The Panos Institute

2005

This briefing is the second in a series of short briefing documents for journalists on different aspects of ICTs and the ‘information society’. It has been produced in partnership with the CATIA programme (Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa) and funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The series was offered as a service to journalists wishing to cover information society issues around the second stage of the World Summit on the Information Society (November 2005).

According to the brief VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminals) are cheaper and easier to set up than other communication technologies, and can bring phone and internet links to remote rural areas.

The brief points out that in Asia and Latin America, individuals and small enterprises in remote communities can easily be connected through VSATs, and are reaping benefits. But in Africa, government policies and laws are hampering the introduction of VSAT technology. In the past, national laws and rules on communication were designed to create single national telephone companies and manage traditional land-based telephone lines, mostly within and between cities.

The brief makes the point that governments need to change these laws and rules if their countries are to benefit from new technological developments. They need to allow new private sector companies to offer all the variety of today’s communication technologies, including VSATs. But most governments are being slow to change – partly because they want to continue protecting the old-fashioned national phone companies, and partly because they may not fully understand the opportunities offered by new technologies.

According to the brief, there is not much public pressure being put on governments to change their policies, because few people – including journalists – understand the technologies or the difference they could make to development. Nor do they understand the role of law and policy in making the technologies available. But public demand – supported by media – could force governments to speed up change.

6

English