| Chapter 1: | A Global, Low-Cost Network Thrives |
“Sat-nets will be subsidized by the commercial lines of interest that promote all kinds of brand expansion,” he predicted. “Nonprofits also will use these technologies to provide services and support as well as to help bridge divides such as the Islamic and Judeo-Christian worlds. The Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, to name one, is working on the first stages of this now.”
Carriers and Regulators Must Work Together
Rajnesh Singh of PATARA Communications, GNR Consulting, and the Internet Society for the Pacific Islands, qualified his agreement with the proposed scenario. “The issue governing whether this happens completely and really ‘worldwide,’ ” he wrote, “will depend on the various telecom carriers and regulators around the world taking the necessary steps to effectively relinquishing control of their in-country networks. This may not be completely practical in developing countries, as it will severely impact the revenue model of the incumbent carrier that is typically government owned. For the ‘developed’ world, this prediction is indeed a reality we may end up experiencing.”
Andy Williamson, managing director of Wairua Consulting in New Zealand, wrote, “The technical and social conditions for this will most likely exist…my hesitation is that I do not see a commitment from national legislatures and from international bodies to control commercial exploitation of networks. For your prediction to come true, global regulation of networks that privileges public good over commercial reward must occur.”
Alik Khanna of Smart Analyst, Inc., in India, sees a low-cost digital world ahead. “With growing data-handling capacity, networking costs shall be low,” he wrote. “The incremental efficiency in hardware and software tech shall propel greater data movement across the inhabited universe.”
There Are Many Who Express Doubts About a “Networking Nirvana”
While 56% agreed with the positive scenario for network development, a vocal 43% disagreed, most of them providing eloquent answers questioning the ideas of interoperability and global access at a low cost, with many noting the necessity for government and corporate involvement in worldwide development and the negative political and profit motives that usually accompany such involvement.