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Is it possible to provide Internet access to remote regions of Asia? More importantly, is it worth while? The International Development Research Council (IDRC) believes so. In fact, it will grant anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 for projects which serve such purposes.Unfortunately, money is not the only thing that is needed to get a country or region Internet access. The governments of most countries in Asia have strict requirements about who came be an Internet service provider. These regulatory measures are in place for reasons such as the protection of minors, the protection of human dignity, protection against fraud, privacy, etc.; however, as the following success stories indicate, realizing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in underdeveloped regions is not merely a dream.
Case 1: Datacom, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. One of IDRC's pioneer efforts, with a $100,000 grant this company went from being an out-of-date, grossly unequipped outfit to being the seed to nation-wide Internet access. Apparently things just fell into placed after they convinced Mongolia's Ministry of Communications that the Datacom project was a critical, ground-breaking research project.
Case 2: a small bulletinboard system (BBS) in Bombay, India becomes a sizable ISP. Here government regulation and poor infrastructure hindered growth, but pursuing all avenues of funding (e.g. consumers and business) eventually payed off.
In a community that is so highly saturated by English, and in particular North American content, it is not hard to see that Asia will soon have to make its presence felt on the Internet in a big way. Which areas of Asia come crashing in on this train will depend on many factors including level of cooperation and acceptance of sound Internet policies, infrastructure advancements, and level of commitments to anti-protectionist measures.
© TG Magazine / le magazine TG