- KICTANet - KICTANet

MPs move to court to block Safaricom IPO, while in Rwanda MTN needs competitor that matches their profile
by alice 25 Sep '07

25 Sep '07

Kenya MPs move to court to block Safaricom IPO Published on September 25, 2007, 12:00 am By Evelyn Kwamboka The battle to stop the sale of shares in Safaricom Limited to the public has moved to court. Three members of Parliament filed a notice at the High Court in Nairobi saying they want to stop a planned initial public offer until the Privatisation Act 2005 comes into force. Their move will also block other planned privatisations as well as secondary offers of partially privatised firms. … [View More]The IPO, expected before Christmas, will see the sale of a 25 per cent stake held by the Government through the Nairobi Stock Exchange. President Kibaki has already assented to the Act, but its coming into force was on hold until recently when Parliament forced the Finance minister, Mr Amos Kimunya, to move on it. The MPs — Prof Peter Anyang' Nyong'o (Kisumu Rural), Mr Omingo Magara (South Mugirango) and Mr Mwandawiro Mghanga (Wundanyi) — claim the intended sale is illegal and undermines Parliament. They want the court to direct Kimunya to set a date when the Act will come into force. They also want an order barring the Government from any further sale of public corporations and State-held shares until when the Act comes into force. In the papers filed in court through Katwa and Kemboy Advocates, Nyong'o says Kimunya has no legal power to sell the 25 per cent stake in Safaricom or any shares in the company. "It also raises suspicion on the real motive and overall objective of the hurried privatisation exercise done within a legal vacuum, particularly when the overall effect appears likely to be detrimental to the common good against the greater national interest," he says. Another ground the MPs are relying on is that the minister has no authority to form a Privatisation Steering Committee to implement and co-ordinate the process or ignore the collective will of Parliament as expressed in the Privatisation Act 2005. "The decision of the minister is in breach of the order given by the Speaker of the National Assembly on August 23 to the minister to operationalise the Act within seven days from the said date," adds Nyong'o. Kimunya is alleged to have refused to appoint a date on which the said Act will come into force. The Act provides for the formation of a specialised privatisation commission to manage and implement the privatisation programme. Nyong'o says the Act regulates and limits the powers of the Government as well as the minister with respect to the privatisation process. The MP avers that records concerning Safaricom and Vodafone Kenya Ltd have been missing from the Registrar of Companies and Parliament cannot access them. As a result of the shares owned by the Government in Safaricom, the MP says the public has a right to know whom the company does business with. He claims that given the number of Safaricom subscribers and profit the company makes, the proposed privatisation is critical. The company this year announced a pre-tax profit of Sh17.2 billion off a turnover of Sh47 billion. It has close to seven million subscribers. Its actual shareholding structure has previously been cause for controversy. Source: http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143975045 <http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143975045> ************ ************* Uganda Celtel parent firm rebrands Monday, 24th September, 2007 E-mail article Print article By Vision Reporter MTC Group, the parent company of Celtel International, has re-branded to Zain which becomes the group's corporate master brand immediately. In Africa, the Zain Group will continue to trade under the Celtel brand. "Zain will bring together all our operations under a single, strong and unique identity. We believe it is the optimal platform upon which we can build a global brand with the ultimate goal of better serving our customers," Saad Al Barrak Zain Group's chief executive said. "It will propel the group towards becoming one of the top 10 global mobile telecommunications companies in the next four years." The Zain brand's theme is: "A Wonderful World." Brand architect Tito Alai, the group's chief commercial officer who also developed the Zain Group's successful Celtel brand in Africa, said: "The name Zain was selected from a list of over 400 after extensive research across many countries and cultures validated its broad global appeal." http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/588294 <http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/588294> ******************** Rwanda Tuesday, 25th September 2007 MTN needs competitor that matches their profile BY DAVID KEZIO MUSOKE SEVENTY per cent of Rwandatel shares are up for grabs. By the end of October, Rwanda's telecom market could be having a new player. Is this good or bad news for MTN Rwanda? What about the subscribers, what are they going to expect? There are six bidders including two telecom giants: the Vodacom Group of South Africa and Celtel, Africa's third-largest cell phone firm. The others include V-Tel Holdings of Jordan, Bit Map Ltd of Singapore and two little known companies: LapGreen Network of Uganda and Rwanda's R-Com. Rwandatel and its branded products, including Terracom and recently introduced Karame, have always played the fiddle to the already existing and powerful brand of MTN Rwandcell. The edgy relationship between both premier telecommunication companies has not really played a pivotal role in the development of the market and its infrastructure since 1998. According to the International Development Research Center (IDRC), MTN Rwanda grew a subscriber base four times the number of subscribers of Rwandatel, and the rate for telephone calls from mobile to fixed lines grew prohibitive. This discouraged most of Rwanda's users from calling mobile to fixed telephones. IDRC says they estimate 90 per cent of interconnection calls are initiated from the Rwandatel network and terminate on the MTN Rwandacell network (fixed to mobile). This means Rwandatel has to pay a tremendous amount of money to MTN Rwandacell for termination charges to use the MTN Rwandacell network, a business venture found to be unfair. MTN has since then operated in a monopolistic manner, controlling a market share of 95 per cent to a population of over 8 million Rwandans. The company boasts over 500,000 subscribers. Looking at MTN Rwanda closely, it belongs to the MTN family that set fort in South Africa. From the global footprint, the MTN group operates in 21 countries, serving a combined population of over 500 million people worldwide. But the gold is not that glittering for MTN Rwanda. According to the MTN Group Limited Integrated business report for last year, MTN Rwanda contributed only 2 per cent of subscribers to the South and East Africa (SEA) region of the MTN Group. It also supplied just 1 per cent of the total revenue the MTN Group collects from SEA, a region that includes South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, and Uganda. So what kind of competitor does MTN Rwanda need? What kind of market does Rwanda's population need? Skeptics say telecommunications is very crucial, if not one of the most important tools to eradicate the many socio-economic problems plaguing any third world country. The Rwandan government has made it very clear it is interested in a new owner of Rwandatel who will have to meet certain objectives underlined in the country's Vision 2020. The Grameen Foundation argues Rwanda has a relatively low rural tele- density (the number of telephone lines per 100 people) which is quoted at 5 per cent. Research done by the Research ICT Africa also shows Rwanda has the second highest mobile call tariffs in Africa, trailing Ethiopia. Rwanda has recently joined the East African Community (EAC). All the members states in this bloc (with the exception of Burund) have telecom markets which are quite superior to that of Rwanda. Safaricom of Kenya has a subscriber base of 7.6 million out of the estimated 10 million subscribers in the country. Tanzania boasts four GSM operators, while Uganda's subscribers with the recent registration of Warid and Hits telecommunications have an option of choosing between five operators by the end of this year. All three East African countries are connected to Celtel's `One Network coverage', a borderless network that allows subscribers to make calls at local rates and receive free incoming calls. This network is the first of its kind in the world and has won the company international recognition within the GSM association, a telecom club that harbors over 300 telecommunication companies worldwide. Rwanda would therefore need an alternative telecommunications company that can fully integrate subscribers into the EAC bloc – one which doesn't only concentrate on the transmission of voice, but also on transmission of data. One who will adopt third-generation (3G) mobile services in the country. In a recent statement, Rwandatel said: "We are looking for a strategic investor with capacity to develop the sector by improving the quality of services and meeting the ever increasing expectations of telecommunications market in Rwanda." Of all six bidders, there are only three which have profiles that match those of the telecoms mentioned above. The eventual winner of the bid would provide a highly competitive market for MTN Rwanda. V-Tel Holdings of Jordan and Bit Map Ltd of Singapore have hardly had any operations in Africa. Therefore, they have no experience working in an African setting and definitely don't know the market. Libya Africa Investments Portfolio for Africa (Lap Green) is a Libyan consortium reorganising the interests of investments owned by the Libyan government. The group, which has invested US$4 billion in cash and owns US$3 billion in assets, also owns Lap Green Networks Ltd who bought 69 per cent of shares in Uganda's national telecom operator, Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL). LapGreen Networks also owns Mali's Sahelcom and together with UTL's 700,000 subscribers, it would boast of about 900,000 fixed line and mobile subscribers in Africa. Vodacom and Celtel have both been identified as pan-African with regional interests in sub-Saharan Africa. Vodacom provides 3G GSM services to millions of customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Vodacom brand is also a 50 per cent joint venture investment with the United Kingdom's mobile firm, Vodafone Group Plc. The same telecommunication company has a 40 per cent stake in Safaricom of Kenya. Celtel which is owned by Kuwaiti-based Mobile Telecommunication Company (MTC), operates in 15 African nations. The company which recently announced a re-branding rollout from MTC Kuwait to Zain International has also established a strong hold across the West African region. Celtel's Fayaz King told telecom regulators by the end of 2007, all 15 countries would be part of its One Network plan recently, at the 1st Mobile Roaming Conference in West Africa. Sources within the telecom circles say MTN Rwanda is planning to forge a regional free-roaming zone with Safaricom. According to sources, MTN Rwanda's chief executive, Themba Khumalo and his Safaricom counterpart, Michael Joseph, met at the sidelines of the annual GSM Conference in Nairobi recently and discussed the prospects. The other advantage Celtel and Vodacom would have over all the other four bidders, is the fact that both companies are subscribers to a US$ 235m project to build a fiber-optic submarine cable. This project would fulfill what the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) calls the `missing link' to 21 eastern and southern African countries by 2009. The project is meant to reduce international connectivity costs by two-thirds. With `Connect Africa,' an ITU sponsored communications summit set to be held in Rwanda next month, the bidding process of the new player in Rwanda telecom market has to be done in line with the interests of ITU. At this summit, different heads of state will have to make key decisions in the regulatory environment in order to approach the market and attract the business leaders, some of which will include these bidders. Rwanda could use this summit to show case its ability to do away with unfair monopolies that might hinder growth in her telecommunications industry. dkmusoke(a)newtimes.co.rw <mailto:dkmusoke%40newtimes.co.rw> http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=1298&article=1147 <http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=1298&article=1147> *********************** [View Less]

