> empowering citizens; encouraging local innovation; spurring economic
> growth and investment; and getting the best from public and private
> sector contributions. It is not simply about making micro-adjustments
> to the technical rules of the policy and regulatory framework but
> seeking to produce fundamental changes in the outcomes that can be
> delivered through it.
>
> The study published in August 2005, came at an opportune time, in that
> it helped to inform and shape the international debate and planning
> for the EASSy project now in the final planning stages. infoDev then
> provided follow-up support for this dialogue and planning process both
> by supporting the coordinating role of the NEPAD e-Africa Commission
> relative to the EASSy project, and by supporting dialogue and joint
> planning among civil society groups, and other key stakeholders,
> seeking to promote open access approaches within Africa.
>
> This ensured acceptance of open access by the government, incumbent
> PTTs, Operators, ISPs, educational institutions, private investors and
> more generally by civil society. However at the signing of the EASSy
> protocol, which is the political framework for the build-out, there
> has been a division among the various constituencies on how Open
> Access is enshrined in the protocol.
>
> EASSy in adhering to Open Access must align with the structure and
> principles below;
> Within the structural framework, the cable must differentiate
> "Infrastructure" from "Services" where Infrastructure is seen more in
> the "Ownership" realm whiles Service is seen in "Access to capacity".
> A set of principle would hold for the ownership of the cable and those
> principles would be different from those for access to capacity.
>
> The most distinguishing feature of the Open Access approach is that,
> ownership of the infrastructure DOES NOT GUARANTEE any access
> (discriminatory or not) to capacity on the value chain for the
> provision of service to the market.
>
> Infrastructure ownership principles for the cable include;
> The ownership of the EASSy cable must be in a public private
> partnership involving Governments, PTTs, ISPs, Educational
> Institutions, Civil Society and Consumers.
> A fair distribution of these constituencies from the member countries
> in an equal sub-regional distribution leading up to the Board of
> Directors of the enterprise.
> One set of rules must be established to identify the various
> shareholders from the various countries in the different
> constituencies
> For the purposes of this exercise a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) must
> be a legal entity with an African wide structure, which must must be
> majority African owned in order to trade in the various countries.
> The SPV must have a public interest combined with a private sector
> approach in it's business model in order to ensure a "regulated return
> on investment" to ensure cheap and affordable bandwidth to the
> end-user.
>
> Value Chain access to capacity for Service delivery principles for the
> cable are;
> The SPV must sell capacity to all entities who meet the legal and
> regulatory requirements in each country directly and without
> discrimination.
> Service Providers shall be offered Transport Infrastructure Layer
> access to different capacities depending on their requirements.
> End Users shall be free to choose any local Service Provider connected
> to the Regional Network.
> The SPV shall not compete with Service Providers (its customers) by
> offering services at the Services Layer directly to End Users.
> All countries must create a regulatory structure that recognizes the SPV.
> The SPV shall be formed, owned and operated in such a way as to
> facilitate competition and to foster innovation at the Services Layer,
> and where practical and commercially viable at all levels, with a view
> to maximizing usage of the network and benefits to the End Users.
>
> This sets out a framework for Open Access as it applies to the EASSy cable.  .
>
> NB: These principles are drawn from the Open Access study conducted by
> Anders Comstedt, Eric Osiakwan and Russell Southwood for InfoDEV @ the
> WorldBank – http://www.infodev.org/en/Project.80.html
>
> Eric M.K Osiakwan
> Executive Secretary
> AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org)
> Tel: + 233.21.258800
> Fax: + 233.21.258811
> Cell: + 233.244.386792
> Handle: eosiakwan
> Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North
> Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North
> Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
> Slang: "Tomorrow Now"
>
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> --
> --
> With Kind Regards,
> Bildad Kagai
> MD - Circuits & Packets Communications Ltd
> Content & Training Partner - JKUAT E-Government Academy
> Suite B2, Tetu Apartments, State House Avenue
> P. O. Box 20311 - 00200
> Nairobi, Kenya
> Tel. 254 20 2728332
> Fax. 254 20 2726965
> Cell. 254 724 226600
> URL. www.circuitspackets.co.ke
> URL. www.JKUATEgovAcademy.ac.ke
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