URGENT MESSAGE to Sir Tim Berners-Lee: The internet belongs to everyone including the Sudanese

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: This is a hastily written post, published without any edit and polish. People in Sudan are suffering after decades of war. Now their internet has been shut for several days. It was hard enough for them to keep going during bombings while managing patchy electricity.

In most parts of Sudan, banks, shops, businesses, churches and infrastructure have been destroyed. The Sudanese depend on the internet to receive money for food, medicine, electricity, calls for news and help. 

Brits gave the English language to the world. A Brit, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, invented the World Wide Web and gave it to the world, free of charge. He gifted it for the benefit of everyone instead of becoming a multi-billionaire.

This post is a direct message to Sir Tim to tell him that the internet has, once again, been shut down in Sudan. Right now, after five days "communication networks are still completely out of service throughout Sudan, except for limited terrestrial internet service in very few areas in some states".

In essence, this is an appeal to Sir Tim, the UK, EU and Mr Elon Musk to restore the internet in Sudan. Millions of lives and livelihoods depend on it. The Sudanese people are terrified of what is going on, why and for how long.

Being cut off from the internet is catastrophic for most of them. They fear heavily armed evildoers carrying out abductions and atrocities in secrecy. 

The world could easily bring satellite communications technology to Africa. Mr Musk could not have created Starlink without the work of Sir Tim.

If anyone reading this knows Sir Tim or Mr Musk please pass it on. Thanks. 

I have taken it upon myself to write this urgent appeal because I am blessed to live safely in England, UK where I enjoy freedom of speech, constant electricity and free blogging technology courtesy of, and hosted by, Google.  

Peace and love, Ingrid x 

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Related

This photo shows the resilience of Sudanese people. All the walls they built, stone by stone, brick by brick. At night the walls were removed by the Sudanese gov't. Next morning the walls would reappear as a silent protest.

Photo: A brick barricade on a street in east Khartoum on Sun Oct 3, 2021. Credit AFP/Getty Images. Source: Sudan Watch, Nov 01, 2021: 

'Sudan’s PM Hamdok well but under house arrest'

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/sudans-pm-hamdok-well-but-under-house.html

Photo: Another civilian road block in Khartoum, Sudan. Tyres billow black smoke when set on fire. After walls were removed, residents would dig ditches to block roads in their neighbourhoods to RSF militia vehicles. RSF terrorists often stay in/around homes in residential areas to protect themselves from Sudanese army bombardments, thereby endangering local residents. pic.twitter.com/szkxpJfvEL

Source: Sudan Watch, May 29, 2023: 

'Sudan: Dig ditch instead of making wall to block road!'

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/05/sudan-dig-ditch-instead-of-making-wall.html

Photo: “This barricade cannot be removed, this barricade is being guarded by men behind it” chant these little boys standing behind their barricade today in one the outskirts of the capital city khart #الردة_مستحيلة 

Source: Sudan Watch, Nov 30, 2021: 

'Sudan protest: “This barricade cannot be removed, This barricade is being guarded by men behind it"' https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/sudan-protest-this-barricade-cannot-be.html

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HERE is a recent photo from a village in Sudan showing a Starlink satellite receiver atop cardboard boxes with a cable running into war-torn premises.

Source: Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc reposted NabeilShakoor @NabeilShakoor post “Star Link in one of the villages in #النيل_الابيض  #السودان_خارج_التغطية state” 12:24 PM · Feb 10, 2024 https://twitter.com/_hudsonc/status/1756303186661454089

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Image: Hassan Ahmed Berkia @HassanAhmedBerk, a journalist from Khartoum, Sudan writes today (Feb 10, 2024) on X: “All communication networks are still completely out of service throughout Sudan, except for limited terrestrial internet service in very few areas in some states. #Sudan #Sudan_Blackout #Sudan_Out_Of_Coverage  #Sudan_War_Updates #InternetShutdown 7:03 AM · Feb 10, 2024.”

