December 2007 - KICTANet

Institutional Assessment Workshop Report
by Rebecca Wanjiku 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Hi, Please read the report and forward your comments. The exercise was calculated to strengthen KICTANet and to design strategies that guarantee its continued participation in all areas of ICT. Your quick response will be highly appreciated. Best regards, Becky Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/sports;_ylt=At9_qDKvtAbMuh1G1SQtBI7ntAcJ

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The Marine Cable
by bitange＠jambo.co.ke 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Dear Yawe, The problem with virtual discussion is that one does not know the audience. Let me assume that you have similar interests as many of those I have met do. Allow me then to take the discussion on Fibre Optic to another level. The East African region is the only place on earth that is not served by these links (see attached networks). The East African region lags behind those countries with multiple cables. When you read Tom Friedman, The World is Flat, you find that Accessibility to cheaper bandwidth spurred growth in India and that ICT is a great leveler. The far East which indeed had more shanties in 1965 that we (East Africans) had, have used ICTs to flatten their region so that the waters of foreign investment can flow there. Indeed the Far East has experienced the fastest growth in morden history. It is therefore prudent to develop an hypothesis along this line - Lack of cheaper connectivity and entrepreneurialism contributes to underdevelopment in our part of the world. There are other secondary hypotheses such as the role of academicians in underdeveloping Africa through endless debates when indeed we know what others did to liberate their people from poverty. In the past 10 years China moved 300 million out of poverty while we remained stagnant. Perhaps we need a forum to square up this matter. It is key that we are all on one page in terms of helping our region to develop. Asante sana. Bitange Ndemo.

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Faith in local web hosting
by robert yawe 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Kagai, Like all the rest we are misplacing the importance of the marine cable and it is unfortunate that Dr. Ndemo is also unable to provide us with the logical reason for why we need to land this fiber cable. Your issue of digital TV has nothing to do with whether we have the marine cable or not as our transmission is local and thus what we need is a fiber network within the country. I have been listening to that story of digital TV being echoed by many a so called IT gurus. All that the fiber will do is create so much competition for our local stations before they have enough time to adopt or recoup their investments which will result in massive layoffs. If we can negotiate for the delay in opening our markets to sugar maybe we need the same team to look at the pros and cons of the fiber cable landing. Note that the signal sent out by MNet and other satellite channels is digital yet I can watch it on my Greatwall TV which is as analogue as you can get, even come 2010 all that will happen is that set top boxes will be so cheap that there will be no need to replace our TV's. Alternatively look behind your DVD player and tell me how many analogue and digital inputs you have? Just for information purposes do you know that Telkom Kenya has fiber optic cable laid to most high rise building in the city but only 2 or so locations have actually had the fiber terminated onto equipment? I ask anyone to challenge me on this point this includes Eng. Waweru and Mr. Kirui all of who have been party to this wasteful actions. We are being totally wasteful with our resources what makes us think that the landing of the fiber optic cable will change our habits. Kagai, I ask again why do we need to land the fiber optic cable and how will it change your life, leave alone mine? Have an analogue weekend Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: Bill Kagai <billkagai(a)gmail.com> To: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Cc: info(a)mediacorp.co.ke; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Thursday, 29 November, 2007 10:19:51 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Faith in local web hosting On Nov 28, 2007 8:24 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > End user ---> Telkom ---> ISP ---> KDN --> ISP --> Telkom --> end user > > Do the math Yawe, you probably need to look at this cable beyond internet. The kind of technology we use today for broadcasting TV is being phased out in Europe by August 2008. TV is now being broadcast on cable or ADSL specifically for beyond quality purposes. You need to ensure that commercial components reach the right people. For instance, that is why CNBC opted to pull out its channel from DSTV bouquet to local stations like KBC with a wider reach. 'Measurement of reach' is capable through adsl/cable connected to the international fibre network. ADSL via optic fibre reinforces the copper that we are not about to do away with anyway in the near future. Copper is not obsolete yet. Optic fibre allows u freeview channels where internet becomes secondary to primary data and voice transmission...and most of all...things we have learned to leave with..such as attenuation distortion...become an old way of life for us in the Africa north of the limpopo but south of of the sahara. Another way of looking at it...when they tell you that computers are down in a bank..most of the times they mean the link to the server is unsteady since they need to ensure that you don't withdraw twice or thrice on the same transaction..satellite does not give you redundancy [read back-up] channels as cable would. With cable, you are able to re-wind live tv instead of having a local disk imersed in your decorder...thanks to the cable. In essence, if u look at the submarine cable minus the copper telephone system and electricity grid then u will not see much. If u look at it in terms of how it adds value to the existing infrastructure, then you will see...how significant albeit small....the hole the international link plus the terrestrial cable needs to fill to sort out our big problems. Bill... __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! - the World's favourite mail http://uk.mail.yahoo.com

