Viva Internet!

[Doug Tooley]

FYI:

          Peruvians Climb Onto the Web (PC
          Optional)

          By CALVIN SIMS

LIMA, Peru -- Jessy Contreras, 23, a cosmetology student, had long dreamed
of logging on to the Internet to view the latest fashion and beauty trends
from Paris that she hoped to use in a start-up salon.

          But in a poor country like Peru, where the average income is less than
          $300 a month and few people have a telephone -- let alone a computer
          with a modem -- Ms. Contreras figured she could not afford access to
	  the information superhighway. 

          That was until Ms. Contreras joined the Peruvian Scientific Network, a
          not-for-profit cooperative. For $15 a month the organization provides
          public access not only to the Internet but also to a bank of computers
	  and classes on how to navigate the network. 

          "I can't believe that on this little screen I can see all the new
	  beauty
          products from Europe and how to make up different faces and hair," she
          said, using one of the public computers at the group's headquarters in
          Lima. "It allows me to get a head start on the competition because the
          latest styles arrive very late here in Peru." 

          Ms. Contreras is part of a quiet, little-known, technological	
	  revolution
          sweeping this Andean country of 24 million people that is undergoing a
          social and economic revival after years of terrorism and runaway
	  inflation.

          Peruvians, half of whom live below the nation's official poverty line,
	  are
          signing on to the Internet in great numbers, thanks to the Peruvian
          Scientific Network, which aims to bring the benefits of the
	  information age
          to poor and disadvantaged people. 

          But operators of the network say they have been hampered from
          expanding the cooperative to other parts of Peru because the country's
          recently privatized telephone company has refused to install the
	  necessary
          telephone circuits. The telephone company, Telefonica de Peru, which
          plans to offer a competing Internet service, denies those charges, and
	  says
          any delays are simply the result of technical problems. 

          Peruvian Scientific Network, known in Peru as RCP, began five years
          ago with $7,000 in seed money from the U.N. Development Fund and 40
          subscribers. Today, the network has about 22,000 subscribers and $4
          million in equipment and claims to have the world's fourth-fastest
	  growing
          Internet network, after Brazil, Mexico and Chile. Organizers of the
          network say it will reach 60,000 subscribers within the next year. 

          While South American countries like Brazil, Argentina and Chile are
	  far
          more developed and have more Internet users than Peru, the RCP is the
          only network in Latin America that is an independent cooperative not
          financed by the government and that offers public use of computers. 

          "The Peruvian network is the first to capture the true spirit of the
	  Internet
          and cyberspace because it provides access to everyone even if you	
	  don't
          have a computer," said Francisco Sagasti, a Peruvian political analyst
	  who
          has written extensively on the impact of technology on society. "It
	  answers
          that troubling question about access to new technology and whether the
          average person will be left out of the technological revolution." 

          The network, which was the first provider of Internet service in Peru,
	  is
          financed by its members, including universities, hospitals,
	  nongovernmental
          organizations, associations and private citizens. All profits are
	  reinvested
          into maintaining and expanding the network. 

          For $40 a month, individual users with their own PCs can gain access
	  to
          the Internet and various other Peruvian and international information
          services by calling the RCP's local number. About 5 percent of the
          Peruvian population, mainly upper-class people, have personal
	  computers
          -- and only 4 percent of the total population have telephones. 

          For those who do not have access to a computer, there are 35 work
          stations available for public use at the network's headquarters in
	  Lima, at
          a cost of $15 a month or $5 an hour. 

          Many tourists and traveling businessmen also use the service. And in
	  the
          late afternoon, demand for the public-access computers has become so
          strong that network officials have had to limit usage to three hours a
	  week
          during those peak hours. 

          "Peruvians understand that the Internet is a valuable tool that they
	  need to
          master if they are to improve their economic situation," said Jose
	  Soriano,
          the founder and director of the Peruvian network. "The concept of the
          RCP is to minimize the gap between the information haves and the
          information have-nots." 

          Soriano said the network planned to open public Internet centers
          throughout the country to make computers and classes available to
          millions of Peruvians, even those who live in remote areas. There are	
	  also
          plans to connect every school to the network by the year 2000. 

          But Soriano said the expansion was being severely hampered by
          Telefonica de Peru, which he said had refused to provide telephone
	  lines
          and support to open the new Internet centers. 

          Soriano said that the network had secured the office space and
	  computer
          hardware to open 14 new Internet centers with public computers but
	  that
          the network had been waiting for more than six months for Telefonica
	  to
          install the telephone circuits. 

          He suggested that Telefonica was delaying installation so that it
	  could start
          its own Internet access service called Infovia, which will be used as
	  a
          gateway for other Internet-access providers. 

          "We think that the introduction of other Internet services will be
	  good for
          Peru and will expand usage here," Soriano said, "but it's unfair when
  	  a
          company that has a monopoly refuses to provide basic service." 

          Soriano said the RCP is considering several actions against
	  Telefonica,
          including public protests, a lawsuit or seeking some way to bypass the
          company. 

          Tomas D'Ornellas Radziwill, a Telefonica spokesman, denied that his
          company was deliberately delaying installation of new circuits for the
	  RCP
          and said that the company had gone out of its way to respond to the
          RCP's needs. In some cases, however, D'Ornellas said there were
          technical difficulties that might cause delays of up to three months. 

          D'Ornellas said that while Telefonica did not plan to offer Internet
	  access
          directly to individuals, the company had received requests from 40
          companies wishing to use Telefonica's Infovia service as the basis for
	  their
          own Internet-access businesses. It is unclear how much these new,
          commercial services will cost, compared with the RCP offerings. 

          The Telefonica network will be open to all providers, including RCP,
          according to D'Ornellas, who said that the telephone company had
          reached agreement with computer makers to allow Peruvians to purchase
          modems for about $40 as a way of promoting the service. 

          But because Infovia will not offer public Internet computers,
	  D'Ornellas
          said he did not consider his company to be in competition with the
          nonprofit cooperative. 

          But Telefonica does stand to increase its revenues by convincing
	  Internet
          providers to use Infovia. 

          "This is a case of David vs. Goliath," said Sagasti, the political
	  analyst.
          "Except David doesn't even have a slingshot, and if someone doesn't do
          something to protect the RCP it will get swallowed up -- and that
	  could
          severely limit the open access that Peruvians now have to the net." 

          So far, though, several hundred additional Peruvians are signing up
	  with
          the RCP each week. 

          Manuel Molla Madueno, 57, a psychologist, started using the public
          Internet computers in January because his Intel 286 computer at home
          was too old to connect to the Internet. (In Peru, doctors and
          psychologists often make as little as $400 or $500 a month, so buying
 	  a
          new PC is a major expenditure.) 

          "I use the Internet to read psychology magazines and articles and
	  notes
          that are posted on the psychology bulletin board," Molla said. "The
	  only
          problem is that I've become obsessed with what I can do on the
	  Internet
          and I'm spending all my free time here." 

          Two schoolteachers, Teresa de Jesus Izquierdo, 50, and Dora Hedalgo
          Roca, 51, recently learned to sign on and surf the Internet at the
	  public
          center. "We decided that we had to learn about computers because our
          children are using them and we have no idea what they doing," Mrs.
          Hedalgo said. 

          After browsing through several Web pages, the teachers said they were
          most interested in monitoring Spanish culture around the world. 

          "What we like best is looking at the artwork in the Prado Museum,"	
	  Mrs.
          Izquierdo said, "and sending messages to other Peruvians who are
	  living
          overseas and want to know what's going on here at home."


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