1 0

Econet finally connected after paying $12m fee
by alice 25 Sep '07

25 Sep '07

Econet finally connected after paying $12m fee By A STAFF WRITER The EastAfrican South African-based mobile telephone operator Econet Wireless has finally found an entry into Kenya's highly lucrative market after it was allocated frequencies by the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK), ending a bruising three-year battle for a licence. Its local subsidiary, Econet Wireless Kenya Ltd, announced last week that it had received the frequencies after it paid the $12 million (Ksh840 million) … [View More]balance of its licence fee earlier this month. The company said it was now preparing for rollout of it services, effectively becoming Kenya's third mobile telephone operator. The balance is part of the $27 million the company was required to pay before it could be licensed and allocated frequencies. But the company is entering a market dominated by Safaricom Ltd and Celtel International — more or less a duopoly where the two players dictate terms. In a David and Goliath situation — Safaricom Ltd is the most profitable company posting Ksh17 billion ($253.7 million) in profits while Celtel has established a name for itself — Econet can hope that the CCK finds favour with its appeal and enforces a provision in its licence that commits regulatory authorities compel its competitions to provide a level playing field. But this will only be feasible if the competition allows number portability and the sharing of basic physical infrastructure, including base stations. Number portability allows consumers to retain the same number regardless of the network they are on at any one particular moment, but there is no indication that the CCK will introduce and enforce the requirement and even less hope that the other better entrenched companies will be willing to give in. But Econet's ability to roll out its network almost immediately it receives its licence and frequencies as it had promised remains to be seen. Its entry comes in at a time when the sector is undergoing rapid growth. It has recently witnessed the introduction of CDMA technology by Telkom Kenya, Popote Wireless and Flashcom. Econet's hopes of making an impact and quick profits for its principal shareholders will depend heavily on CCK's ability to negotiate complex interconnect agreements between multiple players and set the price for shared infrastructure. The telecommunications sector is characterised by a large mobile- phone segment, that has experienced sustained growth, with the number of subscribers surging at a phenomenal rate. For the period 2000 to 2005, growth in this sector was a remarkable 105 per cent. It is estimated that total subscriber numbers hit a new peak of eight million in December 2006, implying a penetration rate of 23 per cent. The number of fixed lines remains comparatively low, falling from a peak of 320,000 in 2002 to 280,000 in 2006. With ongoing deregulation and a sustained commitment from the government to support the sector, the business environment is seen as being extremely robust http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/News24090714.htm <http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/News24090714.htm> __._, <http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenyainternational> [View Less]

1 0

ICANN, TWNIC Host "Toward the New Era of Internet"
by Alex Gakuru 25 Sep '07

25 Sep '07

http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-20sep07.htm ICANN, TWNIC Host Toward the New Era of Internet in Taipei Internationalized domain names, Internet security key topics at three-day meeting 20 September 2007 MARINA DEL REY, Calif.: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is joining forces with the Taiwan Network Information Centre (TWNIC) to host a special regional meeting Toward the New Era of Internet in Taipei 19-21 October 2007. ICANN, TWNIC, and the … [View More]

