Internet users in Malta are a strange lot. Rather than thanking the ever so merciful possibility of somehow accessing the Internet, they mutter, grumble and complain about the trivial issue of being able to connect only after 300 redials or, once connected, of being disconnected for umpteen times or of not being able to download a webpage or of using ftp or IRC... That's being ungrateful!

Oh well... Internet users in Malta are indeed a strange lot... They don't know what real Internet service is. Precious few have tasted a proper Internet service by sampling what's offered internationally. Things like high modem to user ratios or low bandwidth per user are not such a common occurrence where the United States or many Western European countries are concerned. To be very honest - and not to take the defense of Internet Service Providers - there are some rather delicate issues relative to international connectivity. These mainly relate to its availability and eventual cost to ISPs. On the other hand, one must also concede that not all Maltese ISPs offer an adequate service to their users but on this point a further more detailed article will be made available in due course.

Now, for a second, clear your mind and think of the following: Imagine you could access the Internet whenever you wanted... Imagine that the subscription rate would be equivalent to what the current average is... Imagine that the bandwidth available to you would grow by 300 times... Imagine you wouldn't pay a single penny in telephone bills... Imagine this technology were available and that it could be introduced in Malta very easily without substantial investment...

Do you think all this is crazy? Well, welcome to the world of Internet distribution via cable!

The scope of this article is not to go into the technical nature of how this system works. At the end of this article will be found links to organisations offering such a service together with links to articles of note... Cable distribution of the Internet is the future: Suffice to say is that in one of its more recent moves, Microsoft has invested US$1 billion in Comcast - a cable TV company... Microsoft has also invested heavily in WebTV - a company developing an interactive TV top Internet access unit... Well now... Big players such as Microsoft don't invest such substantial sums unless they were more than slightly sure of the strategic relevance of the Internet and its distribution via cable, do they?

As a further premise, one must consider that in Malta we have set up quite an efficient cable television network and one must objectively consider that the performance of Melita Cable Television (a privately owned concern which is the only cable TV provider) has been to date more than satisfactory. From the latest figures available, it would appear that well over 50,000 households are subscribed to the service but that the service now reaches the vast majority of households. Similarly, one must stress the strategic relevance of having international data and telephony connections under the auspices of Telemalta Corporation (the national, government owned, phone company). Similarly one must consider that current ISPs have now gathered good (and bad) experience after having invested substantial funds. Most importantly, we must acknowledge that the Internet should form part of the national infrastructure of any country - let alone a developing microstate like Malta.

Let us adopt a Q&A approach for clarity...
 

"Well... how can it be that we could download at 300 times the speed of a 28,8 modem?"

Ever seen a phone wire? ....and a coax wire used by cable? Putting the issue quite simply, if you were to take a cross-section of each of them you would find that whilst a phone line is indeed substantially thinner than a coax cable. In fact, a coax can easily handle high bandwidth transmission of the Internet together with TV signals.

If one were to group this together with the use of high capacity / quick refresh local proxy and mirror servers together with generation of extra international access through a co-ordination with Telemalta for the supply of satellite uplinks to the Internet and through international high volume fibreoptic links, the overall service would be immensely fast and, yes, this would match around 300 times the speed of FULL 28,8 connections - which we in Malta do not really normally enjoy with normal dial up connections.
 

"How could it be we would still be paying a similarly priced subscription?"

Economically, the distribution of the Internet via cable makes it possible for cable TV companies to generate an extra source of income with low costs since it would utilise an existing infrastructure.

There is, however, an investment required in the availability of increased international connections, in possessing high volume routing and server capacity, in possessing a number of professional technicians and engineers... It must be similarly considered that your Internet time would become more productive and therefore any minor adjustments in monthly subscribtions should also be considered in the light of your decrease in waiting time and in your increased possibility of accessing more media-rich sites which utilise streaming multimedia or of being able to download large files much more quickly and reliably.
 

"What do you mean when you say we would pay no phone bills?"

The cable TV system runs independently of the phone system. By its nature, it would be like having a leased line to your provider of choice and thus you would not need to dial any phone number.

Another advantage of cablemodems is that one can have more than one Internet connection in the home (exactly like the cable TV system where one can have multiple outlets).
 

"Surely Telemalta will lose substantial revenue?"

Whilst Telemalta would indeed lose the revenue from the current telephone bills generated by Maltese Internet users, it would generate substantial increases in revenues through the supply of international data connections. In fact, the current set-up would have to be greatly upgraded to cater for (a) the increase in online users and (b) to cater for the increase in bandwidth per user. The international connections could therefore be made available at a lower rate due to increases in economies of scale thus making the cost to the new larger cable ISP more attractive than the cost to current ISPs.

