March 2012 - KICTANet

Fw: [AfriNIC-rpd] 1 day left to submit your fellowship application for AfriNIC-16!
by Walubengo J 19 Mar '12

19 Mar '12

fyi. Afrinic does sponsor a couple of people with an interest in the Internet ecosystem to attend their bi-annual meetings. feel free to apply. walu. --- On Mon, 3/19/12, Babusha Radhakissoon <babusha(a)afrinic.net> wrote: From: Babusha Radhakissoon <babusha(a)afrinic.net> Subject: [AfriNIC-rpd] 1 day left to submit your fellowship application for AfriNIC-16! To: rpd(a)afrinic.net Date: Monday, March 19, 2012, 3:30 PM Dear Colleagues, AfriNIC is offering fellowships for the upcoming meeting taking place in Serekunda 12-18 May 2012. The fellowship is reserved in priority for individuals representing small organisations, universities, and media who are actively involved in Internet operations and development or ICT policy in their countries and respective communities. Please note that call for fellows will be open until tomorrow, 20 March 2012 at 00:00 UTC. Further information regarding the fellowship form and submission is available on the following URL: https://meeting.afrinic.net/afrinic-16/?q=content/fellowship-programme We wish you good luck and hope to see you in Serekunda! Kind Regards, The AfriNIC meeting team AfriNIC | 11th Floor | Raffles Tower | Cybercity | Mauritius Tel: +230 403 5100 |Fax: +230 466 6758 ********************** http://www.afrinic.net/ ********************** Join us at AfriNIC-16 in The Gambia, 12-18 May 2012 ********************** _______________________________________________ rpd mailing list rpd(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd

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Kenya Open Data Roadmap
by Muchiri Nyaggah 19 Mar '12

19 Mar '12

Listers, Do we have a published roadmap for open data in Kenya? Looking at the attached terms of reference for UK public data got me wondering. The terms of reference for the Open Data User Group sits within a clear context and it is clear open data is no longer a project but part of the government's DNA. Kind regards, Muchiri Nyaggah | PRINCIPAL PARTNER @muchiri Cell: +254 722 506400 eGovernance, Healthcare, ICT and Financial Services Innovation for Africa SEMACRAFT CONSULTING PARTNERS Nairobi, Kenya. www.semacraft.com | www.semacraft.com/blog twitter: @semacraft

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Its Googles Turn ...
by Agosta Liko 17 Mar '12

17 Mar '12

People used to Bash Novell then Microsoft ... looks like the focus is now on Google http://gigaom.com/2012/03/16/this-is-why-google-is-losing-the-future/

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Top 10 African Countries With Fastest Broadband Speed
by Lydia Gachungi 17 Mar '12

17 Mar '12

Top 10 African Countries With Fastest Broadband Speed http://techloy.com/2012/03/12/africa-top-broadband-speed/ http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201203/83184.php

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2012 Openings in ICANN Leadership
by waudo siganga 17 Mar '12

17 Mar '12

Dear Colleagues, This year ICANN has several volunteer leadership openings on the Board, the GNSO Council and the ccNSO Council that could be of interest to you or someone you know. The details/application is at at http://nomcom.icann.org/ or recommend a candidate at http://nomcom.icann.org/suggest/ The deadline for submission of Statements of Interest is 2nd April, 2012. If you belong to other appropriate lists please spread the information. Hope to get some good candidates from Africa.

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Fw: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES
by Lucy Kimani 16 Mar '12

