[Chapter-delegates] Shutdown of Skype on our Mobile Broadband Internet Access

Mon May 27 10:54:37 PDT 2013

Thanks Alex, Alejandro and all,

The info shared is quite pertinent. The press releases from the regulator and ministry claimed that the reason for their action was because the government - controlled operator was losing millions in revenue due to the voip services offered by the thousands of cyber cafes in the country. They however have clarified that private use of these services on personal mobile phones, pcs, etc, was still legal.

This is quite odd as cyber cafes do not charge an additional fee for using skype, viber or any other voip services on their systems. There is only a flat fee (half-hourly) for internet access.  The majority of gambians are poor and cannot afford the rates for mobile internet on the one hand, while the very low literacy rate on the other hand, causes many citizens who want to communicate with their families abroad to use the convenience of the cyber cafes. There is a huge gambian diaspora and they contribute significantly to the economic welfare of their loved ones at home and the economy of The Gambia in general, via monthly subventions to their families.  This new directive will impact negatively on the poor and non-literate citizens' access to the internet.

Gabriel Latjor Ndow 

On May 27, 2013, at 5:37 PM, Dr. Alejandro Pisanty Baruch wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> first, kudos to Alex Blom for putting forward some real help!
> 
> The problems described here for Ghana and the Gambia can be cast in terms of Network Neutrality though we know there are more than nuances to the term. It describes well the basics in our situation in many economies and the technical detail and policy nuance becomes second-order in our context.
> 
> We in Mexico have been somewhat successful by campaigning against some specific law initiatives that would have been very damaging, by explaining that Network Neutrality or, more fundamentally, core Internet principles like end-to-end mean that the Internet means "Five Alls": all ports, all protocols, all contents, all origins, all destinations. Any restriction must preferably be temporary, justified on the basis of law or traffic engineering requirements, and explained to the client/user/citizen in transparent terms. 
> 
> We did stop cold in its tracks one initiative for Network Neutrality legislation, explicitly called so, that went one step further and allowed anything as long as the users were informed. We caught it at the right political moment (the legislator pushing it was running in an election for a new period, so was particularly vulnerable/sensitive) and the law was obviously awful. 
> 
> We brought it down by pushing for the legislature to call for an open multistakeholder public consultation. About fifteen minutes into the session you could see on the legislators' (members of a commission) faces that the law was dead.
> 
> Our further work is more nuanced since we work with(in) the regulators and with industry, where Telefonica of Spain leads the anti-Neutrality push, and have agreed to NOT legisltate and NOT regulate, but watch the evolution of the issues in the field. We have cited the examples of the UK's OFCOM and France's ARCEP for a similar approach: signal the issue, underline its importance, watch, be ready to signal major breakdowns (like the ones you have in Ghana and the Gambia in these reports.)
> 
> One more caveat, the situations are a bit different: operators will always claim that in mobile Internet access they have to impose more restrictions because of spectrum scarcity and that video etc. exhaust the available resources. That argument is partly true, partly a matter of money invested into network infrastructure and wise operational practice. 
> 
> I think that using Alex Blom's offer will help a lot because I think you will find a lot more inappropriate restrictions than just Skype or VoIP. 
> 
> One last point: beware of being seen as taking sides with one industry or company against the other (esp. now that Skype is owned by Microsoft); stick to principles.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Yours,
> 
> Alejandro Pisanty
> 
>  
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
>      Dr. Alejandro Pisanty
> Facultad de Química UNAM
> Av. Universidad 3000, 04510 Mexico DF Mexico
>  
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> 
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> 
> Desde: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org [chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] en nombre de GABRIEL LATJOR NDOW [md at gambian.com]
> Enviado el: lunes, 27 de mayo de 2013 12:02
> Hasta: Chapter Delegates
> Asunto: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Shutdown of Skype on our Mobile Broadband Internet Access
> 
> Hi,
> We in The Gambia are also experiencing issues surrounding Skype, Voip,...  A few weeks ago, the regulator abruptly announced a banning of skype and other voip services in cyber cafes (where many Gambians access the internet) which was quickly followed by a strong endorsement by the government following a major public outcry.  The regulator has since drafted a regulation to enforce their initial pronouncement.  This is quite problematic and we believe both the regulator and the government need to be better educated on this matter. There is a strong telecom bias in both agencies. There are major governance issues in this country and the internet environment here is quite challenging.
> 
> Gabriel
> ISOC Gambia 
> 
> On May 27, 2013, at 2:42 PM, Alexander Blom wrote:
> 
>> Hello Edwin,
>> 
>> Together with the Bangla Desh chapter, we developed a smartphone app which can test whether your local isp blocks applications like skype. This works very well if you want to get statistics on the different isp's, we have run around 10,000 tests with it already  Please check our website http://open.internet.nl (it has English) or download the app (English spoken) from Google Play store "Open Internet NL" Despite the NL for Netherlands we can capture the results of your local test right away and send them to you. So try it out and let me know if I can be of further help.
>> 
>> Cheers, Alex Blom
>> Treasurer ISOC Netherlands
>> 
>> 
>>  
>>  
>> On 5/27/2013 11:18 AM, Edwin A. Opare wrote:
>>> I think this a clear Net Neutrality issue. Eric like you rightly said, I also think we should tackle the issue from the Regulator level with evidence to back our position and ISOC Ghana should lead the charge in this endeavor.
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> 
>>> EAO
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 8:58 AM, Evelyn A. Lewis <elewis at sbtsgroup.com> wrote:
>>> HI Eric,
>>> 
>>> Not the same experience as you in Ghana in Sierra Leone, but noted that it is supposed to be illegal if the Gateway is considered a monopoly or legal if liberalized.  I think the key thing is in the commercial usage of skype in voice.
>>> 
>>> Much as they try to regulate this, I think  those states banning VOIP are fighting a losing battle unless they want to become police states.
>>> 
>>> VOIP as an application has so many routes.
>>> 
>>> It’s  inevitable that voice traffic gradually has to begin to accept its permanent state as billing under a converged service plan and figuring in ARPU as such.
>>> 
>>> I think ISOC has a role to play here in educating regulators.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> 
>>> Evelyn
>>> 
>>>  
>>>  
>>>  
>>>  
>>> From: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org [mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Akumiah
>>> Sent: Monday, May 27, 2013 3:45 AM
>>> To: ISOC Chapter Delegates
>>> Subject: [Chapter-delegates] Shutdown of Skype on our Mobile Broadband Internet Access
>>> 
>>>  
>>> Hi everyone,
>>> 
>>>  
>>> We have been experience a shut down of Skype by some of our Mobile Broadband operators and I want to know if any chapter has experience such a thing and what measures were used to address it. We intent complain to the regulator in the Ministry of Communications here in a position paper. We will like some input from any chapter who has had such an experience.
>>> 
>>>  
>>> Kind regards
>>> 
>>> Eric
>>> 
>>> President,
>>> 
>>> Ghana Chapter 
>>> 
>>> 
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>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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