Source: https://twitter.com/HassanAhmedBerk/status/1756212348346335238

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Sir 

Tim Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA DFBCS RDI in 2014

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee

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Elon Musk FRS in 2022

• Founder, CEO, and chief engineer of SpaceX
• CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.
• Owner and CTO of X, formerly Twitter
• President of the Musk Foundation
• Founder of The Boring Company, X Corp., and xAI
• Co-founder of Neuralink, OpenAI, Zip2, and X.com (part of PayPal)
• Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

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Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by private aerospace company SpaceX,^[3] providing coverage to over 70 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023.^[4]

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

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Space Exploration Technologies Corp. commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider, defense contractor and satellite communications company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and ultimately developing a sustainable colony on Mars. The company currently operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets along with the Dragon and Starship spacecraft.

The company offers internet service via its Starlink satellites, which became the largest-ever satellite constellation in January 2020 and as of November 2023 comprised more than 5,000 small satellites in orbit.^[7]

^{Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX}

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Elon Musk is the second wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$232 billion as of December 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and $182.6  billion according to Forbes, primarily from his ownership stakes in Tesla and SpaceX.^[5][6][7]

He is a citizen of South Africa, Canada and the United States. A member of the wealthy South African Musk family, Elon was born in Pretoria and briefly attended the University of Pretoria before immigrating to Canada at age 18, acquiring citizenship through his Canadian-born mother. 

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

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Photo: Early Starlink user terminal with dish, as shipped in early 2021.  

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

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Photo: Starlink dish on sidewalk of a residential home. 

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

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Photo: Starlink WiFi Router

A wireless router or Wi-Fi router is a device that performs the functions of a router and also includes the functions of a wireless access point. It is used to provide access to the Internet or a private computer network. Depending on the manufacturer and model, it can function in a wired local area network, in a wireless-only LAN, or in a mixed wired and wireless network. 

Source:  Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

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Photo: This NeXT workstation (a NeXTcube, monitor Cern 57503) was used by Tim Berners-Lee as the first Web server on the World Wide Web. It is shown here as displayed in 2005 at Microcosm, the public science museum at CERN where Berners-Lee was working in 1991 when he invented the Web. The document resting on the keyboard is a copy of "CERN DD/OC March 1989 Information Management: A Proposal. Abstract" which was Berners-Lee's original proposal for the World Wide Web. 

(Further text visible: "...distributed hypertext systems, Hypertext, computer conferencing, document retrieval, information management. Project, IBM Group talk, VAX/Notes, CERNDOC, UUCP News, Hierarchical systems".) 

The partly peeled off label on the cube itself has the following text: "This machine is a server. DO NOT POWER IT DOWN!!" The labels on top of the server and on the keyboard read "PROPRIETE CERN" (French for "Cern property"). 

Just below the keyboard (not shown) is a label which reads: "At the end of the 80s, Tim Berners-Lee (TBL) invented the World Wide Web using this Next computer as the first Web server." The book is the enyclopedia in many parts of Robert Kemp Philp, ed.: "Enquire Within upon Everything", London 1856 and later editions, which TBL describes on page one of his book "Weaving the Web. The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web as "a musty old book of Victorian advice I noticed as a child in my parents' house outside London". 

(Text that is almost legible in the high resolution picture: 750. Diuretics, 756. Diaphoretics, 761. Expectorants, 765. Ginger). 

Text at the beginning of Tim Berners-Lee: Weaving the Web, Chapter 1 Enquire Within upon Everything: "When I first began tinkering with a software program that eventually gave rise to the idea of the World Wide Web, I named it Enquire, short for Enquire Within upon Everything, a musty old book of Victorian advice I noticed as a child in my parents' house outside London. With its title suggestive of magic, the book served as a portal to a world of information, everything from how to remove clothing stains to tips on investing money. Not a perfect analogy for the Web, but a primitive starting point. What that first bit of Enquire code led me to was something much larger, a vision encompassing the decentralized, organic growth of ideas, technology and society. The vision I have for the Web is about anything being potentially connected with anything..." 

This is a new upload by Coolcaesar of the original JPEG file on en:September 22, en:2008 directly to Commons in response to continued vandalism of the original.