16 Mar '12

Washington, I hope CCK is not so stuck on following the ITU that they forget that Technology evolves at the speed of light, and even as we discuss there are standards such as the IEEE 802.22 which will enable the sharing of spectrum between those who already have the frequencies and for commercial use to allow for penetration into those rural hard to reach areas. This also means that Safaricom should also not focus solely on the 700 MHz but they could also go after White space which is the unused spectrum that sits between TV channels. The 300MHz to 400MHz of unused spectrum is considered prime spectrum for offering wireless broadband services because it can travel long distances and penetrate through walls. Meaning CCK has lots of homework to do in regards to management of shared spectrum. IEEE 802.22 is a standard for Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN) using white spaces in the TV frequency spectrum.[1] The development of the IEEE 802.22 WRAN standard is aimed at using cognitive radio (CR) techniques to allow sharing of geographically unused spectrum allocated to the Television Broadcast Service, on a non-interfering basis, to bring broadband access to hard-to-reach, low population density areas, typical of rural environments, and is therefore timely and has the potential for a wide applicability worldwide. It is the first worldwide effort to define a standardized air interface based on CR techniques for the opportunistic use of TV bands on a non-interfering basis. On 16 Mar 2012, at 15:43, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo(a)gmail.com> wrote: On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 14:29, Wambua, Christopher <Wambua(a)cck.go.ke> wrote: See the article that the Ag. CCK Director General was responding to for those in the dark: http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Surrender+frequencies+Safaricom+tells… I personally think that Safaricom have decided that it's not worth waiting for the regulator to make the moves. Why? From where I sit, I see lack of clarity on when this migration to Digital TV will be completed, given that it remains shrouded in certain 'mystries'. IIRC, we are not even sure whether it's gonna be DVB-T2 or the ISDB-T, or was this concluded already. I remember sometime last year, the govt said they will inform citizens on what type of Set-Top boxes will be used. It was more like the govt wasn't quite certain which direction it would take in the migration to Digital TV Broadcasting. If that indecisiveness really exists on the part of the govt/regulator, then it goes without saying that it's not quite known _exactly_ when the frequencies will be availed. http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Competition+set+to+lower+Internet+cos… is a pointer to some things having been discussed, but possibly stalled, leading to the agitation from Safaricom. And I shamelessly want to share this as well: http://orion.my.co.ke/pipermail/eanog/2012-January/000059.html So, perhaps Safaricom is tired of the PR & Noise behind the release of the frequencies! -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I can't hear you -- I'm using the scrambler. <image001.png>Please consider the environment before printing this email. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jgitau%40gmail.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lkimani%40yahoo.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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Re: [kictanet] Fw: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES
by francis.hook 16 Mar '12

16 Mar '12

yes the 700 band affords greater cost savings for operators. -----Original Message----- From: Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi(a)gmail.com> Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 7:24 PM To: Michael Francis <francis.hook(a)gmail.com> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Fw: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES The focus on the 700 Mhz is because of standardization accross various regions, especially Africa, Europe and Mid East. This leads to more affordable equipment for all. Choosing your own "white space" will see you ordering customised equipment which comes at a high cost. Brazil does some manufacturing and may decide to choose its own path.

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Fw: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES
by Walubengo J 16 Mar '12

