Uganda Communications Commission shutdown order

Tue Jan 19 15:29:19 UTC 2021

On 1/19/21 17:15, Sean Donelan wrote:

> There is only one problem in engineering -- scaling.
>
> Country internet shutdowns never go to zero.  There's usually 5% to 
> 15% left over connectivity. There are always a few embassies, 
> international companies, NGOs and even government offices itself with 
> left over service.
>
> Satellites (even next-gen) are great for small outposts, ships, oil 
> platforms.  But have scaling problems, i.e. billing millions of 
> customers without the government noticing.  Large capacity earth 
> stations and cable landing sites are noticable.
>
> The mobile phone carriers and ISPs serving the other million(s) 
> customers will obey the government shutdown orders. Its very difficult 
> (cost, techincally, access) for the ordinary consumer to get around 
> their own government's orders.  Yes, the rich can always afford/get 
> sat-phones and sat-modems.
>
> When an autocratic government notices too many people using something 
> else, it can become very painful for those subscribers.
>
> And of course, international treaties (ITU) covering satellites and 
> international radio transmissions are written by governments.

Satellite solutions are not ideal for large scale use-cases. These would 
be for the odd business, the odd whale, that sort of thing.

At scale, satellite doesn't work anymore, not even in Africa.

That said, it's easy to hit people where it hurts by getting the mobile 
operators to block access, especially in Africa. That is how most people 
get (and stay) connected. For a tiresome gubbermint, the extra 5% - 15% 
connectivity that remains after all the blocking dust has settled, is a 
small price to pay to keep the remaining 85% - 95% disconnected.

Mark.