Internet content providers focus on the Caribbean

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao—Much ink has been spilt and many hands wrung over how slow and expensive the Internet is in the Caribbean. The latest snapshot from ICT Pulse, for example, is a reminder of the price paid and pain felt by those subscribing to regional service providers’ fixed Internet broadband packages.

But Internet woes are much more than just a personal inconvenience to individual citizens. In fact, strengthening the Caribbean’s critical telecommunications infrastructure is a first step to growing the region’s digital economy. And an upcoming meeting of minds in the southern Caribbean could bring one important piece to the region’s Internet economy puzzle.

The event focuses not on handsets or SIM cards but handshakes and smiles. And perhaps predictably, the key is something called Peering.

“Peering is an arrangement between two or more networks to exchange Internet traffic between their networks without cost, typically at an Internet exchange point,” explained Bevil Wooding, one of the key architects behind the event.

“Peering arrangements are key to the growth and development of the global Internet. The relationships between content providers and network operators are a critical link determining network performance as well as content delivery costs,” added Wooding, who serves as the Caribbean Outreach Manager for the US-based non-profit Packet Clearing House (PCH).

PCH has played an active role in the establishment of over two-thirds of the world’s Internet exchange points. It has worked closely with the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, an inter-governmental body and with the Caribbean Network Operators Group, CaribNOG, to actively promote peering throughout the region.

Yet, although more than 300 IXPs exist in 80 countries around the world, some with developing economies do not yet have IXPs of their own and depend on imported Internet bandwidth. So, why isn’t there more peering in the Caribbean, a region that can hardly afford to haemorrhage scarce foreign reserves?

Wooding says when it comes to peering, the Caribbean has made significant strides over the past five years, but there is still a long way to go.

“Only 20 per cent of what needs to get done to make peering possible is technical. About 80 per cent of it is more about social engineering.  In the Caribbean, as in other parts of the world, the notion of collaborating with competitors for mutual benefit is not always reflexively embraced.”

Tackling the problem head-on, Wooding, working with his counterpart Shernon Osepa, the manager of Regional Affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Internet Society, created the Caribbean Peering and Internet Connection Forum specifically to bring service providers, telecommunication regulators, policy makers, researchers and other key stakeholders from across the region together with international content providers and Internet organisations, such as Facebook, Google and Akamai.

The result was the first Caribbean Peering and Interconnection Forum, or CarPIF at the Hilton Hotel, Barbados.

“The aim of the forum is to bring major service providers from across the spectrum of the regional and international Internet ecosystem into one space to build relationships and explore opportunities to strengthen the Caribbean Internet economy,” Wooding said.

For CarPIF’s second edition, major international content providers, regional telecom regulators and Internet services providers, will again meet, this time in Willemstad, Curacao.

CarPIF is an initiative of PCH and the Internet Society , with the support of the Caribbean Network Operators Group and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union. The Amsterdam Internet Exchange is co-host of this year’s event.

The immediate goal is to explore ways for Caribbean states to improve regional connectivity and strengthen digital infrastructure. But the more long-term aim is to drive technology-based innovation and economic growth in the developing region.

Wooding and other event organisers will be hoping that regional Internet service providers will be willing to take a fresh look at service innovation and explore opportunities to continue advancing the Caribbean Internet.

Originally published: Trinidad and Tobago Guardian

Jamaica Takes Lead In Regional Telecoms Talks, After Liberty Global Announces CWC Acquisition

KINGSTON, Jamaica—A multi billion-dollar telecommunications deal, touted as a significant growth opportunity for the Caribbean information and communication technology sector, has come under the scrutiny of the Jamaican government. Liberty Global announced the completion of its US$5 billion cash-and-stock takeover of Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) on May 16. The combined business will generate combined annual revenues totalling about US$3.5 billion from an estimated subscriber base of 10 million video, voice, broadband and mobile clients in more than 20 countries, as well as a substantial submarine fibre network business, making it better placed to compete with large rivals such as Digicel and America Movil.

Liberty Global chief exec Mike Fries said he “couldn’t be more excited” about the deal, in part because the region was “underpenetrated and underserved in broadband, mobile data and pay-TV services.”

