The Internet in Brazil: Origins, Strategy, Development, and Governance
By Peter T. Knight and Vint Cerf
()
About this ebook
The author has been an observer and participant in the development and use of the Internet in Africa, Asia, Russia and the United States, but above all in Brazil. He has interacted with many Internet pioneers around the world who have inspired his work.
This book, completed immediately after the Global Stakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance (NETmundial) in So Paulo, seeks to provide background that will be useful to participants in that important gathering and to Internet enthusiasts in Brazil and around the world.
Peter T. Knight
Peter T. Knight is an economist specialized in the use of information and communication technologies for accelerating economic, social, and political development. A resident of Rio de Janeiro since 2000, he is a founding member, researcher, and member of the Board of Directors of the Fernand Braudel Institute of World Economics in São Paulo and has worked as a consultant since 1997. In a career of over 20 years with the World Bank, his last three positions were Lead Economist for the Brazil Department, Chief of the National Economic Management Division of the Bank’s external training arm, and Chief of the Electronic Media Center. Previously he held positions at Cornell University, the Ford Foundation and the Brookings Institution. Peter holds a PhD from Stanford University and degrees in Government from Dartmouth College and Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. He has published ten other books, six of them dealing with the use of the Internet for development.
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The Internet in Brazil - Peter T. Knight
© 2014 Peter T. Knight. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
Published by AuthorHouse 05/01/2014
ISBN: 978-1-4918-7248-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4918-7247-5 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4918-7246-8 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014904794
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,
and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or
links contained in this book may have changed since publication and
may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,
and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
Tables
Glossary of Acronyms
Preface
Foreword
Chapter 1 The Strategic Importance of the Internet for Brazil’s Development
Background: Brazil in a nutshell
The Internet and the information and communications revolution
Benefits of an eTransformation strategy
Technological and economic rationale for an eTransformation strategy
Structure of the book
Chapter 2 The Origins and Institutions of the Internet in Brazil
Early Developments in the United States and Europe
Gestation and Birth of the Brazilian Internet
Protocol wars
The rise of the academic Internet
Civil society networks: Alternex
First steps of the commercial Internet and the birth of CGI.br
Brazil’s telecommunications law, privatization, institutions, and market structure
Chapter 3 Development of the Internet in Brazil
Fixed and mobile Internet use
The role of small Internet pioneers in digital inclusion
Youth, political participation and the Internet
Digital Inclusion, Telecenters, and Lanhouses
Lack of a national eTransformation strategy
The digital cities movement
Chapter 4 Speed, Cost, and Quality
Connection speed
Fixed and mobile broadband prices
Excessive Taxation
High interconnection fees
Requirements for domestic content in production and technology use
Service quality
Sales of mobile devices
Chapter 5 What Is Being Done to Improve Internet Connectivity?
The National Broadband Program
Expansion of the RNP: The Redecomep and Veredas Novas Programs
State fiber optic and wireless networks
Tax Reform
Policies and regulations
The Broadband in Schools program
Gesac connections, often to remote locations
Licensing of the 450 MHz and 2.5 GHz frequency bands
Antennas for Mobile Voice and Data Services
Regulations governing pricing of wholesale bandwidth
Regulations governing the quality of broadband service
Tax Incentives for domestic production of modems, tablets, PCs, smartphones and routers (access terminals)
Tax exemptions for PNBL infrastructure (REPNBL-Redes)
Progress is evident but much more is needed
Chapter 6 The Dark Side of the Internet
Spam and cybercrime
Privacy, surveillance and the Snowden affair
Cyberwarfare
Chapter 7 The Brazilian Model of Internet Governance
CGI.br Composition and Mandate
The Civil Rights Framework for the Internet
The drafting process and debate
Major issues in the debate
Getting to a vote
Major provisions of the MCI
The evolving international Internet governance ecosystem
NETmundial and Brazil
Chapter 8 The Future of the Internet in Brazil
Needed changes in legislation, policies and programs
Two challenges
Consensus formation
Final thoughts
References
About the Author
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
Figure 1: The Digital Universe
Figure 2: Simplified Links among Elements of an eTransformation Strategy
Figure 3: RNP Leased Line BITNET Connections in December 1991
Figure 4: RNP Network in 1992
Figure 5: The Telebras Backbone Network in 2014 as Projected in 2012