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Of...ICTs, Appeals and Transport Probrems
by Bill Kagai 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4642&Item… KRA moved to the appellate after High Court judge Onesmus Mutungi dismissed its Sh2 billion tax demand on KenCell Communications (now Celtel Kenya) on technical grounds after the taxman's lawyer failed to attend court, citing transport problems. I rest my case!!!! Bill

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3rd Global Knowledge Conference (GK3) Malaysia 11-13 December 2007
by alice 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Dear all The 3^rd Global Knowledge Conference brings together "visionaries, innovators, practitioners and policy makers, all geared to sharing knowledge and building partnerships on a platform created by and for stakeholders from every sector - private companies, governments, international institutions and civil society groups" (http://www.gkpeventsonthefuture.org/gk3/) The GK3 sessions will address the convergence of emerging people, markets and technologies and will provide a space for debate, showcasing of innovative concrete solutions and knowledge sharing; discussion on latest lessons, effective methods and approaches. The theme «Emerging People, Emerging Markets, and Emerging Technologies» relates well to what Kenya is currently experiencing. We are considered a pioneer in many ways from our private sector activity, MSP ICT policy processes, liberalisation of the ICT sector, etc. Read article from Balancing act titled “Africa’s competition laboratory Kenya is the one to watch” . Some of us will attend and share some of these experiences... -Kimathi Centre presenting during the Young social entrepreneur’s sessions from Tuesday 11th -Hello regulator session on Thursday 13th 14.00-15.30 Other Kenyans attending and presenting? For the full GK3 programme see: *http://www.gkpeventsonthefuture.org/GK3/dsp_page.cfm?pageid=492* best alice -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Generate ideas to create a world of entrepreneurs! Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2007 14:25:06 +0800 (GMT+08:00) From: GK3 Registration <gk3(a)gkps.org.my> To: alice(a)apc.org Dear Alice, Global Knowledge Partnership and BrainStore are collaborating in running a live IdeaProduction process at the GKP Event on the Future, Third Global Knowledge Conference (GK3) from 11 to 13 December 2007 on the topic of «A world of entrepreneurs - 20 ideas to make it happen by 2020». As a GK3 conference participant, you have a range of opportunities to contribute actively to the process. The first part of the IdeaProduction process has already started where inputs are gathered to fill up our IdeaPot with a great number of inspirations on the topic. Your participation is key! Your insight on «Emerging People, Emerging Markets, and Emerging Technologies» is a valuable knowledge resource and your experience and reflections can serve as a great foundation for developing fresh initiatives and approaches in addressing the topic. We invite you to share your perspective today by participating in an online IdeaInterview. Please login at http://www.GKPEventsOnTheFuture.org/GK3registration and complete a short questionnaire by Tuesday, 4 December 2007. On 12 December at the GK3 IdeaFactory - Creative City Exhibition, your contribution will be presented anonymously together with results drawn from other sources. On 13 December at the GK3 Closing Plenary, you will have an opportunity to provide final input by helping to select THE 20 ideas that will create a world of entrepreneurs by 2020. Thank you in advance for your time. See you at GK3! Your IdeaFactory team Quick Links: Conference Navigator: http://www.GKPEventsOnTheFuture.org/navigator Full Programme: http://www.GKPEventsOnTheFuture.org/GK3programme Speakers: http://www.GKPEventsOnTheFuture.org/GK3speakers Register: http://www.GKPEventsOnTheFuture.org/GK3registration Announcements by RSS: http://www.gkpcms.com/GK3/rss/GK3Announcements.xml

