Autonomy and the Telecommunciation Needs
of the Developing World
Last updated November 17, 1996
You can grow produce without fertilizer, just as you can run an
economy
without telecommunications, but each is considerably less efficient without
these basic inputs... Walther Richter[1]
The age of information globalization was heralded by some as an opportunity to unite the world through communication and the exchange of information. The industrialized nations around the world are indeed communicating more than ever. Universities around the world are sharing their knowledge, enabling the pursuit of new knowledge to continue with seemingly limitless resources. All countries that join in this worldwide marketplace of ideas are likely to benefit. Those that are unable, or choose not to join in this unprecedented exchange are being left behind. This is why information globalization has failed the Third World. As the industrial world communicates amongst itself and grows together, the underdeveloped nations struggle to establish the simplest forms of electronic communication.
The world information systems are undergoing a great deal of change. New technologies are constantly changing the way the world communicates. Whether interpersonal or intercontinental, there is an evolution taking place. The advances in telecommunications technology have led to the inter-connectivity of nations around the world. Universities and businesses from industrialized nations can communicate instantaneously.
With all of these technological advances it would seem that the world is being brought together. Unfortunately, only the developed nations are interacting through this information exchange. The developing nations are experiencing their own communication advances, but these are attempts to achieve basic services. They are not as likely to be involved in the exchange of information. The consequence is the polarization of "North and South": the alienation of the underdeveloped nations of the world. The World Telecommunication Development Conference in 1994 created a plan called the ITU Buenos Aires Action Plan (BAAP) to address this issue.[2]
The developing nations must achieve inter-connectivity with the industrialized world. Concessions will be needed to achieve this state of inter-connectivity, but they are necessary to facilitate growth and development. The failure of developing nations to join in the exchange of information will lead to further disparity among the developing world and the industrialized world. There is a need to develop a system that allows developing nations to modernize telecommunications infrastructures without turning over control to a foreign corporation or abandon cultural identity and adopt a Western ideal.
How Did it Get Like This?:
We look to the governments of industrialized and developing
countries
alike to give fuller recognition to this common interest and to join their
efforts to redress the present imbalance in the distribution of telecommunications
which the entire international community should deplore.[3]
The time when communications was seen as an immediate catalyst for development has come and gone. Wilbur Shcramm's work for UNESCO, telling how easy rapid economic and social growth would be with mass communications, was an exciting proposition.[4] He and Lerner had the answers to the problems of the Third World. Lerner's work in the Middle East in 1958 raised the expectations of the world regarding the role communications in development.[5] The "magic multiplier" would lead the Third World to rapid development. Unfortunately, time revealed that the much anticipated test of the communications paradigm would not be as successful as it was hoped. Rogers pointed out the passing of the old paradigm:
Today we see that past notions do not entirely fit the reality and
potential
of the contemporary scene... Thus we see the passing of the dominant paradigm
of development led to new and wider roles for communication in development.
The exact nature of such newer conceptions will only become clear in the
years ahead, as communication research helps illustrate the new pathways
to development.[6]
The pundits have long since discarded the theories of the magic multiplier. Rogers realized the need for a re-evaluation of the ideas of development. As communication researches took another look at their ideas about development, disappointment was growing in the Third World. The promise of --prosperity through mass communication-- had failed and someone was to blame. A sort of self examination was taking place among the mass communication theorists during the 1960s and 1970s. The new research was more critical of the West. This increased scrutiny joined with the political climate that permeated the Third World. The lack of development and progress was blamed on the "Western Nations." The subsequent distrust and charges of cultural imperialism created an atmosphere that has hindered development ever since. The profit oriented, multinational, corporations were seen as the new imperialistic arm of the West. Many developing nations simply refused to allow new communication technologies in because of fears of exploitation. Schiller's writings on cultural/information imperialism became the defense against Western intervention.[7] They warned of the West's attempts to control developing nations through technological advances. The West would then exploit its position to control the way people communicate.