Figure 6: RNP’s Backbone Network in December 2013
Figure 7: The Veredas Novas Program Expands the RNP Backbone Network
Figure 8: Navegapará’s Fiber Optic Network in 2012
Figure 9: Ceará’s Digital Belt
Figure 10: CGI.br and NIC.br Structure
Figure 11: Layered Model of the Internet Ecosystem
Tables
Table 1: Percentage of Individuals Who Accessed the Internet, 2012
Table 2: Digital Natives in Selected Countries, 2012
Table 3: Percentage of Total Internet Users by Place of Access, 2005, 2010, and 2012
Table 4: Comparison of Brazil’s Rank with Those of Selected Countries on IDI, IDI Access Component and NRI, 2012
Table 5: Comparison of Brazil’s Connection Speeds with those of Selected Countries, 3rd Quarter 2013
Glossary of Acronyms
Preface
By Vint Cerf *
The book you are reading is an important contribution to the history of the Internet, in particular, in Brazil. There are several reasons why this is such a valuable contribution. First, Brazil has grown to become among the most prosperous and influential countries, not only in Latin America, but on the world stage. The way in which Brazil has managed the introduction of the Internet contains useful lessons for the rest of the Internet Community.
The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) is responsible for overseeing and aiding Internet development in the country. In order to perform its activities, the CGI.br created a non-profit civil organization, the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br) that provides a range of services to the Brazilian Internet community as is illustrated in its web site, http://www.cgi.br/english/activities/index.htm, and discussed in Chapter 7 of this book.
But what is most important about CGI.br is the multistakeholder model that it has successfully implemented for the formulation, adoption and execution of policy regarding the Internet in Brazil.
* Vint Cerf is widely known as a Father of the Internet
. He was co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols that govern packet information flows and of the basic architecture of the Internet. He was a founder of the Internet Society and its first president as well as chairman of ICANN from 2000-2007. He is currently Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist of Google.
The CGI.br includes the federal government, the private sector, civil society, and the technical and academic communities. At a time when there is much tension between governments and others in the Internet community over policy, this example serves as a reminder of what is possible.
The history of the Internet in Brazil begins in the academic community, as has been common for many countries, including the United States, where the Internet was first implemented. It has expanded in scale and in access over a period of decades, heavily assisted by the development of mobile smartphones and by optical fiber networks that bring high speed and critical connectivity to the country. To this we can add the existence of Internet eXchange Points (IXPs) and multiple Internet Service Providers. All of these technologies and the businesses that make them available contribute to the vitality of the Internet in Brazil.
The high tech protectionism of the 1980s has given way to a much more vibrant and international economy and this has created an atmosphere in which entrepreneurs have thrived. The universities are turning out well-educated graduates in technical and business disciplines and these feed a growing number of new companies whose business needs create new jobs that contribute to the economy.
Over the past four years, beginning with a statement ten basic principles elaborated by CGI.br, a highly participatory debate involving all sectors of the Brazilian Internet community has taken place to develop legislation called the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet. Extensive crowdsourcing over the Internet, public hearings and seminars, and debate in Congress contributed to the drafting process. Both its content and the process by which it was elaborated are worthy of study by other countries and the international Internet community.
I hope that other chroniclers, like Peter Knight, will take the time and effort to help us understand the way in which Internet is received and nurtured in the many other countries of the world. In the meantime, I hope you will find this book as interesting as I have.
Foreword
This book expands on a more journalistic article entitled The Internet in Brazil: Poor strategy weakens progress
in Braudel Papers No. 48, a publication of the Fernand Braudel Institute of World Economics in São Paulo.¹ I had to keep that article to about 8,000 words to meet space limitations. But I wanted to write a longer, more academic piece with complete documentation and references for readers interested in a deeper exploration of the subject matter.
My passion for the Internet and its enormous potential for accelerating economic, social and political development dates back to 1992 when I was leading an external training unit of the World Bank dealing with national economic management. One day John Gage, then of Sun Microsystems, walked into my office and showed me the Mosaic web browser and the World Wide Web. Later he introduced me to one of Russia’s ICT pioneers, Sasha Galitsky.