1 0

NY Times FREE AGAIN!!!
by Alex Gakuru 24 Sep '07

24 Sep '07

["Now, everyone is entitled to our opinions. Effective September 19, 2007, TimesSelect has ended. Content previously published for TimesSelect is available free to all NYTimes.com visitors." http://www.nytimes.com/marketing/ts/] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: WWWhatsup <joly(a)punkcast.com> Date: Sep 22, 2007 10:14 PM Subject: [isoc-ny] NY Times FREE AGAIN!!! To: isoc-ny(a)yahoogroups.com, discuss(a)isoc-ny.org [Finally, the old grey lady digs the bullet out of it's foot]… [View More]

2 2

Fwd: NSE Week Ending 21Sep2007
by Bill Kagai 22 Sep '07

22 Sep '07

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Bill Kagai <mediacorp.research(a)mediacorp.co.ke> Date: Sep 22, 2007 10:21 PM Subject: NSE Week Ending 21Sep2007 To: mediacorp.research(a)mediacorp.co.ke Dear Sir/Madam, In this week's analysis; i. Improved fiscal rectitude and political governance prompts Citi to open shop for equities market in Kenya. ii. Kengen to pay Kshs 0.80 dividend for year ending June 2007. iii. Time in partnership with CNN ponder the mystery behind M-Pesa - aptly … [View More]

1 0

Fwd: EuroAfrica-ICT workshops - Publication sur médias et TIC -- CIPACO FLASH - N°7 - 22/09/2007 (IPAO/PIWA)
by Eric Osiakwan 22 Sep '07

22 Sep '07

Begin forwarded message: > From: "contact(a)cipaco.org" <contact(a)cipaco.org> > Date: 22 September 2007 14:21:13 GMT+03:00 > To: newsletter(a)cipaco.org > Subject: EuroAfrica-ICT workshops - Publication sur médias et TIC > -- CIPACO FLASH - N°7 - 22/09/2007 (IPAO/PIWA) > > CIPACO FLASH - N°7 - 22/09/2007 > -------------------------- > > ******** > ENGLISH > ******** > > ** EuroAfrica-ICT workshop in Botswana** > > As you may already know,… [View More] the EuroAfrica-ICT initiative > (<http://www.euroafrica-ict.org>) is a project developed under the 6th > Framework Programme (FP6) of the European Commission (DG InfSo) > with the > aim to strengthen, develop and support S&T partnerships in the ICT > field > between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa in particular in FP7 > (<http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7>). > > In this framework you are cordially invited to attend the next two > EuroAfrica-ICT Awareness Workshops: > > Gaborone, Botswana > :: Date: October 8 & 9 > :: Venue: Gaborone International Conference Centre - Gaborone, > Botswana > :: Organiser: The Meraka Institute of the CSIR, South Africa > :: Supporting organisations: Ministry of Communications, Science & > Technology (Botswana) and the University of Botswana. > :: Language: English > :: Participation : Free but no schoolarship to support attendance > available. > :: Contact : RNaidoo(a)csir.co.za and cmanneson(a)csir.co.za > > > Yaoundé, Cameroon (details below in French) > :: Date: October 11 & 12 > :: Venue: Franco Hotel - Yaoundé, Cameroon > :: Organiser: Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA), Senegal > :: Supporting organisation: Ecole Nationale Polytechnique Supérieure, > Université of Yaoundé 1 > :: Language: French > > > ** Publication "Enjeux et usages des TIC en Afrique : Les médias > entrent > dans le débat" ** > > New publication by the Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA), mainly in > French, on media and ICTs in Africa. Issues covered: media uses of > ICTs, > blogs, regulation, SAT3, GSM uses, e-administration, telecenters, etc. > Contains analyses on ICT issues for journalists and 43 articles > written > by journalists from West and Central Africa; 262 pages. Produced > within > the framework of a PIWA project funded by IDRC - See details in > French below > > > > ********** > FRANCAIS > ********** > > ------------------------ > Ateliers EuroAfrica-ICT > ------------------------- > > Comme vous le savez peut-être, l’initiative EuroAfrica-ICT > (<http://www.euroafrica-ict.org>) est un projet soutenu par le 6ème > Programme Cadre de Recherche et Développement (PCRD) de la Commission > européenne (DG Société de l’Information et Media) ayant pour > objectif de > faciliter les partenariats scientifiques et techniques entre les pays > d’Afrique sub-saharienne et de l’Union européenne au sein du 7ème PCRD > (<http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7>). > > Dans ce cadre, nous sommes heureux de vous convier aux deux > ateliers du > projet EuroAfrica-ICT: > > GABORONE, BOTSWANA > :: Date: 8 & 9 Octobre > :: Lieu: Centre de Conférences International - Gaborone, Botswana > :: Organisateur: L’Institut Meraka, CSIR, Afrique du Sud > :: Soutien: Ministère des Communications, des Sciences et Technologies > (Botswana) et l’Université du Botswana > :: Langue de travail: Anglais > :: Contact : RNaidoo(a)csir.co.za et cmanneson(a)csir.co.za > > YAOUNDE - CAMEROUN > :: Date: 11 & 12 Octobre > :: Lieu: Hôtel Franco - Yaoundé, Cameroun > :: Organisateur: Institut Panos Afrique de l’Ouest (IPAO), Sénégal > :: Collaboration: Ecole Nationale Polytechnique Supérieure, Université > of Yaoundé 1 > :: Langue de travail: Français > > ** Objectifs de l'atelier du Cameroun: ** > > 1) Informer les participants sur les activités de l’initiative > EuroAfrica-ICT et ses différents services ; > 2) Informer sur les modalités de participation au 7ème PCRD ; > 3) Identifier les principales institutions africaines pouvant > participer > au 7ème PCRD ; > 4) Favoriser la discussion sur les enjeux de la Recherche Scientifique > sur les TIC, ainsi que la collaboration entre les différents acteurs. > > La rencontre réunira les principales organisations intéressées par la > recherche scientifique dans le secteur des TIC, du Cameroun, des pays > voisins, des institutions régionales et internationales, ainsi que des > représentants de l’Union européenne. > > Durant l’atelier, les enjeux de la recherche sur les TIC pour > l’Afrique, > de la coopération avec l’Union Européenne dans ce