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web

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Sudan Watch - Nov 10, 2021

Sudan cuts off internet despite court order to restore

Technology & internet accessibility are a human right. Shutting down an entire country for 16 days is a violation of #humanrights and should be recognised as such. I didn’t speak to my mother & family in 16 days. This in 2021. #InternetShutDown #SudanCoup #Amnestyinternational 

[…] Internet remains largely disrupted in #Sudan for a 16th day after a military coup targeted the transitional civilian government. The shutdown is ongoing despite successful legal intervention and court ruling to restore internet service. 

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/sudan-cuts-off-internet-despite-court.html

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Sudan Watch - Nov 10, 2021

Sudanese court orders telcos to restore internet

The US Agency for International Development Mission in Sudan said cuts to internet services were a breach of international law and a “suppression of freedom of speech".

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/sudanese-court-orders-telcos-to-restore.html

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UPDATE on Mon 12 Feb 2024: 

changed italic to non-italic post titles; added spaces in last 3 reports.

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SAF chief says "We will fight until the enemy is gone"

In a speech delivered to forces in Jebit in eastern Sudan, Burhan stressed that there is no room for reconciliation or agreement with the RSF, indicating that the army is continuing its battle to recover all of Sudan. "We have no reconciliation with them. We have no agreement with them," he said. "Our battle continues until every site in Sudan is restored." Read more.

From Asharq Al-Awsat English
The English edition of Asharq Al-Awsat, the leading Arab international newspaper @aawsat_news
Dated Saturday, 06 January 2024; 1445 AH - here is a copy in full:

Sudan's Army Chief: We Will Fight Until the Militia is Gone

Army Commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (Sudanese Sovereignty Council)

(PORT SUDAN) - Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan unequivocally dismissed an agreement signed between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and associated political groups, vowing to continue the war that has been going on for nine months.

In a speech delivered to forces in Jebit in eastern Sudan, Burhan stressed that there is no room for reconciliation or agreement with the RSF, indicating that the army is continuing its battle to recover all of Sudan.

"We have no reconciliation with them. We have no agreement with them," he said. "Our battle continues until every site in Sudan is restored."

Burhan stated that the RSF committed "war crimes," vowing that the army would deal with them "in the field."

"We will fight until the enemy is gone."

The army chief called for arming citizens to defend themselves, advocating for them to acquire weapons or enlist in the armed forces.

He regretted that some politicians are praising RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as "Hemedti," despite all the murders he has committed, criticizing neighboring countries that welcomed him.

Dagalo is on a tour across Africa with stops in South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry summoned its ambassadors in Kampala and Nairobi to protest the formal receptions offered to the RSF commander.

According to a statement by the Foreign Minister-designate, Ali al-Sadiq, the Ministry summoned its ambassadors for "consultations" in response to the official welcome extended to the "militia" leader.

Hemedti's tour will extend to other African and Arab countries, and some unconfirmed reports suggest he will visit Egypt, among other Arab and regional states.

View original: 

https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4772191-sudans-army-chief-we-will-fight-until-militia-gone

ENDS

SpaceX is advertising a position for growth manager of its Starlink Internet service in Sub-Saharan Africa

ACCORDING to the following article, SpaceX is advertising a job vacancy for a manager to boost Starlink growth in Africa. The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, from where the growth manager will report to a team at Starlink’s Hawthorne, California headquarters. It would prioritise applicants with a current right to work in Kenya. Also:

"Starlink’s estimated rollout date in South Africa has remained “unknown”, whereas the service has already been available in Kenya for four months. Six other Sub-Saharan African countries — Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia — have also launched Starlink. In addition, the company has given estimated rollout dates for the vast majority of the other countries in the region before the end of 2024. Aside from South Africa, the only four countries that don’t yet have a planned launch date are Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, and South Sudan". 

Read more in report from MyBroadband - mybroadband.co.za/news/
By Hanno Labuschagne
Dated Monday, 20 November 2023 - here is a copy in full:

SpaceX hiring manager to boost Starlink growth in Africa

SpaceX is advertising a position for growth manager of its Starlink Internet service in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The role — first reported by Space in Africa — is open for applications on the Greenhouse recruitment website.

SpaceX explained that it was looking for someone to join the Starlink Growth team, which is responsible for launching, growing, and improving the service.

The successful candidate will be accountable for Starlink’s growth and success in the region, identifying and removing barriers to growth, championing user experience, and driving initiatives to accelerate adoption.

