What May the WTO Telecommunication Agreement Mean for Emerging Nations?

Larry Press

OnTheInternet, Vol. 3, No. 3, May/June, 1997, pp 36-38.

---

In February 69 World Trade Organization (WTO) member nations {footnote 1} agreed to open their telecommunication services markets [1]. The agreement was signed by a mix of industrialized and emerging nations, which, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), accounted for over 91% of global telecommunication revenues and 82% of the world’s telephone main lines in 1995; however, notable nations like fast-growing China and Russia are not on the list.

Seeding Networks: the Federal Role

by Larry Press, lpress@isi.edu
Communications of the ACM, pp 11-18, Vol 39., No. 10, October, 1996.

---

Many federal agencies have contributed to the development of networking, but the work of ARPA, the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense, and NSF, the National Science Foundation, stands out. The ARPANET established the feasibility of an efficient packet-switching network (a controversial idea at the time), and provided a technology development testbed. When it became clear that the network was a valuable asset for ARPA research contractors, NSF broadened participation with CSNET, a network connecting university and other computer scientists. CSNET was followed by NSFNET, which connected a much wider community of users. There has been a significant return to the organizations that participated in this work, and much greater return to the society. This article will look at these networks and their costs and benefits, but first let’s look at some government-sponsored prehistory.

Latin American and Caribbean Concerns

Larry Press, lpress@isi.edu

---

The fifth Latin American and Caribbean Networking Forum, hosted by Jose Soriano of the Peruvian Scientific Network, was held in Lima on April 14-19, 1996. At the first Forum, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1991, most of the networks were small UUCP experiments, but, by this year, nearly all attendees represented IP networks with Internet connectivity.

The Role of Computer Networks in Development

The Role of Computer Networks in Development

Larry Press
California State University

The good news is that the Internet has grown like a weed, and many welcome it as a tool for productivity and enlightenment; the bad news is that it is almost unknown in developing nations (see Table 1). This article offers the hypothesis that computer networks can improve life in developing nations at a relatively low cost. We begin with a brief discussion of development, followed by some of the ways computer networks might help, and conclude with a look at what can be done.

Toward an Internet Census for Developing Nations

Larry Press, lpress@isi.edu

---

Abstract
Governments and international organizations regularly gather economic and census data for use by administrators, policy makers, legislators, investors, and others. This paper discusses the extension of such work to the Internet, with emphasis on developing nations. The paper begins with a description of a survey of 23 academic networks with international connectivity (IP or UUCP) in 21 Latin American and Caribbean nations. After summarizing the results of that pilot survey, we discuss questionnaire revisions, survey problems, and conclude by proposing further steps toward a network census for developing nations.

Interconectividad en Cuba

Jesús Martinez con Vint Cerf

Por Larry Press
Carlos Armas

---

En un articulo previo [7] se resume el estado de la interconexion de redes en Cuba en 1992. En aquel momento existia conectividad limitada via X.25 y un unico y poco confiable enlace telefonico conmutado UUCP. Todo el trafico internacional era enrutado via CENIAI, el Centro de Intercambio Automatizado de Informacion de la Academia de Ciencias de Cuba, el cual tambien ofrecia servicios de puente para algunas redes intranacionales pequen~as. Aproximadamente 2 veces a la semana WEB/NIRV, institucion afiliada a la Association for Progressive Communications con sede en Toronto, Canada’, se conectaba a CENIAI e intercambiaban trafico internacional