Connection to the Internet backbone would have to consider that Malta would need to be connected to both the European line and the North American line.

A further source of revenue could be generated if Telemalta were to form part of the formal Internet backbone since Malta could act as a hub for the North African / Mediterranean region. The strategic relevance of such a move could allow Maltese companies to export web-oriented services to countries within the region.
 

"Wouldn't existing ISPs rebel at such a project?"

Well, one has to consider the role and service of current Internet Service Providers in Malta. Whilst a number of providers are indeed doing a good service to their users, one cannot really say that the overall service matches that of any Western European or (even less still) North American country.

There are many reasons for this. Not only is an ISP burdened with high backbone hookup costs but also one must admit that the deregulated manner in which the Internet has been introduced has made it such that from a strategic perspective, Malta has by far too many ISPs and not all of which can honestly be entitled to use ISP to describe their service. To be defined as an Internet Service Provider, a company must be connected directly to an internet backbone provider such as AlterNet.

The availability of so many ISPs in Malta has made it thus that no economies of scale may be developed due to the fixed costs of operation which are constantly being created with each new player that enters the scene. The demand for Internet service is on the increase but is increasing at a much faster rate than the number of access lines available and, even worse still, than the total international connectivity available. This can be proven by examining the average quality of service of Maltese ISPs month by month.

This observation is made to illustrate the necessity of a co-ordinated planification of the Internet in Malta and in the importance of Government's role in such an activity.

It is a fact that if things continue to develop as they are developing, we will arrive at a point where ISPs will drop by the wayside. Already, in hushed tones, employees of certain ISPs are voicing their concerns regarding the overall situation. The overall service available makes it thus that many users are getting quite frustrated and, therefore, are not recommending the Internet to possible new users. This is a fact and a worrying one at that. One must furthermore concur that inter-ISP movements of subscribers are quite prominent. Recent moves by ISPs to eliminate student subscriptions and to distinguish (in terms of server space and bandwidth) between home and business users have caused much to raise many questions on the creation of an artificial blockage of growth or access to certain categories of users.

The ideal setup (which can only be achieved through a Government sponsored and coordinated project) would include the incorporation of existing ISPs under one roof together with Melita Cable Television. The ISPs would be allocated a particular side to the service depending to their strongpoints (for example: Kemmunet would handle business side connections, VOL would handle innovation and value added services, Maltanet would handle home users, keyWORLD would handle student and subsidised subscriptions, GlobalNet would handle secure server technologies and so on).

Similarly, ISPs would still play a role in servicing those areas of the Islands not covered by the cable TV network, users not interested in joining a cable TV network and users requiring leased lines or specialised server space.

At the end of the day, one could also contend that it would be an issue of competition and opportunities: If ISPs would not collaborate in such a venture, their future would be in question.
 

"Would we need extra equipment to connect to the Internet via cable?"

In order to connect to a such a service two things are required: First an ethernet network card installed in your computer. (The cost of which is dropping rapidly and I believe these are available easily at Lm50). As regards the cablemodems proper, the normal method adopted in the US is to lease out the unit or to ask for a deposit from the user (in the lines of current policy adopted by Melita Cable Television

An even more important development is the advancement in PC/TV technology whereby the Internet can be accessed for browsing and email via TV linked units and thus the access to the Internet can be made available even to those users not possessing a computer in their home.
 

"I am a keen Internet user but I cannot understand how Malta could stand to benefit from all this and why, after all, we should place such relevance on the Internet."
 
We must have foresight and vision in an objective manner.

The Internet is growing exponentially in terms of users connected to it worldwide. The number of website is growing at the rate of thousands upon thousands a week. By the year 2010 it is thought that in the US alone over 50% of the population will be online. Yes, not households but population. (Current figures stand at 10% of households plus 21% of households considering joining in the next 12 months).

No exact figures are available for Malta but one can arrive at an educated guess: Government sources have it that around 15% percent of Maltese households possess a PC. Assuming this figure to be correct, it would be prudent to assume that at least one third of these is connected to the Internet. Should this prove to be true, then all figures relating
 

"What would Malta stand to gain?"
 
In brief, imagine the benefit of having, say, 50,000 households online and how this would result in a more informed, educated and computer literate population. Imagine the advances in education as a result of this. Imagine the demand for computer and network technicians and engineers, website authors and developers, of graphic designers as a result of the increase of use of Internet based service.