The process that Western academics call "modernization"
generally
follows the introduction of the business system, its commercial arrangements,
financial networks, economic activities, and, not least its technological
structures and processes. It is all of these, in toto, that initiate
and require the modernization campaigns. And it is the technology--broadly
defined as organizational structures, administrative hierarchies, and,
of course, equipment and processes--that determines the fundamental communications
patterns.[8]
In effect, to be a part of the world network a country must accept--at least in part--the Western systems and technology. Many of the developing countries simply refused to accept this. The result of the anti-Western sentiment was isolationism. The new paradigm for a developing country was self-sufficiency and inner growth. At a time when multinational corporations were gaining strength, the undeveloped nations chose to sit out on the prosperity. This was the beginning of an era of unprecedented research and development in the area of communication. With prosperity comes wealth; with wealth, growth. The underdeveloped nations chose an unfortunate time to withdraw from the Global Community. Hence, the developing nations would not share in the innovations of the information age.
The 1970's also saw the creation of the New World Information Order. The Developing Nations insisted that the West had a responsibility to share its information creating capabilities with them. Actually, they just wanted the West to give them the technologies. When the NWIO draft was finally passed in 1978, it had lost much of the momentum that the developing nations had hoped it would carry. The West simply said that the free flow of information was to continue and the Developing Nations were responsible for reaching a state of equal exchange. The need to for each country to create a communications infrastructure had already become a fundamental issue between the "North and the South".
The Gap Widens:
A study by Michael Luger points out that many of the theories regarding development show a pattern of growth centered around metropolitan areas; "the core of the economy grows faster than the periphery."[9] There have been many studies on the pattern of economic development that agree with this theory. The reasons for this are obvious. The metropolitan areas have the infrastructure needed to support economic development. In addition, they give access to markets and resources. As the world economy becomes more technology based the effects of this growth pattern are magnified. Fast, effective, reliable communication becomes more and more critical.
Luger's study examines the widening gaps between regions within Japan. the U.S., and Europe. The areas that have the technology based industries are growing faster than those without. Imagine this pattern on a global scale. The industrialized nations represent the metropolitan areas; capable of supporting new development. The underdeveloped nations of the world are passed over as they lack the basic communications and transportation needs of industry. Luger notes that the disparity will widen unless policies are instituted to counter it. Once enacted, these policies for growth can change the pattern of increasing disparity. However, the most underdeveloped nations lack the resources to ebb the tide alone.
Method:
An analysis of articles detailing the programs of developing nations and their progress in modernizing the telecommunications systems within each country. By investigating the different programs and evaluating their level of success <!-- based on the data collected by the ITU in World Telecommunications Development Report --!> a model for telecommunications investment will be designed. The model will be a plan for developing nations to build their telecommunications infrastructure while attempting to maintain cultural and political identity.
North and South:
Advanced industrialized societies have virtually comprehensive
services....
With certain notable exceptions, telecommunications services in many developing
countries are poor or indifferent. In many remote areas there is no service
at all.[10]
The progress in communications amongst the industrialized nations led to a vast disparity between the "North and the South." Now the undeveloped nations don't have the basic communication services that the industrialized world takes for granted everyday. The Maitland Commission pointed out that in 1984 there were more telephones in Tokyo than in the whole of Africa.[11] This is representative of most of the developing world. This problem is magnified when considering the fact that the phones that do exist in the underdeveloped nations are usually concentrated in capital cities. This leaves an enormous portion of the population with face to face conversation as the only means of interactive communication.
The lack of communication as well as the reasons for it vary with each nation. It is often dependent on the political structure of the country. Many authoritarian regimes simply didn't want to facilitate increased communications for fear that it would lessen their control of the people. "Some countries have prevented the import of mobile earth stations by disaster relief agencies who came to provide relief."[12] This type of repression of communication is a fundamental reason for the archaic communications systems in many Ex-Communist nations. The Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries certainly had the means and the technology to join the global information exchange, but chose not to.
