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From: harmo@cc.helsinki.fi
Newsgroups: comp.society.development,news.misc,soc.culture.nepal
Subject: usenet in Nepal
Message-ID: <1991Jun3.141524.1@cc.helsinki.fi>
Date: 3 Jun 91 12:15:24 GMT
Sender: news@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Uutis Ankka)
Organization: University of Helsinki
Lines: 63

I have some visitors from Nepal Telephone Company (NTC) and I've been 
talking to them about computer-mediated communication systems, 
mainly usenet. 

I feel that Usenet could be a great tool for development. It could
help NTC and other local companies and byreacracies greatly in their
own computerization (I am taking for granted here that
computerazation can be a good thing for developing countries, of
course that is much open for discussion). It is quite  difficult to
find a broad range of expertize in Kathmandu, not  to speak of other
parts of Nepal).  

Nepal is also full of  foreign experts. Telefax
has helped communications very much,  e-mail and usenet would be
another big step in making the work  of experts more efficient.
Maybe some experts could even be  replaced by expertice offered thru
the networks.

I understand that the universities in Kathmandu are so poorly
computerized that it would be quite difficult to get much
educational benefits from the usenet connections (maybe participants
in soc.culture.nepal will respond to this).

Maybe the + & - of computer-mediated communications would be a
fruitful topic in the new comp.society.development-group?

Then some technical and organizational questions to netters in
news.misc.
I've been claiming that:
 -They could get the necessary hardware and software for about 
5000-10000$ (386+unix+uucp+nn+9600mnp or trailblazer or...?)
 -They could maintain the system locally (there is at least one 
unix-dealer in Kathmandu, and NTC has qualified computer 
personel, though no unix-experience so far). With Nepali 
bureaucratic system it would maybe mean assigning one or two 
foreign-trainded engineers to maintain the system and using the 
local company for support and training. Alternatively, they 
might get some international funding.
 -They could try to find a newsfeed in London (all international 
calls go thru London anyway, lines to neigboring 
countries are too bad). About half-hours connection daily would 
keep them well up-to-date on most important newsgroups and on 
e-mail. How do you go about finding a feed?
 -Many international organizations would be very happy to get 
these connections. NTC could serve as a feed to them. Internal 
telephone connections are very good in Nepal, so that would be 
no problem.

Any mistakes here? Am I perhaps underestimating the work in 
maintaining a usenet-node?

What worries me most is how does this fit in usenet and uucp 
policies? NTC is a state-owned business. They must make some 
profit thru the system or it must help run their other 
businesses more efficiently.  As I understand, that would be 
quite un-usenethical. Does the fact that this would take place in
one of the poorest developing coutries change anything?

Will they be able to charge the sites that they will be  feeding
(apart from the telepone-bills)? Should they rather look for some
commercial systems?  Should a possible usenet- and uucp -connection 
be established by some other organization (UN?) that could  put up
the system and serve as a feed to others?