Imagine the structural increase in electronic commerce and banking - giving new life, exposure and opportunities to Maltese industry and services on the net. One needs not stress the value of electronic commerce: President Clinton announced that electronic commerce will be US$200 billion in the US alone by the year 2,000. (Check out these article for further details: 'E-Clinton: His new policy arrives' and 'The Clinton's Administration New Cyber Initiative' and Next on E-Commerce Agenda: Convince Europe' ). One needs not underplay the role of electronic commerce. Just check out services like Amazon, CDNow, PC Direct or the Internet Shopping Network to see what can be done. Electronic showrooms and malls are not as expensive to set up as their masonry and marble counterparts which have become such a common feature in our country. What products or services could be sold by Malta on the net? Well, think of tourism for one and how in the US, web-based reservations and bookings have shot up in such an incredible manner...

Now, imagine the technological boom from such an increase in Internet demand... The demand for computer hardware, software, peripherals, tehnical support would skyrocket quite quickly... In fact, it would be interesting to consider the promotion of local companies which are currently assembling computers in Malta. This increase in demand would assist them in bring down their costs (through a better absorbtion of fixed costs) and this would in turn result in their increased competitiveness in the export market.

Now also think of the effects of having a pool of technologically prepared personnel in Malta: Think of how we could export web-related services to our neighbours. Check out sites like Generation X or Compucreations to see what Maltese can do... and please bear in mind that Compucreations is run by a teenager. Think of what an asset we have in promoting Malta as a centre for technologically advanced industry.

Think of the exposure Maltese culture and history could have worldwide.... of how our brothers and sisters in America, Canada, the UK and, above all, Australia could be kept in touch with live feeds of Maltese TV and radio programs via the net and what this exposure to our culture could have in promoting Malta. Think of the role Maltese educational institutions could play through distance learning programmes (foremost of these would certainly be the University of Malta).

These are but some of the ways we could project our country and how Malta could benefit from the Internet if this were to be viewed in a non-partisan, strategic manner.
 

"How could this project be financed?"

Should there be Government coordination, such a project could be financed in either one of two ways:

• Through foreign development funds - from the ITU or European Union - or by virtue of bilateral economic protocols - such as the one Malta has with Italy.

• The second method is even more interesting since Malta would offer itself as a test-bed of technology and thus would seek the involvements of such giants as Microsoft, Netscape, IBM or Sun which would stand to gain in benchtesting their technologies in a controlled active environment such as Malta. This option should not be underestimated or taken lightly since Malta offers the ideal location for such a purpose: Nowhere in the world is it possible to have available a whole country as a test-bed. In fact, Malta's size could be used as an advantage for once and its location outside the EU yet in proximity to it could further open new markets for these giants.

Well, friend... if you REALLY think that on the net you can do anything you want anonymously... you seriously have a problem. Every time you log in to any provider in Malta or elsewhere, you are assigned an IP number. Now, should you do anything ILLEGAL, providers may easily trace you since servers normally log the transactions in their system (for example on day x, at ppp y, user z was on the system).

This goes a long way from a 'big brother' situation: If ISPs had to log every site you had to visit, it would require massive resources and would make servers rather congested. The only thing one should consider is that if one just peruses the Internet for legitimate purposes, one need not be concerned. If one thinks that the Internet is a free-for-all zone, the one is seriously underestimating the medium and its operators.

However advanced anonymous remailers or surfing or hack techniques become, these will nearly always be matched by countermeasures.
 

"So... assuming that everyone says OK to this proposal, how long would it take for us to go wired?"

Considering the current resources available on the Island, a reasonable period of time for this system to be developed would be of just two years from start date.
 

"This sounds too good to be true! What is being done about it?"

The author of this article has submitted to the relavant authorities on the 2nd June 1997 a more extensive analysis of Internet in Malta which contains also details on this system. This 25 page report is supplemented by over 300 pages of research documentation regarding the strategic vision of the Internet: Reports such as the Internet 2000 report, the EU's Bangemann report and the UK's CITU Green Paper on Information Technology in Government are available.

We have substantial potential to offer to the Internet community worldwide. We must exploit our Maltese ingenuity in order to create new avenues in which to project our national offerings and identity. We must furthermore always seek to create new structures aimed at creating better opportunities for our population and for the wellbeing of Malta. Being creative is the keyword and it is hoped that approach will stimulate discussions at all level.

Any interested organisation may contact the author for further information by completing the feedback form below.

So, you've read our article and you still wish to get more information on cable distribution of the Internet via modem... We are here reproducing some interesting links which should quench your need for knowledge:

• Comcast is the company in which Microsoft has invested US$1 billion in the last months. Check out also WebTV - another company in which the Seattle giant has made significant investments.

• GTE Cablemodem and the @Home Network are two leading corporations distributing the Internet via mode. Check out their incredible sites for a wealth of information on the benefit of this form of system.

• Peruse C/Net's news provider: News.com's powerful database of articles on cable distribution of the Internet. Search using the word 'cable' and you will get over 440 articles!