[kictanet] Introducing Facebook Africa Public Policy Team to KICTANet

[Ebele Okobi]

Zero-rating plans  are indeed fully compatible and offered along with paid plans-they are just one of many options, and per my response below, zero-rating that is paid for by operator must exist together with paid plans because if not, the operator can't survive.

Ebele Okobi | Head of Public Policy, Africa
m. +44 (0) 771 156 1315<tel:+44%20(0)%20771%20156%201315>
10 Brock Street | London<x-apple-data-detectors://0/1> | NW1 3FG
ebeleokobi at fb.com<mailto:ebeleokobi at fb.com>

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On Dec 3, 2015, at 5:57 AM, waudo siganga via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:

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/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.theregister.co.uk_2015_12_02_max-5Fzuckerberg-5Freply-5Fletter_&d=CwMCAw&c=5VD0RTtNlTh3ycd41b3MUw&r=ArvepG4_wcNu_X9xi3nb_Xa9WsGLVfmK6mwPdVONOTE&m=1ofvsWEAoehiEhB-dCxh1KgaGPcRfqQJtXIk2EWLIdY&s=sTudx9RKEpMTIDrooq2cQ0jfcJSIgIeFLOoxc6FzFHg&e=>,

On Dec 3, 2015 1:05 AM, Kivuva at transworldafrica.com<mailto: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<mailto: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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