Received: from ATHENA-AS-WELL.MIT.EDU by po7.MIT.EDU (5.61/4.7) id AA10248; Thu, 24 Mar 94 22:09:30 EST Received: from auvm.american.edu by MIT.EDU with SMTP id AA13668; Thu, 24 Mar 94 22:09:25 EST Message-Id: <9403250309.AA13668@MIT.EDU> Received: from AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 8134; Thu, 24 Mar 94 22:05:51 EST Received: from AMERICAN.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@AUVM) by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 1957; Thu, 24 Mar 1994 21:58:09 -0500 Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 18:55:50 -0800 Reply-To: "Arthur R. McGee" Sender: Technology Transfer in International Development From: "Arthur R. McGee" Subject: U.S. Challenges World to Build ``Network of Networks'' (fwd) X-To: devel-l@american.edu, africa-l@vtvm1.bitnet To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L ---------- Forwarded message ---------- BUENOS AIRES (Reuter) - The United States Monday urged countries to build a ``network of networks'' that could pump billions of dollars into the global economy by linking computers in homes, schools and offices around the world. Vice President Al Gore told a U.N.-sponsored conference on telecommunications development that the world has the financial and technical resources to spin such a web, which he baptized a Global Information Infrastructure (GII). ``We now can at last create a planetary information network that transmits messages and images with the speed of light from the largest city to the smallest village on every continent,'' Gore said. Some U.S. experts maintain a world computing network could be built and run by private industry. In fact, Gore pointed out in his speech, the network is already being built in bits and pieces as fiber-optic cable is laid under seas and across continents. His announcement coincided with the creation of a joint venture between the founders of Microsoft Corp and of McCaw Cellular Communications Inc, which appears to share a similar philosophy. In his speech to an audience including some of the world's top policy-makers and the biggest names in the communications industry, Gore said his country would throw all its might behind the global network project. Gore described a vision of a web capable of improving international communications, of raising businesses' productivity, taking education to the farthest corners of the world and even promoting representative democracy. ``The global economy will also be be driven by the growth of the Information Age. Hundreds of billions of dollars can be added to world growth if we commit to the GII,'' he added. The nine-day conference organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a U.N. body with 182 member states, will also work on an action plan to extend modern communications to the least developed countries. According to the union, despite numerous technological breakthroughs and the fact that telecommunications projects have proved profitable around the world, there is a huge gap between rich and poor nations. The 24 wealthiest countries have 70 percent of the world's telephone lines and only 15 percent of its population, ITU Secretary-General Pekka Tarjanne said, noting that two-thirds of the world's homes still have no phones. The ITU estimates the world will have to invest around $530 billion by the year 2000 to boost ``teledensity'' -- measured by main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants -- to 14.5 from 10. But, Tarjanne noted, several developing countries have managed to build up their telecommunications, including Botswana, Turkey, Korea and Chile. ``There is no blueprint for success, although there are common points that can be adopted by developing countries,'' Tarjanne said. Gore and Argentine President Carlos Menem, who in 1990 opened his country's ailing telephone system to private-sector operators, spoke out in favor of privatization and competition in telecommunications. Gore noted that participation by private industry spurred advances in communications in dozens of countries and urged others to follow the lead of Argentina, Chile and Mexico. ``But privatization is not enough. Competition is needed as well. Today, there are many more technology options than in the past and it is not only possible but desirable to have different companies running competing but interconnected networks,'' he said.