domaine, ainsi > que des > initiatives de recherche sur les TIC seront discutés. Des visites de > laboratoires TIC auront également lieu. > > Public cible : Universitaires intéressés par les TIC, acteurs du > secteur > privé TIC intéressés par la recherche/développement et la coopération > technique, autres acteurs travaillant sur ces questions, acteurs de > l’Union européenne intéressés par la recherche et la coopération > technique avec l’Afrique dans ce domaine. > > ** Comment y participer ? ** > > La participation est gratuite mais l’inscription préalable est > impérative ; veuillez bien vouloir vous inscrire en remplissant ce > formulaire > http://www.euroafrica-ict.org/awareness_workshops_formulaire.html. Les > inscriptions seront closes le 2 Octobre 2007. > > Les personnes intéressées devront prendre en charge les frais liés à > leur participation. L’initiative EuroAfrica-ICT prendra en charge les > déjeuners durant l’atelier. > > Pour plus d'informations : > http://www.euroafrica-ict.org/awareness_workshops.html et > http://www.cipaco.org/spip.php?article1198 -- > > > ** > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------ > Publication : "Enjeux et usages des TIC en Afrique : Les médias > entrent > dans le débat" > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------- > > Une nouvelle publication du Programme "Usages et Politiques du > Numérique" (TIC) de l’Institut Panos Afrique de l’Ouest (IPAO) > vient de > paraître. Elle a été réalisée dans le cadre du projet « La presse > écrite > ouest-africaine : médiatrice des enjeux de la société de l’information > », mis en oeuvre par l’IPAO entre 2004 et 2006 et financé par le > Centre > de Recherches pour le Développement International (CRDI). Il avait > pour > objectif de sensibiliser les acteurs des médias aux enjeux de la > société > de l’information et de renforcer leurs capacités à traiter ce thème de > manière professionnelle. > > La publication rend ainsi compte et débat, d’une part, des usages > actuels des TIC pour le développement en Afrique et, d’autre part, de > leurs usages et enjeux pour les médias eux-mêmes. Elle contient des > analyses et plus de quarante articles écrits dans différents > contextes, > par des journalistes de l’Afrique de l’ouest et de l’Afrique centrale, > en français et dans quelques cas en anglais. L’utilisation des TIC > dans > l’administration, celle des blogs, de la téléphonie mobile, la > régulation, le SAT 3, la question « genre et TIC », la convergence et > surtout l’intérêt des TIC pour les médias, sont autant de > problématiques > traitées dans cet ouvrage collectif de 262 pages. > > Le projet financé par le CRDI a été réalisé en liaison avec un autre > projet de production et de renforcement de capacités des médias sur > les > TIC, financé par l’Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie > (AIF), > dans le cadre du Fonds Francophone des Inforoutes (FFI). > > ** Sommaire ** > > - Renforcer les capacités des médias et favoriser la gouvernance > efficiente des TIC (Avant-propos) > - Quand les médias s’approprient les enjeux des TIC : une analyse de > productions de journalistes ouest-africains > > - Sélection d’articles sur les TIC en Afrique > * Régulation et convergence > * Genre et accès universel > * SAT3, régulation, accès > * Médias, accès > * Gouvernance démocratique, développement > * Thèmes divers > > - Usages et perspectives des blogs en Afrique de l’Ouest : cas du > Sénégal > - Eléments d’évaluation sur la problématique « TIC et Médias » en > Afrique : Interviews d’acteurs > > > ** Télécharger gratuitement votre copie : > http://www.panos-ao.org/IMG/pdf_enjeuxetusagesticmedia.pdf > > Publication également disponible sur support imprimé. > > Pour plus d’information sur les activités de renforcement de capacités > des médias sur les TIC menées par l’IPAO, et financées par des > institutions telles que le CRDI, l’OIF/FFI, OSIWA, consulter le site > http://mediatic.panos-ao.org et http://www.haayo.org > > Pour plus d'informations : http://www.panos-ao.org/spip.php? > article15055 > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------ > "Flash" est un bulletin d’alerte rapide qui paraît, lorsque nécessaire > et au plus deux fois par mois. Il vous informe rapidement sur un sujet > nécessitant votre prompte réaction (événement, opportunité, nouvelle, > etc.). C'est une production du projet CIPACO de l'Institut Panos > Afrique > de l'Ouest. > > Envoyez-nous vos informations: Contact(a)cipaco.org > > Pour s’abonner, envoyez-nous un email ou aller sur : > http://www.cipaco.org/article.php3?id_article=15&lang= > Pour se désabonner, envoyez-nous un email ou aller sur > http://mailman.cipaco.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/newsletter > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----- > "Flash" informs you on ICT policy issue(s) (event, opportunity, news, > etc) for which you need to take a prompt action; "Flash" is released > only when needed, and at most, twice a month. It is produced by the > CIPACO project of the Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA). > > Contact - To send us an event: contact(a)cipaco.org > > To subscribe, send us a email or go to: > http://www.cipaco.org/article.php3?id_article=15&lang=en > To unsubscribe, send us an email or go to > http://mailman.cipaco.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/newsletter > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------ > > _______________________________________________ > Newsletter mailing list > Newsletter(a)cipaco.org > http://mailman.cipaco.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/newsletter > Eric M.K Osiakwan Executive Secretary AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 Fax: + 233.21.258811 Cell: + 233.244.386792 Handle: eosiakwan Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ Slang: "Tomorrow Now" [View Less]