The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, from where the growth manager will report to a team at Starlink’s Hawthorne, California headquarters.

The growth manager’s responsibilities will entail the following:

• Own growth of active consumer subscriber base in the region, identifying blockers and prioritising levers for growth
• Set vision, develop strategy, and manage a budget around consumer growth initiative strategies, and tactics to meet company goals in the region
• Deeply understand the customer experience in a country, elevating insights to drive localised improvements
• Develop dashboards to track progress, drive improvements to growth and operational metrics, work with the operations team to create forecasts, and communicate to the broader Starlink team and senior leadership
• Engage with local partners to drive efforts catered to the market, understand what’s working and what’s not, and drive continuous improvement
• Champion key strategic consumer-focused projects end-to-end by collaborating and working cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, and Support teams

The basic qualifications required to be considered for the position include a Bachelor’s degree, five or more years of experience in consulting or project management, and three or more years of experience in Excel and SQL.

In addition, SpaceX demands two or more years of leading in interdisciplinary projects. The candidate must also have residency and work authorisation in Africa.

Skyline of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya

Other preferred skills and experience that will benefit applicants include:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, management information systems, computer science, engineering, or economics disciplines
• 8+ years of relevant work experience in go-to-market, growth, international operations, consulting, software, Internet, and/or media industries, or early-stage companies
• Proven ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment
• Experience leading complex operational and strategic initiatives
• Demonstrated track record of cross-functional stakeholder management and leadership through influence
• Distinctive project management, problem-solving, and analysis skills, combined with business judgment and top communication skills
• Experience working in broadband Internet or other consumer product industries
• Master’s degree in management, engineering, or supply chain

SpaceX added it would prioritise applicants with a current right to work in Kenya.

They must also be willing to travel approximately 50% of the time and work extended hours and over weekends as needed.

It also stressed it does not have regional offices everywhere in the world and the candidate might not work from a SpaceX office.

No clarity on South African rollout

Many tech companies operate their Sub-Saharan Africa offices out of South Africa because the country is among the most well-developed on the continent.

However, Starlink’s estimated rollout date in South Africa has remained “unknown”, whereas the service has already been available in Kenya for four months.

Six other Sub-Saharan African countries — Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia — have also launched Starlink.

In addition, the company has given estimated rollout dates for the vast majority of the other countries in the region before the end of 2024.

Aside from South Africa, the only four countries that don’t yet have a planned launch date are Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, and South Sudan.

SpaceX’s enterprise director Phillip van Essen previously told Mining Weekly that the company prioritised countries that made it easy to get approval for Starlink.

It is possible that the role of the growth manager could include expanding the service into countries where Starlink has not passed the necessary legal hurdles.

In South Africa, Starlink requires an electronic communications services (ECS) licence to sell its service directly to customers.

It would also need an electronic communications network services (ECNS) licence to roll out ground stations to improve the service’s performance.

Starlink Gateway on Unalaska

To acquire these licences, the Electronic Communications Act determines that SpaceX — or its local subsidiary or partner — must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups — including black people, women, youth, or disabled people.

Complicating matters further is that the licence will have to be acquired “second hand” from a willing seller, as South Africa’s telecoms regulator — Icasa — is not currently accepting applications for new licences.

It recently emerged that even government-owned fibre network operator Broadband Infraco cannot apply for an ECS  licence.

Icasa has not explained why it has not published a new invitation to apply for these licences in more than a decade.

Alternatively, SpaceX could work with a local partner that already meets the requirements.

However, this could make its subscription more expensive as the partner would have to take a cut to make such an arrangement financially sensible.

Although several companies have already confirmed distribution agreements with SpaceX, they have shied away from mentioning availability in South Africa in the near future.

Despite no official local rollout, over 4,000 South Africans are using imported Starlink kits with a regional or global roaming subscription to access the Internet.

Two Internet service providers (ISPs) that specialise in importing and managing Starlink on behalf of end-users — Starsat Africa and IcasaSePush — recently reduced their subscription prices substantially.

View original: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadband/515921-spacex-hiring-manager-to-boost-starlink-growth-in-africa.html

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