Fries’ bullish view is not shared by all, however. Before the announcement, Jamaican Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Andrew Wheatley had met with top CWC executives and discussed the proposed acquisition. And the ministry’s post-meeting media release sounded far less sanguine.

“All acquisitions should benefit the stakeholders, and in this instance, it is expected that the consumers and economies both locally and regionally will be the ultimate beneficiaries,” it stated, adding that Wheatley remained “optimistic” that the acquisition would create opportunity for more investment in the technology and telecommunications sector in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

And one day after the announcement of the acquisition, Wheatley stated publicly that his ministry had not yet given the required regulatory approval for Liberty Global’s merged entity to be licensed locally, according to a Jamaica Observer report, a statement countered almost immediately by Flow.

Behind the rhetorical tension, there is a stark difference in the priorities of big business and big government. As Fries’ put it, the focus for Liberty Global is on “creating a unique and well-diversified Latin America and Caribbean investment vehicle, which we believe will enhance long-term equity value for our shareholders.” But the Jamaican government has a different agenda. It wants to get major players like Liberty Global and Digicel on board in support of the country’s and the region’s overall growth and creation of a knowledge-based society.

A senior official in the ministry explained how the Jamaican government intends to get large private companies like Liberty Global to practise good corporate citizenship and act more consistently in the interest of the wider public.

“We want to encourage the involvement of the service providers in the delivery of content and services that foster a knowledge-based society. For example, we want to get true universal access to essential government and educational services for every citizen,” the official said.

The government plans to encourage service providers to give preferential pricing for Internet access at schools, hospitals and other critical institutions. The Ministry of Technology wants telcos to work more closely with the Ministry of Education to better use their technology resources to support public education.

“If it is a critical service or if it is content approved by the Ministry of Education, you should be able to access that at zero cost,” the official said. “If you have a data plan on your phone and you’re accessing a government resource, it should not impact your data plan. In fact, if you are connected to the network via your smartphone, tablet or desktop computer and your data plan is not paid up, it should not mean that you cannot access these government services.”

The vision goes beyond giving government more efficient ways to deliver critical services. It is about growing Jamaica’s Internet economy by giving more citizens access to essential online services, all while lowering the bar for digital entrepreneurs to enter the growing market.

There’s also potential benefit for operators. If more people are using the Internet to access essential services, that represents a larger pool of prospective subscribers. And if that growing user base starts using the Internet to do more things, that could mean increased diversity or sophistication of users’ appetite, which is another key selling point for operators.

“You’re going to see an explosion in the kinds of services that are being delivered to people who are consuming in this way,” the official said.

Caribbean, Latin American Tech Experts Gather In Cuba, As LACNIC 25 Opens In Havana

HAVANA—Cuba is the capital of the regional tech world this week.

Some 700 technology experts and professionals from across the region gathered in western Havana on May 2 for the annual meeting of the Internet Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNIC).

LACNIC is one of five organisations worldwide responsible for managing the world’s Internet numbering resources.

This week’s meeting, called LACNIC 25, is one of the most important gatherings of the regional Internet community. Sessions will cover a broad range of topics, including cybersecurity, IPv6 deployment, regional interconnection, and several technical training workshops.

But the significance of the event transcends the agenda. The meeting is regarded as one of several signs of ongoing change that goes beyond Cuba’s nascent telecommunications sector. The Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union (ITU) ranks Cuba lowest in the Americas in telecommunications development. But Cuban officials have cited factors such as the U.S. economic embargo and political aggression as reasons for its stunted development.

Until 2012, most Internet users on the Caribbean’s largest island had only had limited Internet connectivity via satellite. In early 2013, the Cuban government opened several cybercafes, which have become the primary point of access to the Internet for local users. The Cuban public mostly has State-controlled Internet access in schools and workplaces.

LACNIC 25 is being hosted jointly with the Cuban telecommunications company, ETECSA.

“It’s great to be hosting everyone right here in Havana!” said Jorge Villa, manager of the national university network at the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education, on the opening day of the weeklong meeting at the Havana Convention Centre.

Villa was on hand at LACNIC 23 in Lima, Peru, when LACNIC executive director Oscar Robles made the official announcement of the venue for LACNIC 25. The news was greeted with loud applause.

It is the second time that LACNIC flies in to Havana for its meetings. In 2003, the city hosted LACNIC 5.