In other developing countries, centralized political and communications control is maintained in the capital city while rural areas are isolated. This is sometimes a matter of control. More often, however, it is simply a matter of neglect by the central government, which believes that providing telephone service to the entire population is a low priority at best.[13]
This idea, that the penetration of information services is a matter of low priority for some developing nations, was a point that the International Telecommunications Union made in the Maitland Report. They pointed out that the leaders of many developing nations were preoccupied with immediate crises like hunger, poverty, and disease.[14] In spite of this, the report clearly stated the need for developing nations to pursue a policy of communications development. There is renewed hope in telecommunication's ability to facilitate development. The Missing Link made clear to the underdeveloped nations of the world that their future development was dependent upon the advancement of their communications infrastructure.[15] It proclaimed the power of telecommunications to produce growth. Without a system that allows rapid information exchange there is a sense of isolation and frustration. This undoubtedly hinders the process of development.
Aggressive Policy Helps Some Emerge:
There are those countries that have emerged from the Third World as leaders in advancing communications technologies. These countries have done so through specific policy goals. A number of Southeast Asian countries have enacted strong policies of communications infrastructure enhancement in an attempt to achieve inter-connectivity with the world as well as basic service national service. Countries like Singapore, Korea, and China are experiencing rapid growth and development as a result of their drive to connect.
China has achieved a degree of success in its attempts to enhance its communication infrastructure. They have made a serious financial commitment to provide telecommunication services throughout the country.[16] China's realization that communications is necessary for development has forced them to make difficult decisions. They now must grapple with the reality of weakening control of information as well as foreign investment.
The Republic of Korea is another country that has driven hard to develop its telecommunications infrastructure. Eun-Ju Kim explains how these emerging countries see the telecommunications infrastructure as a source of fiscal revenue and not just a basic need.[17] Korea's progress is also due to the utilization of Western technologies. The most advanced technologies come from the West so they have little choice, although, they have also integrated their own technologies into the infrastructure as well.
The strides that these countries are making seem to counter the idea that the undeveloped world is being left behind. These are the exceptions. They have the financial capability as well as the government driven policies in place. Even with this progress, there is still a disparity. China is ahead of its goals for penetration of basic phone service and yet it had only 1.63% in 1992 (it is higher in the main cities).[18] Korea has made tremendous progress and had reached a penetration rate of 34% by 1991. This has put Korea's telecommunications system at tenth in the world.[19] Unfortunately, when it came to the specialty digital communications services, they were still lacking. If Korea is one of the most successful countries to rise up from the ranks of the undeveloped nations, what can the most impoverished nations look forward to? How long will it be before they can join in the electronic exchange of information?
Technological Advances and Alienation:
The very nature electronic communication has changed a great deal in the last decade. Digitization has revolutionized the way the world communicates. Now the old idea of phone lines connecting people is outdated. If a country wants to be a member of the Global Marketplace it must utilize Integrated Services Digital Networks. A simple conversation will not do. The transfer of data as well video conferencing are part of the package. The ITU recognized the changing elements of communication and wisely began to lay out some guidelines for the inter-connectivity of worldwide communications systems. These standards for the inter-operability of systems are important for countries like Korea that are trying to integrate their own technology with that from the West. Technology marches on while the underdeveloped nations try to get a phone in each village.
China's commitment to communications is well documented. In spite of this, they struggle to get on-line with the rest of the world. Their attempts to create an internet system have been hampered, ironically not by the government of the Peoples' Republic of China, but by U.S. officials that fear military use of the technology. [20] For a country that is developing with such success, the problems they are having in communications paint a frightening picture for the more underdeveloped nations.
The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in California set up a cooperative project with an institution in China. They set up a special communication link to facilitate the exchange of data. The route the data took illustrates the need for international inter-connectivity. The information traveled on a ground line to Beijing. Then it went via a new fiber optic line to a microwave station. It was then microwaved to a satellite ground station so it could be beamed to space. The data was sent to an earth station in California through an AT&T satellite station paid for by Stanford. In the end it was found that this link could not handle the quantity of data it was originally designed for and a ground courier was used. There is a long way to go to achieve inter-connectivity. How long will it be for the most underdeveloped nations?