1 0

Re: [kictanet] Safaricom Effects Refund; is the Safaricom to Telkom SMS Link?
by John Walubengo 21 Sep '07

21 Sep '07

Alex from ur message below, Snip> "Dear Customer we (Safaricom?) curently have no SMS connection to Telkom. <snip Could someone confirm if there's interconnection between the two Operators at an SMS (texting) level. I would have thought interconnection between the two operators is much more important than refunding for failed messages... walu. --- Alex Gakuru <gakuru(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Dear All, > > Further to our earlier SMS conversation, I have received > an … [View More]

2 1

Not..Venting Data Vending
by Bill Kagai 21 Sep '07

21 Sep '07

Hi Alex, Actually, we are not venting but trying to be responsible for the changes we want. Despite all our efforts including the Government's in getting ICT related legislation in place, and none of that happening basically means that change of strategy is required. The MediaCorp Board of Directors will be sponsoring my candidature for the Westlands Parliamentary Seat on a KANU platform in 2012. The work nevertheless begins immediately to ensure that MPs who are coming for the 10th August … [View More]

5 8

(no subject)
by John Kariuki 20 Sep '07

20 Sep '07

Please go ahead --------------------------------- Yahoo! Answers - Get better answers from someone who knows. Tryit now.

1 0

Fwd: GJLOS on traffic offences
by Brian Longwe 19 Sep '07

19 Sep '07

Please pass on to all you know and stop these cops harassing people - especially at the roadblock just after Sigona Begin forwarded message: > Subject: FW: GJLOS on traffic offences > > This is a piece of paper that is handy to have in your car. Please > pass it > on. > > If you are stopped for a minor traffic offence in Kenya, please > follow the > following simple rules > > 1. Demand that the officer identify him/herself through an appointment > … [View More]certificate OR trough the name and number normally pinned on their > uniform. > > 2. Equally always identify yourself by a driver's license or ID > document. > > 3. Please do not allow police officers to get into your car when > you have > been stopped for a minor traffic offence. (Your car is private > property > and technically the police require a search warrant to enter your > car, but > we are normally polite and allow them to look in the boot etc.) > > 4. If you are being charged with a minor traffic offence, the paper > work > can normally be done on the spot ! it's called a " bail bond" or > "police > bail ". You make a cash payment and get an official receipt (which > is also > a notice to appear in court on a future date). If it cannot be > issued on > the spot, insist that you follow a police car to the nearest police > station and then ensure that the bail bond is issued at the police > station. Please also note that all minor traffic offences in Kenya are > indeed eligible for "bail bond "or "police bail " - there is > absolutely no > justification for you to be locked up at a police station for minor > traffic offences (But this is a threat normally used to scare people) > > 5. Never allow a police officer to take the keys of your car from the > ignition ! This is illegal. > > 6. Be polite and non-confrontational at all times. > > Jacques Carstens > Chief Technical Coordinator > Programme Coordination Office > Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) Reform Programme > Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kenya > Cell: +254 (0)723919539 > Tel:+254-20-224029/55/82x116 or DL 215974 > E-mail: jcarstens(a)gjlos.co.ke http://www.gjlos.go.ke/ > 9th Floor, Room 908, Cooperative Bank House > > This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and > intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom > they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please > notify the system manager. This message contains confidential > information and is intended only for the individual named. If you > are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute > or copy this e-mail. > ______________________________________________________________________ > This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. > For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email > ______________________________________________________________________ > > > "Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have."- > Jomo Kenyatta [View Less]

2 2

[Fwd: please remove Eng Kariuki former address]
by alice 19 Sep '07

19 Sep '07

Dear all Someone stole Engineers Karuiki's e-mailbox and is using it to commit fraud. Eng. Kariuki is unable to access the box to close it. If any of you has received or receives this message, see below, from this address: jnkariuki(a)gmail.com be warned it is a fraudster using it. Take care of your passwords... best alice ---------------------------------------------------------- > *From:* John Kariuki [mailto:jnkariuki@gmail.com] > *Sent:* 18 September 2007 10:21 > *To:* … [View More]undisclosed-recipients: > *Subject:* Please, I Need Your Help Urgently. > > How are you doing today? I am in a hurry writing you this message, i > don't have much time on the pc here, so i have to brief you my present > situation which requires your urgent response. Actually, I had a trip > to Nigeria for a program called "Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, > HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education, the program is taking place > in three major countries in Africa which is Ghana, South Africa and > Nigeria. but unfortunately for me all my money got stolen at the hotel > where i lodged due to a robbery incident that happened in the hotel. I > had been so restless since last night, i have been without any money i > am even owing the hotel here as well, moreover the Hotel's telephone > lines here got disconnected by the robbers and they are trying to get > them fixed back. > I have access to only emails at the library because my mobile cant > work here so i didn't bring it along, please i want you to help me > with some money so that i can clear my bills and return back home. > please can you send me $3000 so i can return back i would refund it > back to you as soon as i get home, I am so confused right now and > don't know what to do, you can have it sent through Western Union but > My passport is with the Embassy here so not sure if i can use my name > to collect it now, But you can send it directly to a Man who works for > Western Union, he helps people in the hotel i lodge to get money from > their relatives and i would get it through him, I have already spoken > to him, so he will get it immediately it is sent but let me know if > you can help me then i will make findings. please let me hear from you > so i can collect his full name and address where you can send the > money to today please, Its really urgent for me as i don't know what > to do right now than to leave here soonest you send it to me and i > will pay you back immediately i get home. > > Thanks alot for your kindness. I will really appreciate your quick > response. > > > -- > Eng.J.N. Kariuki, > P.O.Box 72748, > NAIROBI 00200, KENYA > e-mail: jnkariuki(a)gmail.com <mailto:jnkariuki@gmail.com> > [View Less]

3 2

Work in Dar es Salaam...
by Michael Kipsang Bullut 19 Sep '07

19 Sep '07

Please pass on... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ken Ndirangu <kendirangu(a)gmail.com> Date: 19 Sep 2007 14:36 Subject: [Skunkworks] Work in Dar To: skunkworks(a)my.co.ke Hi all. A friend is building a wireless ISP in Tanzania and would like to hire 1 or 2 techies with some experience in this. The job will mainly be to work on the ongoing rollout, maintenance, network management and support. If you are seriously interested please contact me. yahoo id: kendirangu(a)… [View More]

1 0

Venting Data Vending
by Alex Gakuru 19 Sep '07

19 Sep '07

Hey Billy, M8 you look like you're really spilling it;-) http://article.wn.com/view/2007/09/14/Data_Vending_Hit_By_Poor_Internet_Con… Have y'self a nice day. Alex ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase. http://farechase.yahoo.com/

1 0

Fwd: [Idlelo2] Africa Conference on FOSS and the Digital Commons - Idlelo 3. Call for Papers
by Judy Okite 18 Sep '07

