Moscow higher education students will soon enjoy the benefits of connectivity on the premises of their campuses – with a few conditions. While access to internet is becoming increasingly treated as a basic human right, actions to make it happen are few and far between.
Even though some UN officials have recognized it as a right – well, it’s more of a sign of times than anything tangible. There are some attempts to provide internet connectivity to hard-to-reach places, although they’re distinctly non-governmental. For example, both Facebook and Google expressed interest in sharing wireless internet through high-altitude solar drones and even balloons – although the only implementation so far was a limited balloon trial run over New Zealand.
But what about those places with developed infrastructure? Moscow students are in somewhat of a bind. On one hand, they really do need internet for studies. And seeming they have access to it everywhere – the capital of Russia has thousands of establishments which give out wi-fi connectivity, from parks to libraries to cafes to the subway. However, it’s a different situation at actual campuses.
In 2012 deputy head of the Moscow Education Department Margarita Rusetskaya admitted that the majority of dorms in the city were being serviced by shady organizations working through semi-legal schemes and jacking up access prices. Another source from the city hall, suggested that campuses would have Wi-Fi available to students free of charge - but not in dorm rooms. Primary targets are halls and libraries. ISPs were launching these pilot projects without any payment by schools or the city - they're trying to evaluate required connection speed and work out filtering content and unauthorized access. Further cooperation was not outlined at the time. So, two years down the road, and what do we have?
I guess the trial run gave the authorities a reference point. The new program to launch Wi-Fi access in Moscow dorms in the next three years has crystallized in the City Hall – and it’s a bittersweet solution for the students. While they will get access to internet in their dorms, it will be limited to strictly educational websites. All web destinations “content of which is incompatible with educational objectives, socialization and artistic development” will be banned – yes, this includes online games and torrent trackers, the preferred method of getting pirated media and software these days. Online gaming through school-provided wireless also has a big question mark – not sure whether all games will be filtered, or selectively approved. Frankly, I don’t really see why schools should encourage students to shoot each other online or grind for legendary gear while they could be reaping the benefits of broadband internet for, you know, studying.
There’s always a solution, though – students are not prohibited from using their own devices and methods of gain access to the internet. They will be free to use their smartphones, tablets, laptops and what have you with their own connectivity for which they pay out of their own pocket. It should be noted that the initiative is limited to higher education institution - so for now the majority of Russian schools remain offline.