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Africa’s competition laboratory Kenya is the one to watch
by alice 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

From Balancing Act Africa’s competition laboratory Kenya is the one to watch No regulation regime is perfect but the three East African countries – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – are leading the way in terms of breaking down many of the old barriers to competition. Of these, Kenya is interesting because it was the pioneer and many of the things that are happening there will in time be seen elsewhere in some form. Russell Southwood explains what’s happening in Africa’s competition laboratory. Outside of the large Sub-Saharan markets like Nigeria and South Africa, Kenya stands out because it has both the population level and a density of private sector activity to be different. In other words, it’s big enough to be relevant for the ten or more countries of a similar scale. In addition, since Moi left the stage, the economy has been moving at a fast clip to catch up: last year economic growth was 7%. With the dead hand of inertia removed, Kenyans have felt more confidence in setting up new businesses. The pointers it provides are as follows: - Even with a liberalised regime, it is incredibly hard for small independent companies to challenge the incumbent in the fixed line sector. Kenya was slow to introduce an interconnection regime designed for competition between many players and its two independent fixed wireless operators have suffered as a result. Fixed wireless is, as the mobile companies are discovering, far from fixed. - Between them, Kenya’s fixed wireless operators Flashcom and Popote Wireless do not have much more than 10,000 subscribers and in the case of Popote, it’s making 80% of its revenues from data. Both use CDMA and are focused on the capital Nairobi, with Flashcom having a larger number of base stations . Subscribers can actually use their phones more or less anywhere in the city. Neither have yet started a wider geographic roll-out. Despite this lack of current success in the voice market, Popote’s Eric Muthi believes that there is still considerable growth potential. Meanwhile there are others waiting to offer more retail voice competition: in one case, simply as a voice service and in others as part of a wider offer. - Meanwhile incumbent Telkom Kenya has adopted the strategy of India’s Reliance and has used its CDMA fixed wireless product as a proxy mobile service. It is said to have 400,000 subscribers based on its cheap KS5.50 a minute national rate. Subscribers have had what for all intents and purposes has actually been a mobile service and Telkom Kenya has wriggled this way and that to suggest otherwise. - With the France Telecom take-over of Telkom Kenya, the country’s two operators, Safaricom and Celtel, will have some serious competition for the first time and may have to begin to address their quality of service shortfalls. Competition should also mean prices will begin to fall for as one person told us:”Competition in this market is really only on price.” Telkom Kenya’s strategy has been very savvy in that it starts operating with an existing base of subscribers before having to invest in paying for its mobile licence. Rumour has it that France Telecom will simply rip out the CDMA network and put in GSM. As a new entrant, it will have a clear CAPEX advantage. Econet is supposed to have cleared the hurdles it had and will be investing soon but on past evidence, don’t hold your breath. - Even without a fibre connection, the country’s bandwidth requirement has grown rapidly as the economy has expanded. It is now approaching the 1 gbps mark and this is all being paid for at satellite prices. The broader message in this is that an expanding economy will drive use both at a corporate and retail level. And rapid growth will come from economies that are coming out of war or unfavourable political circumstances where there’s a “one-off” bounce that might turn into above-average growth in the mid-term. As Bill Clinton’s electoral team used to say, it’s the economy, stupid. Messages on satellite bandwidth costs are mixed. Most operators buying in volume say that prices are coming down but a small number of those we spoke to said because of he shortage of C-Band prices were going up. (Interestingly Altech has been in talks to buy Sameer ICT, which includes KDN.) - The market is readying itself for the arrival of much cheaper bandwidth. Seacom and TEAMS are both seen as credible projects. EASSy is perceived as still being in the game but its credibility has been undermined in the eyes of operators by the confusions over the rival NEPAD project. TEAMS has almost all its financing in place and says it has a ship booked to start. Depending on their investment, operators have been offered 1 mps for between US$2-300 a month. This is only to Fujirah but an onward solution is said to be not too far away and will cost about the same amount to the United States. The price will be higher than the headline figures suggest but nevertheless will be low enough to be market changing. The recent public disagreement between UUNet and PS Bitango Ndemo illustrates that not all operators have understood this changing world. It will no longer be about making money from selling over-priced bandwidth. The game moves to retail services and applications. - A “triple play” combination of voice, Internet and TV will probably be offered by at least two operators next year. France Telecom is likely to roll out its LiveBox product as the Kenyan market has considerable potential. Jamii Telecom is rolling out a PONS network and wants to be offering “triple-play” over its new STM64 fibre metro network. Industry estimates of potential retail broadband subscribers vary between 300,000-500,000. Expect bundled offers at almost European levels and download speeds starting at 512 kbps. The existing Government if re-elected wants to provide subsidised bandwidth to universities and colleges. - In the meantime, the retail independent retail ISP as it used to exist has all but disappeared and those remain are not in the best of health. Where have all the retail subscribers gone? Well, some have stayed with ISPs like Africa Online under its new owners but many more have either defected to the fixed wireless operators, or are using Telkom Kenya’s phone-in number or at the top-end of the market are using the data services of the two mobile operators. Only the state of Telkom Kenya’s copper and its distracted management focus mean that it has failed to harvest what might have been an extensive market. Incumbents need to know that if the don’t have a “low –price, high-volume” strategy for DSL then the mobile operators will take this business away from them. - Apple may say that it has no plans to roll-out in emerging markets like China but the market has a life of its own. Apparently a shipment of iPhones has already reached East Africa and we saw one in the hands of someone we visited. He hadn’t yet got it working but he was working on it. Another early adopter told us that he was surprised to discover that it worked on his Celtel account immediately and just as well when he visited Someone in Uganda who used one to e-mail to confirm our meeting clearly had better luck. It will be interesting to see whether this grey market in the latest desirable phone will survive Apple’s attempts to exclude untied users through software fixes. European competition law is already being upheld in Germany where T-Mobile must sell the device independent of a network package and even a hefty price tag does not appear to be a sufficient disincentive to stop sales. It would be unfair to say that all was rosy in the garden that is Kenya but in terms of competitive markets, it has got a great deal right and others might learn from what is happening there. Report banner <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/375/178471/2/0/>