18 Sep '07

FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Nnenna <nne75(a)yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:25:52 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Idlelo2] Africa Conference on FOSS and the Digital Commons - Idlelo 3. Call for Papers To: African Information Society Initiative - Discussion Forum <aisi-l(a)lyris.bellanet.org>, ACSIS <africa(a)wsis-cs.org>, Governance <governance(a)lists.cpsr.org>, IDLELO <idlelo2(a)fossfa.net>, Nigeria List <wsisnigeria(a)yahoogroups.com>, … [View More]Naija_IT_Professionals(a)yahoogroups.com, Language <language(a)fossfa.net> Apologies for crossposting Nnenna ** High Priority ** Call for Papers Paper submissions are invited for Idlelo3 Conference, which will be taking place on the 16-20 March , 2008 in Senegal. Delegates who wish to present papers, case studies and workshops are invited to access this link: http://floss.meraka.org.za/ocs/index.php/idlelo3/idlelo3 which will serve as a guidelines for submission Deadline Schedule Abstract Submission 15 October 2007 Peer Review Result 15 November 2007 Abstract Accepted 14 December 2007 Final Paper 15February 2008 Instructions for Presenters Presentation materials must accompany all papers. The presentation material should compliment your full paper. Failure to submit a full paper will result in speaker benefits being withdrawn. Speaker Benefits All Idlelo 3 speakers have their conference registration fee waived. Note that it is important that you get your papers in by the due dates we reserve the right to withdraw the free registration if you do not get it in on time. If you are having problems meeting the deadlines, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can work with you to figure it out. If you are a student, please make sure that we know it. We may offer prize(s) for the best student paper submitted. Submission Guidelines Proposals Your proposal must include: Name, affiliation and address of principle author Brief biographical note, which summarises your CV and explains relevance of your experiences to the topic of your Paper. Full title of the Paper Abstract of the Paper, including a description of what you expect to cover (Maximum length 250 words) Target Audience, namely, who your talk is likely to interest (keywords indicating categories) Preferred stream for presentation Names and bio information of any co-authors Proposals acceptance Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their proposals by the 14 December 2007. Whilst we encourage many proposals, the constraints of time, resources and space dictate that only a restricted number of proposals will be accepted for presentation. We suggest that you communicate any information regarding your individual local requirements with them as soon as possible to ensure a swift response. Paper Submission All presenters are required to submit presentation materials by the specified date. Failure to do so may result in loss of your speaking slot and speaker benefits. Your full paper should include an abstract, introduction, body and conclusion. Please ensure that grammar and spelling is corrected. Make sure your paper includes at the very least a brief introduction to your subject material and a list of further resources. We would prefer that papers for standard length talks (30 minutes) be no more than 5 A4 pages of 11point type with reasonable margins. Papers for long talks (60 minutes) should be not exceed 10 pages. Appropriate file formats include any file that can be read with Open Office (which includes plain text and HTML with minimal mark-up). Slides (even those accompanied by speaker notes) will not be printed in the proceedings. Please provide a good range of sample paper layouts. By submitting a paper to be published in the proceedings, you are agreeing to the FOSSFA terms and regulations. Review results All papers will be reviewed to ensure that papers are of a high quality. The purpose is not to identify spelling or grammatical errors or to test code snippets, although errors may be corrected during the review if found. It is recommended that the presenters should read their papers thoroughly before submitting. Once your paper has been reviewed, the presenters will receive their results in order to make the requested improvements for the published version. Proceedings version A final copy of your paper will be printed in the conference proceedings. Contact details If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Pumeza Ceza at pceza(a)csir.co.za or Vanessa Phala vanessap(a)dpsa.gov.za Please note: Submissions for the abstracts are strictly on the 15 November 2007 FOSSFA reserves the right to select papers for presentation. Abstracts received will be acknowledged and notification of acceptance or rejection will be by email by 15 December 2007 Abstracts of papers submitted to other congresses or previously published will not be considered. No more than three submissions are welcome per presenter We urge presenters to please read the submission requirements carefully as we expect a high volume of presentations --------------------------------- Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. "Even if you are on the right track, you'll still get run over if you just sit there." [View Less]

1 0

Fwd: eLearning Africa 2008 News Service - Call for Papers Now Open!
by Judy Okite 18 Sep '07

18 Sep '07

FYI, ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: newsservice(a)elearning-africa.com Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:54:19 +0200 (CEST) Subject: eLearning Africa 2008 News Service - Call for Papers Now Open! To: judyokite(a)gmail.com To unsubscribe, please scroll to the end of this message. News & Information on the eLearning Africa conference, an annual event for developing eLearning capacities in Africa www.elearning-africa.com 1. Call for Papers Now Open The Call … [View More]for Papers for the eLearning Africa 2008 conference programme is open. You can submit a proposal for a session, presentation, workshop or discussion. Please send us your proposal by December 7, 2008, using the online submission form submission at www.elearning-africa.com. Themes of eLearning Africa 2008 are: - Unleashing the Capabilities of Universities Through Information and Communication Technologies - Corporate eLearning in Africa and Beyond - Introducing eLearning into the School System - Designing and Delivering eLearning - Building the Infrastructure for Education in the 21st Century - Open Source and Open Content - eLearning in Medical Education and the Fight Against HIV and AIDS - Advanced Technology Developments - eLearning Supported by Development Partners - Empowering Women Through ICT and eLearning - Improving the Quality and Outreach of Technical and Vocational Education - Libraries as Access Providers to Resources and Expertise - Quality Development and Quality Assurance - Achieving Inclusivity Through eLearning - eLearning for the Public Sector - Policy Issues and Large-Scale Take-Up of eLearning More information 2. The eLearning Africa Video The eLearning Africa film crew was constantly on the go during the three conference days in Nairobi to get impressions and statements from speakers, participants and exhibitors. They have produced an entertaining five-minute film that captures the lively and inspiring atmosphere at the event... Watch the eLA Film 3. Exhibition & Sponsoring Opportunities eLearning Africa is accompanied by an exhibition and demonstration area where leading international eLearning manufacturers, suppliers and service providers present their latest products and services. Located centrally within the conference venue, the exhibition has a relaxed atmosphere that encourages cooperation initiatives. Participants value the exhibition as a central meeting point within the conference and an excellent opportunity to meet with the exhibiting companies and institutions. If your company is interested in meeting the participants of eLearning Africa, your presence at the exhibition is surely an excellent opportunity to: Promote your organisation and latest developments to a highly specialised audience Establish and strengthen valuable personal contacts Actively engage with a growing market represented by leading eLearning professionals from all over Africa Should you wish to become a sponsor and/or exhibitor at eLearning Africa's accompanying exhibition, please contact us at marketing(a)elearning-africa.com. Visit the event's website 4. Early Bird Rate - Register Now! Get the special conference rate prior to December 14! African Participants - 200 Euros (250 Euros from December 15) Non-Africa Participants - 490 Euros (590 Euros from December 15) African Students - 80 Euros (100 Euros from December 15) Non-African Students - 120 Euros (170 Euros from December 15) Fees & Registration ==================================== Please send any feedback, comments or suggestions to the eLearning Africa newsletter team at press-service(a)icwe.net. For more information about the event, please contact: ICWE GmbH Leibnizstrasse 32 10625 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 18 180 Fax: +49 (0)30 324 98 33 www.icwe.net, www.elearning-africa.com E-Mail: info(a)elearning-africa.com ==================================== Click here to unsubscribe or to change your settings. -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. "Even if you are on the right track, you'll still get run over if you just sit there." [View Less]

1 0

Books
by Dorcas Muthoni 17 Sep '07

17 Sep '07

Dear All, If you happen to have any IT/Computer Science (programming, networking, Internet, Web Development, Databases, AI, Computer Architecture etc) reading materials (books, journals, magazines etc) that you can donate to a school, please get in touch with me. LinuxChix Kenya will be holding an event for girls´ high schools under our mentorship program for young women on 29th September at Catholic University at which we shall donate the books together with others donated to us by NSRC (… [View More]

1 0

retreat update, spaces available
by Rebecca Wanjiku 17 Sep '07

17 Sep '07

hi, just to let you know that the retreat is still on course, the retreat will take place between the 27-29 of September at the lake Elementaita lodge. we leave on 27th afternoon, at about 5 and get back on 30th, the program will be sent soon by our lead consultant,in attendance will be another prof. who is an expert in the field, we still have space, for those interested in participating, for those who will not make it, you can still forward your contributions for consideration, regards … [View More]

1 0

ICANN Los Angeles meeting
by alice 17 Sep '07

17 Sep '07

Dear All, For those planning to attend the LA meeting, the schedule has been posted at: http://losangeles2007.icann.org/schedule See below. Schedule and Agendas Sort by Committee / Organization Starts Ends Event Room Saturday, 27 October, 2007 - 00:00 Saturday, 27 October, 2007 - 17:00 GNSO Council Working Session <http://losangeles2007.icann.org/node/76> Saturday, 27 October, 2007 - 14:00 Saturday, 27 October, 2007 - 18:00 GAC Working Group on IDNs (CLOSED) <… [View More]

1 0

Public comments on GNSO Council's WHOIS outputs invited
by Alex Gakuru 17 Sep '07

17 Sep '07

http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-14sep07.htm Public comments are invited via email until 00:00 UTC (17:00 PDT) on 30 October 2007 on the GNSO Council's WHOIS reports and recommendations. Submit comments to: whois-comments-2007(a)icann.org. View comments at http://forum.icann.org/lists/whois-comments-2007/. Background In March, 2007, a WHOIS Task Force convened by the GNSO Council in June, 2005 completed its final report. The Task Force was asked to address important … [View More]questions related to WHOIS. Key questions included the purpose of WHOIS service, which information should be available to the public, how to improve WHOIS accuracy and how to deal with conflicts between WHOIS requirements and relevant privacy laws. In the final report, a simple majority of members of the WHOIS Task Force endorsed a proposal called the "Operational Point of Contact" (OPOC). Under OPOC, every registrant would identify a new operational contact and the technical and administrative contact details would no longer be displayed. The final WHOIS Task Force Report of 12 March, 2007 is posted at http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/whois-services-final-tf-report-1…. Following completion of the Task Force Report and public comment period, on 28 March the GNSO Council issued a resolution creating a WHOIS Working Group to examine three issues and to make recommendations concerning how current policies may be improved to address these issues: 1. to examine the roles, responsibilities and requirements of the OPOC, and what happens if they are not fulfilled; 2. to examine how legitimate interests will access unpublished registration data; and 3. to examine whether publication of registration contact information should be based on the type of registered name holder (legal vs. natural persons) or the registrant's use of a domain name. The Whois Outcomes Working Group Report was finalized on 20 August, 2007. It is posted at http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/icann-whois-wg-report-final-1-9.pdf [PDF, 213K]. On 6 September 2007, the GNSO Council approved a resolution which, among other things, establishes a schedule for consideration of the WHOIS Task Force Report and the WHOIS Working Group Report. This schedule includes solicitation of further public comments and culminates in a public Council discussion and vote on 31 October 2007 during the Los Angeles ICANN. In addition, the resolution calls for ICANN staff to prepare a type of "draft final report" that references the Task Force Report, the Working Group Charter and the Working Group Report and which includes an overall description of the process. The following document, entitled, Staff Overview of Recent GNSO WHOIS Activity [PDF, 77K], has been prepared in response to the Council Resolution. It contains the full text of the GNSO resolution and the schedule for GNSO Council consideration of the reports. Again, further public comments are invited via email until 00:00 UTC (17:00 PDT) on 30 October 2007 on the GNSO Council's WHOIS reports and recommendations referenced above and summarized in the Staff Overview of Recent GNSO WHOIS Activity [PDF, 77K]. Submit comments to: whois-comments-2007(a)icann.org. View comments at http://forum.icann.org/lists/whois-comments-2007/. -- Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows. Yahoo! Answers - Check it out. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545469 [View Less]

1 0

URGENT: Anyone Attending the Internet Governance Forum in Rio?
by Janet Feldman 16 Sep '07

16 Sep '07

Dear Friends, Please see this urgent message, and contact Michael Gurstein directly, at gurstein(a)gmail.com. Thanks and best wishes, Janet (Feldman, kaippg(a)earthlink.net) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: michael gurstein gurstein(a)gmail.com Date: Sep 16, 2007 7:05 AM Subject: [gta] URGENT: Is anyone from this group (or in associated groups) likely to be attending the Internet Governance Forum in Rio? As most of you know the major follow-on activity to the World Summit … [View More]on the Information Society (WSIS) is the Internet Governance Forum which met last year in Athens and is meeting this year in Rio de Janeiro. http://www.intgovforum.org Civil society is a quite active player in this forum and has the opportunity to nominate speakers for various of the sessions which will be held. I've been fairly vocal in arguing that those such as folks involved with the Telecentre movement i.e. with grass roots experience and interests should have a role to play in these discussions and I've now been roped into being on the Civil Society (actually the CS Internet Governance Caucus) nominating committee for CS participation in the forum. A major problem and one that I and others have been complaining about quite strenuously is that there is NO funding for participation by CS in the IGF. What I'm asking is whether any of you folks (or people that you know as Telecentre colleagues or collaborators) either will be attending the Rio conference or could attend the Rio conference even in the absence of any financial support. If there are such persons on this list or that you know of I need to have an indication of your/their interest in participating more or less immediately (the committee is meeting starting late tomorrow for two days) to come up with a list of names to send forward to the IGF Management Committee. If you do send an indication of interest please also include a brief resume and if possible a statement of what areas would be of particular interest/expertise for you to contribute on. The subject matter areas on which sessions will be held are as follows: Critical Internet Resources: Starting point for the discussion is the definition contained in the WGIG report (Para 13 a): "Issues relating to infrastructure and the management of critical Internet resources, including administration of the domain name system and Internet protocol addresses (IP addresses), administration of the root server system, technical standards, peering and interconnection, telecommunications infrastructure, including innovative and convergent technologies, as well as multilingualization." The session will use a baseline approach, taking into account WSIS principles. The purpose of the discussion is to bring out information and opinion. There will be a balanced panel of five to seven experts, including the major players, reflecting a range of views Access: - Special connectivity problems faced by Africa, land-locked, island and least developed countries. - Access challenges in rural areas. - Skills development, training and capacity building in the use of technology. - Low cost access solutions. - Mobile and wireless access. - International infrastructure reliability, connectivity policy and costs. - Local and regional interconnection and cross-border regulation. - Economic impact of access. - Issues related to net neutrality. Diversity: - Building support and stimulating demand for locally developed content. This includes content that is not commercially viable, software support and the role of audio-visual communication. - The role of open standards in promoting diversity. - The involvement of language communities in developing internationalized domain names (IDN) and in developing multi-lingual content, including content in indigenous and minority languages. - Technologies, policies, and capacity building to reduce illiteracy and to provide access and accessible content for marginalized and vulnerable groups of society, including older persons and persons with disabilities. - Public policies concerned with user generated content. Openness: - Freedom of expression and the role of governments to protect that right. - Protection of privacy and its relation to freedom of expression. - The relationship between national regulations on freedom of expression and the border-free Internet. - The relationship between private enterprise, human rights, and compliance with national law. - The balance between citizens' rights, and the rights of IPR holders. - Innovative business models, made possible by the Internet, for dealing with digital content and their application in development. - Open source software, proprietary software and open standards. - The challenges to access to information and knowledge and what can be done to overcome them. - Maximizing access to content. Security: - Security threats to countries, companies, and individuals as users of the Internet and to the Internet itself - The definition of security threats, international security cooperation, including such issues as cybercrime, cyber-terrorism and cyber-warfare. - The relationship between national implementation and international cooperation. - Cooperation across national boundaries, taking into account different legal policies on privacy, combating crime and security. - The role of all stakeholders in the implementation of security measures, including security in relation to behaviour and uses. - Security of internet resources. - Authentication and identification - Authentication and identification and their role in fostering trust online and their relation to the protection of privacy. - Challenges to privacy in a security environment. - Respecting freedom of expression. - Privacy and identity. - Privacy and development. - Security issues related to the protection of children. - Protecting children from abuse and exploitation in the online environment. Emerging issues - Emerging pervasive nature of the Internet in a political, economic, and social context. - Policy implication of rapid spread wireless and mobile Internet. - Policy implications of user generated content. - Implications of competition policy. Best, MG Michael Gurstein, Ph.D. Centre for Community Informatics Research, Training and Development Ste. 2101-989 Nelson St. Vancouver BC CANADA v6z 2s1 http://www.communityinformatics.net tel./fax +1-604-602-0624 [View Less]

