Sign up with GooglePakistan at the barricades
More than an engineering problem
Brandishing machine guns, soldiers have taken over offices of Pakistan Telecom, while workers fearing 30,000 layoffs occupy buildings in protest. Several have sworn to immolate themselves and their families in front of PTCL headquarters if privatization goes through. This New York writer doesn't know the solution for Pakistan, but hopes a peaceful solution is found that also protects the workers. PTCL is strongly profitable, so could afford to employ their staff to install broadband across the country. Privatization sometimes works well, but is no panacea. In Mexico, the Wall Street Journal notes, "Mexico's earlier attempts to overhaul state companies ended up in disaster for average Mexicans -- and huge profits for a handful of wealthy investors. Businessman Carlos Slim, who bought Mexico's former state telephone monopoly, has since become the world's third-richest man with a fortune estimated at $24 billion, while Mexicans now pay among the world's highest prices for phone service."
It's easy to imagine how 30,000 PTCL workers could be organized to build a great Internet for their country; much harder, to create a system that will do it. I don't have the answer. In the U.S., auditors find enormous waste in well-intentioned government programs, soon to include USF (if they do a good job). Private near monopolies are not always better - Dilbert works at a phone company. Given economies of scale, competition needs more support than is usually politically possible; building multiple networks may cost more than the efficiency produced.
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More than an engineering problem
Brandishing machine guns, soldiers have taken over offices of Pakistan Telecom, while workers fearing 30,000 layoffs occupy buildings in protest. Several have sworn to immolate themselves and their families in front of PTCL headquarters if privatization goes through. This New York writer doesn't know the solution for Pakistan, but hopes a peaceful solution is found that also protects the workers. PTCL is strongly profitable, so could afford to employ their staff to install broadband across the country. Privatization sometimes works well, but is no panacea. In Mexico, the Wall Street Journal notes, "Mexico's earlier attempts to overhaul state companies ended up in disaster for average Mexicans -- and huge profits for a handful of wealthy investors. Businessman Carlos Slim, who bought Mexico's former state telephone monopoly, has since become the world's third-richest man with a fortune estimated at $24 billion, while Mexicans now pay among the world's highest prices for phone service."
It's easy to imagine how 30,000 PTCL workers could be organized to build a great Internet for their country; much harder, to create a system that will do it. I don't have the answer. In the U.S., auditors find enormous waste in well-intentioned government programs, soon to include USF (if they do a good job). Private near monopolies are not always better - Dilbert works at a phone company. Given economies of scale, competition needs more support than is usually politically possible; building multiple networks may cost more than the efficiency produced.
HHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM............