[kictanet] Introducing Facebook Africa Public Policy Team to KICTANet

[waudo siganga]

A quick one for Kivuva, Hussein, Ebele - Please clarify is this Zero-
rating incompatible with, i.e. mutually exclusive to paid services? Why
cant they operate TOGETHER. Waudo

On Thu, Dec 3, 2015, at 01:52 AM, Mwendwa Kivuva wrote:
> There is a good satirical letter from Max, Zuckerberg's daughter on
> giving people free access to Facebook as if it was water or
> electricity:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/02/max_zuckerberg_reply_letter/,

> On Dec 3, 2015 1:05 AM, Kivuva at transworldafrica.com wrote:

>> Dr. Waudo, your questions are valid, and very well structured. This
>> is what has been asked for some years now. And the idea of asking
>> Facebook to come over is for them to school us too on their view of
>> net neutrality.

>> But find my attempt inline:

>> On Dec 2, 2015 6:48 PM, "waudo siganga"
>> <emailsignet at mailcan.com> wrote:
>>
>
>>
> Hi Kivuva/Hussein. I need a little more enlightenment:
>>
>
>>
> 1. Is the "Zero-Rating" issue a debate or has it already been
>    concluded that it is a bad thing? There is a hint that supporting
>    it may leave one in not very good standing..

>> This has not been agreed upon. We would probably not get an answer to
>> whether it is good or bad. But some countries have determined and
>> outlawed zero rating,  some analyze zero rating requests on case by
>> case basis, and other have approved zero rating.

>> > 2. According to Kivuva's well-written article "Zero rating
>> >    infringes on fundamental human rights by denying users access to
>> >    the Internet". Are other service providers, including those
>> >    offering "full" Internet Access at a fee, stopped or hindered
>> >    from offering their services when some companies offer the zero-
>> >    rating? Can both forms operate at the same time?

>> This is a great question. And it is probably the main selling point
>> for zero rating. To answer the question, if you have a data package,
>> you can access the Internet outside the zero rated area. I probably
>> like the idea. But what are the root cause for using zero rating? Can
>> we make the Internet affordable?

>> > 3. In Q2 above I have "full" in quotes because in my use of
>> >    Internet I am yet to come across a truly "neutral Internet" i.e.
>> >    sometimes I try to access certain websites or services and you
>> >    are unable as you get a message that you cannot access that
>> >    site/service from your country, meaning many services providers
>> >    already practise packet filtering.

>> True. There are many ways in which net neutrality is infringed, and
>> there are different legislation from country to country on those
>> aspects. The one that has affected us more is bandwidth trotting,
>> especially of bit torrent traffic. An ISP advertises unlimited
>> Internet access at $$$, then when you start using more resources than
>> they had anticipated, they tighten your pipe. Bandwidth trotting and
>> protocol blocking was banned by EU in 2014. Mobile carriers used to
>> block access to Skype because it hurts voice, calling, and text-
>> messaging revenue.

>> So part of why we have been calling for a Net Neutrality law in Kenya
>> is to protect the consumer, and also have a stand. Currently, the ISP
>> can do whatever they want. The model to adopt is upto the community.

>> > 4. Hussein gives certain characteristics of a "market" but probably
>> >    leaves out a very critical one: Choice. The best market is the
>> >    one where ALL service providers are given the opportunity to
>> >    offer their services and consumers are left to choose. At the
>> >    end of the day it is the consumers that decide which companies
>> >    and services survive and which wilt along the way. Why choose
>> >    for the consumer beforehand by barring certain services or
>> >    business models?

>> Be careful before you imprison yourself with your own words :). In
>> the same breath of choice, who decided which websites a consumer
>> should have access to? Why choose for the consumer beforehand? :) Why
>> limit consumer choice?

>> At another level, consumers are not usually very knowledgeable in
>> what they want, or even what is good for a country. I'm ready to bet
>> that if one country allows zero rating, and another country provides
>> reliable affordable broadband, then the one with affordable broadband
>> will experience faster economic growth. This is just an hypothesis.

>> > 5. A couple of years ago the cost and affordability of Internet
>> >    access was a key ICT public policy issue. We said it was a major
>> >    impediment to the spread of Internet use. How do we reconcile
>> >    that with opposition to free (ok "free" as Hussein corrected me)
>> >    services even if they are only offering a slice of what an open
>> >    Internet offers.

>> Cost and access are still very relevant especially in our region of
>> the world. That was why the IGF theme was "connecting the next
>> billion." And there are very great suggestions thrown around on how
>> to reduce the cost. Licensing, competition, usf, infrastructure
>> sharing, taxes,...... We are really disadvantaged when it comes to
>> utilising the great benefits of the Internet. Now what happens when
>> we shrink that space more?

>> >
>>
> On a lighter note these days I am very happy with Facebook especially
> the Groups, as I get to know what is going on in the village. But I
> have been accessing them using a paid service perhaps I can save a few
> shillings if I got to know how to connect for free.

>> And Facebook likes these case studies. I heard them happily say how
>> they are helping women chamas organise themselves, and also organise
>> civil activism to foster democracy in places like Myanmar. Well, I
>> want that too :-)

>> >
>>
> I know Kivuva and Hussein have had extensive opportunity to study this
> area of Zero-Rating and also to listen o experts so I apologize in
> advance if my questions do not sound sophisticated.
>>
>
>>
> Kind Regards,
>>
> Waudo
>>
>
>>
> On Wed, Dec 2, 2015, at 05:07 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> We are having the most vibrant debate on Net Neutrality on the list
>> in a long while. Thanks for all contributors, and GG for initiating
>> this timely discussion. It's exciting to see many people interested
>> with the zero rating debate. I'm sure Ebele and Akua from Facebook
>> are fascinated by the dynamism of this group. Thank you Ebele and
>> Akua for graciously joining this debate.
>>
>>
>>
>> I'll keep my opinions to myself and only ask questions.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  1. Does Facebook support Net Neutrality?
>>
>>
>>
>>  2. Does Facebook's zero rating contravene net neutrality principle?
>>
>>
>>
>>  3. Will Facebook take "zero rated services" to areas without any
>>     connectivity infrastructure?
>>
>>
>>
>>  4. Will Facebook zero rated services reach all the people, even
>>     those with feature phones? Does fb have non app based Free
>>     basics?. What percentage of your target market has access to
>>     smart phones?
>>
>>
>>
>>  5. Which network operators does Facebook work with? Are all ISPs
>>     welcomed to the party?
>>
>>
>>
>>  6. Will free basics help reduce the cost of internet access?
>>
>>
>>
>>  7. Does Facebook pay ISPs to offer the "walled garden" to end users?
>>
>>
>>
>>  8. Why is Facebook running campaigns for "free basics" in a way to
>>     suggest that it is  giving free access to the internet? Is FB and
>>     a few vanilla websites the Internet?
>>
>>
>>
>>  9. Facebook is considered affluent. Would it consider providing free
>>     internet to everyone?
>>
>>
>>
>> 10. Is free basics bridging the digital divide or creating confusion
>>     of those who cannot differentiate between Facebook and the
>>     Internet? Is Facebook keen that users from the developing world
>>     have access to the whole wealth of knowledge and information that
>>     the Internet provides?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>>
>>
>> Mwendwa Kivuva
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