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Re: [kictanet] Fibre Optic
by robert yawe 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

Dr. Ndemo, Thank you for the information, but my feeling is that none of this initiatives seems to be getting publicized so that entrepreneurs like me can begin to plan for the opportunities. It would be good to know that we are looking at other areas other than BPO. Again, thank you for taking the time to respond more exhaustively to my question Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: "bitange(a)jambo.co.ke" <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> To: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Cc: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, 28 November, 2007 9:28:52 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Fibre Optic Dear Yawe, I am sorry for assuming that you were aware of the National Optic Fibre Broadband network that is being built by Sagem, Huaweii and ZTE. The project will be finished by August next year. The Digital Village project will benefit from this network that is to link all District HQs. The netwotk shall be run by the operators and hopefully take control of it if they see a business case in it. Otherwise this was basically the Government wide area network. We are now hoping that operators would come up with the last mile solutions. Phase two of our plans is to partner with the private sector to build data centers and disaster recovery centers. This will ensure cheaper local hosting capability. The biggest challenge is going to be local content. On the Government side, by June next year we should have tons of content online. We need to pass the Freedom of Information Bill for the public to benefit from most of GoK data. We shall still need the international Fibre optic for research to both ends, that is, the rest of the world and our own research. We cannot develop on a cocoon. I hope I have responded to your questions. If you are not satisfied, please let me know. Asante sana. Bitange Ndemo. > Dr Ndemo, > > You have not answered our concern yet on why we need the marine cable to > bring us high speed Internet yet as a country we do not have a cost > effective national high speed network? > > The diaspora makes up less than 5% of the population and many of them add > no value to us, yet you are more concerned about how we can communicate > with them instead of how to make it possible for my children to talk and > see their grandmother in Mbita point without requiring to make the trip. > > As a democracy I believe our interest should be to serve the greater > population than a few out there. > > I have been looking at the cost of AGM's for listed companies and it is a > major drain on this organisations, if you and your team could concentrate > on a fiber link to all provincial head quarters we can have the next > Kengen AGM held virtually with participants in centers closest to them, to > me this would be a greater utilisation of connectivity than being able to > talk cheaply to my sister in the US who none the less is too busy working > 3 jobs to have time to talk to me regularly irrespective of cost. > > So Dr. Ndemo gives us a more compelling reason for the fibre optic cable. > > Robert Yawe > KAY System Technologies Ltd > Phoenix House, 6th Floor > P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 > KEnya > Tel: +254722511225 > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: "bitange(a)jambo.co.ke" <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > To: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Sent: Monday, 26 November, 2007 9:13:57 AM > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Fibre Optic > > Dear Yawe, Gakuru, > I promised to respond to the question as to whether we indeed need > Fibre > Optic Cables. Yes indeed we need them for the time being (Intel shall > be > commecializing [in 10 years time]a chip with the capability to send > data > at high speeds without any cables)(see NY Times summary article below). > > In as much as I do not like cables for connectivity I think they are a > necessary infrastructure at the moment. The benefits are immense as I > look forward to greater linkages with our increasingly important > relatives > in the diaspora. > > With efficient connectivity, there we create opportunities such as > localised news that is accessible to anyone everywhere; we shall enable > innovation and more importantly create jobs for our youth. The > difference > here is that some may see entrepreneurial opportunities that come with > this infrastructure and unfortunately some will simply watch as events > unfold. Fortunately, you only need a few (Steve jobs, Bill Gates etc) > to > innovate and exploit the opportunity once access to technology is > availed. > > Our role is to facilitate our people to reach their fullest potential. > This is what leadership is all about. > > > Bitange Ndemo. > > > > A Chip That Can Transfer Data Using Laser Light > New York Times: > > The advance will make it possible to use laser light rather than wires > to > send data between chips, removing the most significant bottleneck in > computer design. > > A Tiny Laser on a Silicon Chip As a result, chip makers may be able to > put > the high-speed data communications industry on the same curve of > increased > processing speed and diminishing costs â€” the phenomenon known as > Mooreâ€™s > law â€” that has driven the computer industry for the last four > decades. > > The development is a result of research at Intel, the worldâ€™s largest > chip > maker, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Commercializing > the new technology may not happen before the end of the decade, but the > prospect of being able to place hundreds or thousands of data-carrying > light beams on standard industry chips is certain to shake up both the > communications and computer industries. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/robertyawe%40yahoo.co.… > > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try > it > now. > http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/ > ---------------------------------------------- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > --------------------------------------------- > "easy access to the world" > > ___________________________________________________________ Support the World Aids Awareness campaign this month with Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/

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Validate your voter status- safaricom 5872
by robert yawe 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

You can validate your voter status by sending an SMS with your ID number to '5872'- safaricom pass on the message to others. __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! - the World's favourite mail http://uk.mail.yahoo.com

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Uruguay buys first $100 laptops
by Jose' 01 Dec '07

01 Dec '07

The news come from BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7068084.stm] showing that Uruguay has ordered 100,000 units and is planning to acquire 300,000 more. The XO Laptop has been conceived as an affordable computer for children in developing countries. The company also has a programme caled G1G1 [Give one get one], in which costumers can buy a laptop for themselves and at the same time donate one to a child at a developing country. This might be an exciting opportunity for social business or social/environmental organizations linked to ICTs. --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

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