The advances in communications technologies should be helping developing nations join in the information globalization. The cost of providing basic services is dropping. Fiber optic cables allow the transfer of more data at less cost. Satellite technologies can connect continents with regularity. Cellular technologies can compensate for a lack of ground transmission lines. "Some telecommunications firms are offering cellular services... in developing nations, where... cellular technology enjoys a comparative advantage."[21] In Eastern and Central Europe mobile telephony is enjoying a great deal of success because there is an inadequate number of direct exchange ground lines. In 1992 Bulgaria had only a penetration rate of 18%; Yugoslavia 14%; Hungary, Poland, and Romania about 8%.[22] Mobile telephony sounds like the answer for development for the Third World, but it is not.
The harsh reality is that the industrial nations are profit based machines. The market in Eastern Europe is seen as ripe for profit making endeavors. They already had some of the basic infrastructure in place. There was a market that was at least ready to spend money, even though not too able, on goods and services. The increase in the use of cellular technologies is the result of foreign companies who want to be sure to penetrate this new market. It is most likely foreign investors that are primarily using and benefiting from mobile telephony. They do little to help the general population communicate.
Satellites are another technological advance that is supposed to help the developing nations achieve increased communication penetration. Unfortunately, satellites are not yet a viable source of interactive communication for the general population. Mobile Satellite Services are reserved for the elite few. Groups like emergency relief organizations or wealthy international corporations are among those that benefit from this technology. Disaster relief organizations often use the systems in remote locations. The profit oriented industrialized nations are more likely to make use of these more advanced and expensive modes of communication. People who travel to underdeveloped countries to do business may use satellite links to contact their home bases. Journalists, oil industry representatives and other business people are the most likely benefactors of Mobile Satellite Services.[23] The largest renters of the equipment are profit seeking companies traveling in places like India, Russia, and China.
Privatization to Achieve Modernization:
What can the developing nations do to achieve inter-connectivity with the World? There are a number of options. There are many studies that support the approach of liberalization or privatization of the telecommunications system.
"Privatization is the transfer of public functions and resources to the private sector. The transfer can entail the operation, management, or actual ownership of publicly owned facilities."[24]
This approach has been used to try to enhance the telecommunications systems of some Latin American countries like Argentina and Venezuela.
Venezuela sold a 40% share of its telecommunications system to a group of foreign investors led by GTE. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Charles Lee, acclaims the progress:
GTE... is modernizing that country's telephone system. By the year
2000, we believe that CANTV[Venezuelan Telephone] will have become the
best telecommunications company in Latin America... In 1992 the company
began adding a substantial number of digital microwave and fiber optic
systems...[25]
Argentina sold its telecommunications system to some of the creditors that it owed money to. In the case of Argentina the transfer of control was not so successful. There was no decrease in rate as it was hoped there would be. Now the country must count on the consortium that owns the system to expand the network.[26] Argentina illustrates that privatization is not a guarantee for success.
The privatization approach to modernization requires that the country turn over portions of its telecommunications industry to outside entities. These telecommunications giants are poised and ready to move in if the market can turn a profit. They come from the West with names like GTE, MCI, AT&T, NYNEX, and BT (British Telecommunications).[27] Perhaps this was what Schiller was referring to.[28] Many of the developing countries are forced to turn to the West for the technology necessary to participate in the global information exchange.
While most of the innovation in consumer electronics now comes from
Asia, the satellites and computers that make the global village possible
are still created in the United States. [29]
The great multinational corporations that Schiller stated as the cultural imperialists are now a necessity for those that wish to communicate around the world. The ideas of development of the 1970s about isolation to development are gone. Countries like China use the computers of IBM, and Korea uses AT&T, as essential parts of their communications systems. If the developing country can make money for the multinational corporation they will surely help.
