Andrew McLaughlin has a very simple question over at the newly opened XDev – Extreme Development Blog. Another great resource from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. And this time I’ve been invited to be part o this group blog, so expect to read much more about it in these pages, and in the mean time check it out.

XDev – Extreme Development: Wi-Fi: Portugal vs. Tanzania

The contrast between Portugal and Tanzania embodies a particularly troubling way in which government regulatory decisions are widening the gap between developed and developing countries. Portugal’s government is actually subsidizing fast, reliable, cheap Internet-protocol connectivity — even though it will enable Portuguese users to bypass the wireline telecom operators to obtain IP-based voice services.

In Tanzania, a combination of regulatory greed and the self-interested influence of the state-owned monopoly telecom is causing the government to impede the deployment of cheap, fast, reliable Internet-based alternatives.