Low-Cost Internet Subject of Silicon Valley Meeting

Low-Cost Internet Subject of Silicon Valley Meeting
Feb 28, 2007 News Release

The UN Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies for Development met today with tech firms in Silicon Valley. A repeated theme was that low-cost Internet could set off the same wave of connectivity that has made mobile phone usage commonplace in developing countries.

In 2004 alone, said the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Africa added some 15 million new mobile phone subscribers, and such subscriptions have more than doubled since 1999. Telecom de-regulation and skyrocketing cell phone use in Nigeria, for instance, have produced value-added information services that fill social and religious needs, according to Titi Akinsami of SchoolnetAfrica .

But making available low-cost computers and cheap Internet depends on a complex chain of on-the-ground realities, of which technological innovation is only one component, Intel Corp. Chairman Craig Barrett pointed out. Among these are strong connection to international Internet, domestic connections and service providers, and content in local languages which meet local needs, said Barrett, who serves as chairman of the Alliance's steering committee.

A sound regulatory system that encourages fair competition and innovative business models are also prerequisites, added ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré, an Alliance steering committee member.

With its budget of virtually zero, the Alliance is a "low-bureaucracy organization," Barrett told some 100 Silicon Valley technology executives, venture capitalists, academics and journalists gathered at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. It brings together private, public sector and civil society organizations to collaborate on multi-faceted mechanisms to spread the digital revolution worldwide.

Today's exchange of ideas and experiences covered issues such as bringing broadband to Africa, building a volunteer cyber corps and linking venture capital to development. Also on the agenda were talks on crafting local content, encouraging the spread of telecenters, and mining technological innovations for development payoffs. The event was jointly organized by the Global Alliance and Intel.