Weeks before Spring Break, when many students may be leafing through brochures for sunny beach resorts in Jamaica, two members of the university community are headed to the island nation with more than sun and sand in mind.

Two School of Information Studies professors will be leading a discussion designed to bridge the digital divide and bring affordable and efficient internet access to Jamaica.

Lee McKnight, associate professor in the School of Information Studies, and Jon Gant, assistant professor in the School of Information Studies and in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will be bringing experts and policy-makers together in the first-ever Jamaican Internet Forum to discuss the challenges of expanding Internet access in Jamaica and the rest of the developing world.

Jamaica, a country where people live in abject poverty next door to opulent beach resorts, is no less divided when it comes to Internet access.

“It’s a country of very large extremes, where affluent areas have very good Internet connections and in the poorer areas it’s tough to get access,” said Gant.

To help even out this disparity, officials in the Jamaican Office of Utilities Regulation sought McKnight and Gant’s assistance in organizing the forum, which will be held Feb. 20-21 in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. In attendance will be experts from institutions of higher learning as well as representatives from U.S. government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Among the topics to be addressed at the form is the regulatory state of the island’s telecommunications network. The Jamaican government is just now beginning to break up the virtual monopoly held by British telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless, with new regulatory legislation coming into effect this spring.

Scott Marcus, senior adviser for Internet technology at the FCC, said one of several FCC officials who will be attending the forum will advise Jamaican regulatory agencies in moving away from the former dominance of Cable & Wireless.

One of the options being explored for the expansion of Internet access in Jamaica is the use of wireless technology. McKnight said wireless technology is a good fit for developing areas such as Jamaica, where the initial demand for access will be low and the cost of upgrading outdated telecommunications infrastructure is prohibitive.

“When you think about low-cost ways to quickly expand Internet access, [wireless technology] is a really effective method,” said McKnight. “In many countries, many people have their first telephone or Internet access on a wireless network.”

Low cost is a must for Internet solutions in places like Jamaica, which may not have the resources to devote to costly infrastructure improvements.

“The resource issue is very important,” Gant said. “We’re trying to help decision makers in the Jamaican government make smart choices about the scant resources they do have.”

Gant said several other Caribbean countries in addition to Jamaica are considering ways of expanding Internet access. This is important because small nations in that region must often combine markets to attract the services of a major telecommunications firm, Gant said.

“It’s tough for service providers to get an economy of scale when dealing with only one country,” said Gant. “Usually what they’ll try to do is put together a consortium of countries and go with a more regional approach.”

McKnight said that as of yet there are no definite plans for action after the forum. The FCC will continue to advise Jamaican regulatory agencies, but that it will not be directly involved in any move to expand the country’s Internet access, Marcus said.

Published on February 10, 2003 at 12:00 pm