Cuba USA
The policy research process, like the policy it produces, should be open and transparent.
Norges Rodriguez wrote a recent post surveying the historical causes of the sorry state of the Cuban Internet and calling for a digital revolution. At the end of that post, he promised a followup post suggesting steps to take on the road to Cuban connectivity.
He has now published the followup post. You should read Rodriguez' post, but here are a few points I took from it:
The starting point is setting infrastructure and application goals. Infrastructure goals are things like affordable fixed and mobile broadband, connectivity to homes and public buildings and high usage rates in rural and urban areas and by men and women. Application goals would focus on areas like health, education, industry, government and entertainment. (For an early definition of this sort of framework, in which Cuba is used as an example, see this article).
Infrastructure regulation and ownership policies are equally important. What should be the role of the national government, local governments, private cooperatives and companies, foreign investors and the owners of homes and other premises?
The bad news is that Cuba is late to the game, but the good news is that many other national and local governments have implemented a diverse array of infrastructure ownership strategies and Cuba can learn from their experience -- what works and what does not. Cuba is also free to adopt emerging technologies.
We have seen a leaked executive summary of an infrastructure plan for the next five years, but it is not focused on future technologies or ownership policies. Furthermore, it had to be leaked.
If Cuba wishes to jump to a modern Internet, policy research and planning should begin today. The policy research process, like the policy it produces, should be open and transparent. Norges Rodriguez has outlined several principles, but the government, ETECSA, universities and others must join the conversation.
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This post was translated into Spanish by a friend, Armando Camacho. (Scroll down for the Spanish version). It is on his blog, Carpe Diem, which covers the Internet and a lot more.
- Paquete Semanal, S. A.
A legitimatized "Paquete Semanal, S. A." could distribute Netflix content in Cuba today. To the extent that we are allowed to see it, Cuba's plan for the Internet focuses on connectivity in homes and public places and support of areas that are considered...
- Cuban Internet Infrastructure Ownership And Regulation Alternatives
It is too soon and too simple to say that Google was turned away out of simple ETECSA greed. I have suggested a number of things Google might do in Cuba, including providing Internet connectivity. Last summer it was widely reported that Google had offered...
- Cuba's Broadband Connectivity Plan
The International Telecommunication Union advocates nations formulating broadband plans. They stated the case for broadband planning in a 2013 report on the correlation between national broadband plans and citizens’ access to affordable service. In...
- What Might Google Do In Cuba? Content? Infrastructure?
Commercially, Cuba is small potatoes to Google -- a mere 11 million potential users. But what of potential creators? Google is recruiting in another small nation, Israel -- will they be recruiting in Cuba some day? The other day, a journalist who was...
- Granma Says It Is Now A Priority -- Is This True Change?
An article in Granma says the "informatización" of society is a priority for Cuba. They say the 154 public "navigation" rooms were a trial balloon -- it is not clear whether they were referring to the technology or public acceptance -- but evidently...
Cuba USA
Beginning a discussion of Cuban Internet policy
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| Number of countries with broadband plans, source ITU |
The policy research process, like the policy it produces, should be open and transparent.
Norges Rodriguez wrote a recent post surveying the historical causes of the sorry state of the Cuban Internet and calling for a digital revolution. At the end of that post, he promised a followup post suggesting steps to take on the road to Cuban connectivity.
He has now published the followup post. You should read Rodriguez' post, but here are a few points I took from it:
- He advocates competition and is wary of partnerships with Google or other large firms.
- ETECSA has an important role to play, but it must be re-defined -- a national monopoly on wholesale and retail service is clearly a bad idea. (Note that incumbent monopolies often prove to be strong competitors after markets are opened to competition).
- The government has a significant role to play in subsidising connectivity to public institutions and poor people, encouraging digital literacy, reducing the digital gap between rural and urban areas and creating content.
- Transparency in policy setting, enforcement and business is mandatory.
The starting point is setting infrastructure and application goals. Infrastructure goals are things like affordable fixed and mobile broadband, connectivity to homes and public buildings and high usage rates in rural and urban areas and by men and women. Application goals would focus on areas like health, education, industry, government and entertainment. (For an early definition of this sort of framework, in which Cuba is used as an example, see this article).
Infrastructure regulation and ownership policies are equally important. What should be the role of the national government, local governments, private cooperatives and companies, foreign investors and the owners of homes and other premises?
The bad news is that Cuba is late to the game, but the good news is that many other national and local governments have implemented a diverse array of infrastructure ownership strategies and Cuba can learn from their experience -- what works and what does not. Cuba is also free to adopt emerging technologies.
We have seen a leaked executive summary of an infrastructure plan for the next five years, but it is not focused on future technologies or ownership policies. Furthermore, it had to be leaked.
If Cuba wishes to jump to a modern Internet, policy research and planning should begin today. The policy research process, like the policy it produces, should be open and transparent. Norges Rodriguez has outlined several principles, but the government, ETECSA, universities and others must join the conversation.
-----
This post was translated into Spanish by a friend, Armando Camacho. (Scroll down for the Spanish version). It is on his blog, Carpe Diem, which covers the Internet and a lot more.
- Paquete Semanal, S. A.
A legitimatized "Paquete Semanal, S. A." could distribute Netflix content in Cuba today. To the extent that we are allowed to see it, Cuba's plan for the Internet focuses on connectivity in homes and public places and support of areas that are considered...
- Cuban Internet Infrastructure Ownership And Regulation Alternatives
It is too soon and too simple to say that Google was turned away out of simple ETECSA greed. I have suggested a number of things Google might do in Cuba, including providing Internet connectivity. Last summer it was widely reported that Google had offered...
- Cuba's Broadband Connectivity Plan
The International Telecommunication Union advocates nations formulating broadband plans. They stated the case for broadband planning in a 2013 report on the correlation between national broadband plans and citizens’ access to affordable service. In...
- What Might Google Do In Cuba? Content? Infrastructure?
Commercially, Cuba is small potatoes to Google -- a mere 11 million potential users. But what of potential creators? Google is recruiting in another small nation, Israel -- will they be recruiting in Cuba some day? The other day, a journalist who was...
- Granma Says It Is Now A Priority -- Is This True Change?
An article in Granma says the "informatización" of society is a priority for Cuba. They say the 154 public "navigation" rooms were a trial balloon -- it is not clear whether they were referring to the technology or public acceptance -- but evidently...