On May 29, 2018, at 00:05 , Scott Weeks <surfer@mauigateway.com> wrote:

I believe you were responding to me, but it was really hard to tell. If so, here's the conversation...

...

Also, please don't just look at continental countries when researching. Look at the small PICs (Pacific Island Countries). For example, search the posts from Christian on Kiribati on the PICISOC list. The cost is extraordinary and all the ego-flattering bloat rsk speaks (relevant part of the post id below) of in very expensive to download and is nearly impossible to stop.

--- ben@6by7.net wrote: From: Ben Cannon <ben@6by7.net>

Then Africa in particular is specifically disadvantaged - I spent a good deal of time in Haiti and 4G connectivity was abundant at good speeds, as were terrestrial fiber connections.

Mirrors my experience in half a dozen other 3rd world countries. Unless there’s something particularly oppressive about Africa? --------------------------------------

I guess I was more meaning in the Pacific, since I'm from there. And more particularly places like Kiribati, Cook Islands, Marquesas and other far flung Pacific Island Countries. My apologies for the confusion. Hati and other countries close to a rich mainland country do not suffer the same issues due to geography.

While Haiti is clos-ER to a rich mainland country than those you mentioned, I would not say that it lacks geographic challenges. They might be a bit less since (more importantly) fiber has to run past (and thus conveniently to) Hispañola (the Island containing Haiti and the DR) in order to traverse other destinations which obviously is not the case in the areas you mention above. Almost every area I am aware of in the developing world has some combination of challenges which drive its continued lagging behind more developed areas. This can, by the way, include parts of developed nations which are underserved due to geographic challenges such as some rural areas of the united States as mentioned earlier. These challenges can include any combination of economic, geographic, geologic, terrain, cultural, political, population density, etc. One thing I have found very interesting in my travels… Every area with challenges seems to think that their challenges are so unique that solutions that have proven elsewhere cannot possibly work for them. Every area with challenges almost always has more in common with the other areas with challenges than they perceive. I guess it is easier to talk about why things will not work than do the hard work of adapting solutions to the differences which do matter. Owen