The United States' powerful position in the area of international information flow is not a coincidence. Herbert Schiller's critical look at the information structures emanating from the Western world in the early 1970s, came before the widespread application of digital data transmission, but it pointed to a trend in the dissemination of other communications industries. This idea of an information imperialism was a condemning accusation against Western corporations. In 1979 the United States government set out to create policy regarding the transborder flow of data.[30] The U.S. wanted to remain dominant in the new communication systems involving data transmission. They stated as policy, what the developing nations had feared:
The United States has national security, political, ideological,
economic,
and technological stakes in international communications... Politically,
we are committed to a broad exchange of information both domestically and
internationally... Our economic interest is obvious: our industrial base
relies on adequate communications; large corporations have become increasingly
dependent on world-wide computer circuits. Moreover, the United States
is the world's largest producer and consumer of telecommunication equipment
and services... Technologically, the United States holds a lead in most
areas of satellite communications, in fiber optic communications (along
with Japan) and in very large electronic switching systems... In computer
and data communications and in their applications, the United States is
commercially dominant.[31]
The United States government created a policy that would help continue the dominance of American companies. The policies that they pursued internationally sought to make sure the transborder flow of data continued unimpeded so U.S. companies could thrive internationally.
"Information is a commodity essential to the workings of the world's greatest transnational corporations; its distribution is vital to the continued global dominance of those corporations, primarily American, which have exploited every new communication technology. If this distribution is encumbered in any way, these corporations may be forced to operate in an increasingly uncertain environment."[32]
The industrialized nations realize that their economic well being is dependent upon the success of their corporations. This policy making to foster their growth is common place. The governments will often spend large sums of money on studies beneficial to their chief industries. The U.S. government has sponsored studies checking the economic viability of doing business with developing countries. Those countries that the various U. S. governmental bodies dealing with international trade have not studied for viability, have surely been investigated by the multinational corporations for profit potential. What will happen to those that will not be profitable? "The domestic needs of many developing nations do not agree with the interests of a totally profit-oriented enterprise;"[33] How will these countries achieve inter-connectivity with the world?
Technology Isn't All Bad:
Not all of the advances in technology are detrimental to developing nations. The advances in information transmission have made long distance communication faster, more reliable and cheaper. One of the fundamental contributors to the progression of information transmission is digitization. Digital technologies have enabled more reliable transfers of data. In addition, digitization combined with compression technologies allows for the transfer of data at speeds and in quantities that were only dreamed of decades ago.
The media used for information transmission have changed as well. The advent of fiber optic cables has greatly increased the capability of transmission systems. In addition, satellites circle the globe, connecting continents. They enable coverage of vast areas without the traditional lines and cables.
The fact that the systems of communication are cheaper makes them more accessible. The nations that undertake an aggressive policy of infrastructure creation will be able to bypass decades of development in the telecommunications industry. They will need to run fewer lines that will require less power to operate. The microwave technologies will speed the process of development. The experience of the industrialized world will help to avoid reliability problems and organization problems. With the support of the industrialized world the transition to inter-connectivity can be made.
The road to achieving a modern communications infrastructure will most likely involve the use of Western technologies. Despite the need for foreign support, this will not necessarily lead to the end of a developing nation's identity. The concerns that the developing nations have must be overcome to ensure that they can interact with the industrialized world. The consequence of their isolation will be greater than the consequence of foreign technological intrusion.
Models:
Needs for Telecommunications Development
Self Sufficient Approach
Using Foreign Technology
Multinational Corporations and Exploitation:
The developing nations that choose to have their communications systems modernized by the multinational corporations may gain the inter-connectivity they desire. The question then becomes; Who will most likely benefit from it? The industrialized nations and the multinational corporations that they support will be in an incredibly advantageous position to take advantage of the country's newfound resource. The exploitation of the resources of a developing country will surely increase employment, but the multinational corporation will be in control. The most desirable and technically oriented positions will be filled with personnel educated in the industrialized nation. Unless a careful plan for integration is implemented, the relationship between the multinational corporation and the developing country will be one that benefits the corporation more than the nation.