16 Mar '12

fyi from CCK. walu. nb: Sounds like the frequency wars are heating up again. --- On Fri, 3/16/12, Wambua, Christopher <Wambua(a)cck.go.ke> wrote: From: Wambua, Christopher <Wambua(a)cck.go.ke> Subject: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES To: "Walubengo J" <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> Date: Friday, March 16, 2012, 11:08 AM Walu, Please circulate this to listers. Wambua From: Wambua, Christopher Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 11:05 AM To: 'kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke' Subject: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES Importance: High PRESS RELEASE 16th March 2012 Listers, CCK’s response to agitation for surrender of broadcasting frequencies The attention of the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has been drawn to media reports attributed to one of the mobile operators in the country calling for the surrender of assigned broadcasting frequencies on the 700MHz band to mobile operators and other service providers for use in the deployment of 4G services (i.e. superfast mobile broadband/Internet services). The CCK wishes to respond to the agitation as follows: 1. The spectrum in question The spectrum/frequencies in question here (i.e. 700MHz band) will only become available for re-assignment for use in deployment of non-broadcasting services after the successful migration from analogue to digital TV broadcasting. According to an international agreement reached at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2006, member countries party to the agreement (including states in Africa, Europe, Russia and the Middle East) set 17th June 2015 as the global deadline for the switch-off of analogue TV broadcasting. The ITU is a specialized UN agency in the field of ICTs to which Kenya is affiliated. As a member of the ITU, Kenya is bound by the provisions of this agreement. 2. Transition to digital TV broadcasting To prepare the country for smooth and timely transition to digital TV broadcasting, the Government of Kenya constituted the Digital Television Committee (DTC) to oversee the migration process. The DTC recommended an early transition deadline of 2012 to enable the country to have the flexibility and time to address any difficulties that may arise before the multi-laterally agreed deadline of 2015. The demand for broadcasters to surrender frequencies in the 700 MHz band immediately to mobile operators, therefore, cannot be justified at this point. In any case, even the 2012 national deadline for migration to the digital TV broadcasting is not cast in stone. As has happened in other countries, the deadline could be postponed if there are challenges in achieving it. 3. Impracticable and ill-timed proposition Surrender of frequencies in the 700MHz band currently in use for broadcasting services would be ill-timed and impracticable. This is because the transition to digital broadcasting is being implemented in the same frequency band that is used for analogue TV broadcasting. The digital signal is at the moment only available in Nairobi, which means that the rest of the country is still dependent on analogue TV transmissions. Thus the existing analogue TV broadcasters cannot switch off their services without disconnecting a sizeable proportion of consumers. This explains why the country is on a simulcast period where both digital and analogue TV signals are on air. The switch-off of the analogue TV signals will only be done when the Government is satisfied that digital signal coverage is available nationwide. 4. Statutory mandate over frequency spectrum management The responsibility of managing frequency spectrum in Kenya is vested in CCK by law (that is by the Kenya Information and Communications Act, CAP 411A). In addition, CCK is the designated Government representative to the ITU, where international treaties/agreements and international regulations on frequency spectrum management and other ICT issues are made. Therefore only the CCK has the statutory mandate to assign spectrum (to broadcasters, mobile operators and other assignees) and to recall frequencies, where necessary, in line with the provisions of international agreements and regulations as well as national law. 5. Orderly planning of freed up spectrum Owing to the vast investments in the existing analogue infrastructure for TV broadcasting, the migration to digital TV broadcasting shall be done in an orderly way and freed up spectrum shall be surrendered to CCK for re-planning and re-assignment. The re-planning exercise shall involve deciding on the modalities of re-assignment, including use of market-based allocation methodologies such as spectrum auction. Re-assignment shall take due consideration of the various competing radio-communication services that require access to this vital spectrum. In view of the foregoing, it is premature to agitate for re-allocation of spectrum that is not even available in the first place. In any case, the World Radiocommunications Conference 2012 held in Geneva, Switzerland, early this year resolved that the implementation date for assignment of spectrum in the frequency band 694-790MHz to mobile services would be 2015, subject to results of studies conducted between now and then on the feasibility of implementing mobile services in part or in the entire 694-790MHz frequency range. Spectrum on this band is currently allocated to broadcasting services. Thus, it is the said studies that will effectively determine the amount of digital dividends (or freed up spectrum) that will emerge from the 694-790MHz frequency range for use in deployment of non-broadcasting services (including superfast mobile broadband/internet and other services). As a public body, CCK remains open to receive representations and comments on any regulatory issue touching on the ICT sector. Such representations should, however, be done within the framework of the law, without causing public confusion and exerting unwarranted pressure on the duly licensed players in the broadcasting industry. Issued by Francis W. Wangusi Ag. Director-General

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Number Misuse, Telecommunications Regulations and WCIT
by Michuki Mwangi 16 Mar '12

16 Mar '12

Worth reading. http://www.circleid.com/posts/number_misuse_telecommunications_regulations_… Regards, Michuki.

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Re: [kictanet] [ISOC_KE] [i-network] Re: Fw: [ICANN-discuss] IANA RFP Canceled
by otieno.barrack＠gmail.com 16 Mar '12

16 Mar '12

Hi Ronald, colleagues, yes we have our monthly meeting tomorrow. Br Sent from my BlackBerry® -----Original Message----- From: Ronald Ojino <ronojinx(a)gmail.com> Sender: isoc-bounces(a)orion.my.co.ke Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:40:39 To: Paul M<paulitrix(a)gmail.com> Cc: KICTAnet KICTAnet<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>; <isoc(a)orion.my.co.ke> Subject: Re: [ISOC_KE] [kictanet] [i-network] Re: Fw: [ICANN-discuss] IANA RFP Canceled _______________________________________________ isoc mailing list isoc(a)orion.my.co.ke http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/isoc

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