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In Central and Eastern Europe this problem can be seen quite clearly. The region is already divided along rural and urban lines, much more so than western Europe and North America (Mexico excluded). In many areas there are towns and villages that still do not have paved roads, running water, or even sewage systems. Even in Budapest, which is trying to consider itself a modern, western metropolis, there are isolated areas where these services are lacking. Subsequently, it should come as no surprise that telecommunication infrastructure (and a digital one at that) is sorely lacking.

Given the poor and underdeveloped state of digital infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe, such statements as "we want more bandwidth" are clearly elitist. Firstly, many people are happy to get any reliable bandwidth at all, even if it is at flintstone speed. Secondly, it downplays any attempts at universal access. A prime example is the ELLA system in Hungary developed by the NIIF (the National Infrastructure Development Program, formerly the IIF).

ELLA is a home-grown central mailbox system and was the very first e-mail system Hungarians had access to. While many in the west were still in the dark about simple e-mail, educational, academic, and cultural institutions in Hungary were already connected. It used to be a closed system in where messages to the Internet was possible via a gateway. This system has since been put on the HELKA server of the NIIF in an effort to modernize the system.

Naturally, with the popularization of the web and GUI-based applications, systems like ELLA have been shoved aside. Now if you mention ELLA to anyone in the Internet community in Hungary, the most common reaction you will get is "ugh!". The connotation behind such a remark is that it is quite a primitive system.

This may be so when compared with the applications of today. However, if our purpose is universal access and a "level playing field", such views that look down on more "simple" applications are just plain condescending. Since ELLA is sponsored by the NIIF, most higher educational institutions and libraries within Hungary have ELLA, making it a very accessible and affordable (i.e. free) connection for students and teachers. Not only are most public institutions connected to ELLA, t also caters to the needs of individual users. There is the possibility of obtaining an off-line reader called BUTELLA which enables users to quickly send and retrieve mail from their account, much like the "toss and grab" process of many BBS networks. Moreover, there is a special number that can be called from any point in the country for the price of a local call, making ELLA a very affordable e-mail alternative for individuals in rural, isolated areas.

The ELLA system is not unique; many such initiatives exist throughout the region. However, with strained government budgets and an overly entrepreneurial spirit toward development, such initiatives are seen as a waste of public money, which is better spent toward private economic concerns (better known by the term "privatization"). Hence, they are being cut back, "privatized" (i.e., what was once free now has to be paid for), or even abandoned.

The perceived need for greater bandwidth merely exacerbates this already precarious situation. Information on the Internet is becoming increasingly bandwidth-intensive and packaged in such a way that it can't be accessed with less band-intensive applications. A case in point is with lynx; most web sites do not accommodate for alternative browsers or readers, other than Netscape and Internet Explorer versions 3.0, thereby making any information available difficult to interpret and even incomprehensible for lynx users -- or restricting access to such sites altogether.

Consequently, research and development in using alternative communication technologies, such as HAM radio, are not even considered since the bandwidth supported by such technologies are considered negligible. Furthermore, software that can be used to run on old, antiquated hardware (such as basic KERMIT, which runs well with an 8 Mhz 286 and only 640K RAM), is no longer developed or even supported, if even used at all.

In trying to overcome social and rural seclusion and introduce the concept of interactive communication to a broader base of a given population, such technologies and systems can be instrumental in achieving goals toward universal service by providing a basic level of access. Many in rural areas of Central and Eastern Europe are isolated not only physically from the more urbanite happenings of the "global economy" and the online world, but are also conceptually unable to fully grasp its implications. Although much is printed about the Internet in newspapers, along with radio and television shows and reports about "cyberspace", it is hard for people to fully understand the extent of what is going on when they can't properly conceptualize the information that is being thrown at them. The only way in which they can begin to have an idea about what is going on is if they can see it for themselves, that is, in terms of actually using the technology.

What is ironic in all of this is that a lot of the "old" technology, in terms of slower hardware (286 PCs, 2400 bps modems, etc), are being thrown out, recycled, or are just sitting idle and gathering dust, when they can be used to help bridge the gap between those who know and those who don't. The idea that slow connection speeds is nearly useless in the perceived need for greater bandwidth, merely justifies the trashing of "old" technology. In many ways, this is a reflection of basic, capitalist behaviour; although there are people in need, they are kept in a perpetual state of want. For example, in terms of food, western countries destroy much of their surplus in order to encourage a continual cycle of production-consumption (also referred to as the process of "supply and demand") as well as to keep market prices high in order for particular products to remain "competitive" (Canada has done so in the past with eggs and wheat, Germany with apples). In turn, redistribution to the poor and needy is restricted. Furthermore, public "health" concerns are used as a guise by authorities to restrict any form of redistribution efforts, as in the case of "Food Not Bombs", an organization which is continually harassed by local authorities.

Unfortunately, in the computer world the issue of bandwidth plays a similar role. People are being kept offline until they can not only afford access, but also the ability to run applications that use a lot of bandwidth. Thus, by demanding more bandwidth rather than concentrating on, and supporting the development of, less band-intensive web sites and applications, the dichotomy between "us and them" will linger on while the chasm separating the rich and poor widens, perpetuating the social, economic, and political injustices that such segregation breeds.

John Horvath

Budapest, Hungary