Conclusions:
Developing nations will have to design a strategy if they are to join in the global exchange of information. It will not truly be the age of Information Globalization until the whole world can interact. Why is it a matter of concern that the developing world is not in communication with the rest of the world? The longer the developing world is excluded from this information exchange, the more separated they will become from the industrialized world.
Instead of tying peoples of the world closer together in global brotherhood as the promise would have it, advances in telecommunications foster ever-increasing atomization, isolation, and ethnocentrism among us... In a sense, before true communications across national boundaries can occur, we must all master at least two languages--the sacred language of contemporary telecommunications and the profane language of everyday intercourse. For just as throughout the West Latin and Greek used to be the currency of serious exchange between the nobilities of the state and church but not ordinary people, the new language of contemporary telecommunications makes possible serious global interchange only among and between selected groups...[34]
What's at Stake?:
The industrialized nations of the world are enjoying a state of inter-connectivity. This inter-connectivity has made available a vast wealth of knowledge that was not previously accessible to most people. Now, in the United States it not uncommon for a student to search the databases of institutions across the country and around the world. This situation creates an increased sharing of ideas and leads to the generation of new ideas. The nations that do not have the basic infrastructure or technology necessary to join this online exchange are surely missing out. In 1644, the great English poet, John Milton, wrote about the importance of a free exchange of ideas.[35] This idea of a free marketplace of ideas is still relevant today. The voices of the underdeveloped nations of the world are restrained due to a lack of information technologies. Until they can communicate equally with the world their ideas will not be heard.
Western civilization is both Western and modern. Non-Western
civilizations have attempted to become modern without becoming Western. To
date only Japan has fully succeeded in this quest. Non- Western
civilizations will continue to attempt to acquire the wealth, technology,
skills, machines, and weapons that are a part of being modern.[36]
The disparity between North and South will eventually lead to increased resentment and isolationism. The communication links between the developed nations have led to collaboration among different companies and institutions around the world. This worldwide interaction in business is the basis for the global marketplace. The undeveloped nations cannot be a viable part of this transfer. As the world increasingly turns away from Marxism there will be more pressure to create a successful market economy. The pressures to participate and succeed in the global marketplace will be overwhelming.
Simply stated, the ability to compete in a 24-hour-a-day global
economy increasingly depends on a nation's ability to manage the rapid
transfer of information. For developing countries to expand socially,
culturally, and economically, telecommunications is as important a part of
the infrastructure as electric power, modern roads, water, and sewer
systems.[37 ]
The nations that do not achieve communication interaction with the rest of the world will not survive economically on the world market. The isolation that results will lead to an increased distrust of the industrialized world. As fears of exploitation from the industrialized world increase these nations will build their defenses. Increased tensions and political alliances will create a polarization between the industrialized and the developing countries.
The political climate that was once in place to protect and lend financial assistance to the developing nations is gone. The Soviet Union is no longer the benefactor for developing nations or the threat used to gain aid from the rest of the world. The developing nations must find alternative means to modernize their communications systems. If these countries choose to sell out to the industrialized world, what will be the cost? Will it outweigh the gains?
The Solution:
The developing nations must achieve a state of inter-connectivity, or face isolation.
Without the ability to exchange information they will only be able to receive that which is sent to them. The Western nations are disseminating most of the messages being transmitted around the world and satellite technology is beaming them to earth. The one-way flow of information is increasing. For developing nations that means more foreign ideas are intruding. The consequences of this one-way flow will be more harmful to societies than the ability to interact and exchange information. The authoritarian governments that seek to control the flow of information will soon find that they cannot. Their attempts to remain isolated will serve only to alienate themselves and their peoples. At the very least, they must interconnect their own people.
The concerns over telecommunications development in developing nations are genuine. There are outside entities waiting to modernize--or "Westernize"--their information systems. This is not necessarily a harmful condition. As long as a careful integration is implemented these countries will benefit. A policy for telecommunications development will surely help developing nations and careful planning can avoid the exploitation that they fear. These steps toward information modernization are essential because each nation's ability to grow relies on its ability to communicate new ideas.