1 0

Internet Service Providers Record Rise in Earnings in Kenya
by alice 16 Sep '07

16 Sep '07

From Balancing Act Internet Service Providers Record Rise in Earnings in Kenya Local Internet service providers are earning higher revenues signalling increased use of the web among consumers, industry statistics show. The data indicate that average revenue per user (ARPU), a measure of how each user spends on internet access, has risen to an all time high of $600 in some segments of the market, up from an average of $500 last year. Globally, ARPU is used as a measure of how … [View More]much money a service provider makes from the average user and enables the ISPs to make revenue projections as well as determine which products are earning most revenues. It also provides an accurate picture as to what services and products are popular with consumers in certain segments of the market. "Most ICT firms, however, have indicated application of cost leadership strategies, resulting in lower ARPUs with the intention of raking in higher subscriber number," said Shida Mutuku, the group head of marketing at Africa Online. The pan-African ISP, which is changing focus from being a pure ISP services company to a supplier of comprehensive IT services, says demand for ICT products is rising across the board. ISPs can maximise on their resources by using ARPU data to their advantage. ARPU can also be used as a measure of how successful a company is in moving users to new services that are regarded as strategically important. Citing steadily increasing revenues from its broadband product, AccessKenya Group hopes to realise its projected revenue target from customers looking for better speed and capacity from their internet connection. Last week, AccessKenya said it was on track to realising an ARPU average of $540 owing to increased number of large customers coming on board and many existing customers upgrading their bandwidth. The ICT company, which recently announced that it had realised its customer target of 1,720 four months ahead of schedule, says its current ARPU is underpinned by the strength of its Broadband Max 2 leased line solution that has become popular with the corporate market. "Broadband Max 2 offers a quadruple downlink coupled with high reliability evidenced by a 99.8 per cent Service Level Agreement," said Jonathan Somen, the managing director of AccessKenya. "We are the only ISP offering this sort of solution in the Kenyan market and have realised significant increase in demand over the past six months," he said. Somen said AccessKenya had set a new target of enrolling a minimum of 1,900 leased line customers by the end of the year, and has been reinvesting some of its profits from increased customer numbers to build up sales and customer service teams. Africa Online refused to reveal its current ARPUs but said it was targeting ARPU of $1,000 per use by the end of the year. The ambitious target is based on increased demand for corporate leased line solutions and increased take up in the residential user market of the wireless broadband product, Infinet. (Source: Business Daily) [View Less]

1 0

Research fellow position - at Berkeley
by Michael Kipsang Bullut 16 Sep '07

16 Sep '07

Distribute widely... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: AhA <consultancysupportservices(a)gmail.com> Date: 9 Sep 2007 17:09 Subject: [DigAfrica] Research fellow position - in ip at Berkeley] To: ictcnigeria_group(a)yahoogroups.com, dltw0903(a)yahoogroups.com, NVLNaijaProject(a)yahoogroups.com, Naija_IT_Professionals(a)yahoogroups.com, FGCKadunaOSA(a)yahoogroups.com, Wsisnigeria(a)yahoogroups.com, digitalheritage(a)googlegroups.com, Pro-Unitate(a)googlegroups.com, … [View More]

1 0

Two other classics from the Kenyans
by Eric Osiakwan 15 Sep '07

15 Sep '07

Online Newspaper Editions Increase Sales Kenyan newspapers have embraced the internet and increased their sales with innovations such as sending headlines by SMS to readers. Nairobi has also become the hub of an ambitious project to digitise all sub-Saharan newspapers. Field director of the Library of Congress Office in Nairobi, Pamela Howard-Reguindin, told the recent World Library and Information Congress in Durban that the managing editors of Kenya's main papers, the Daily Nation … [View More]and Standard "realise they must adopt new technology or fall into oblivion as has happened with some of their competitors". Despite limited access to the internet by Kenyans, the two dailies and a Swahili newspaper, Taifa Leo, have used online editions to increase sales of both electronic and print versions. The key to this success has been the production of "born digital" items - first on the net and then in print - as well as marketing innovations. Text teasers and headlines are sent to SMS lists and e-mail addresses. Now the Nation Media Group is to launch a "born digital" publication, Business Daily. Deals have been struck with NewsStand and NewspaperDirect to increase sales and RSS feeds. "Both newspaper editors report that sales of online and hardcopy issues are growing," says Howard-Reguindin. "The Daily Nation is working on a new website Nation Digital that will include text messages via mobile phones, online news/chat rooms, RSS, and specialised services such as sports scores, stock prices, and horoscopes." The Standard is getting about 3 million hits a day for their website, "most from outside Kenya, but a steadily increasing number from within the country as internet access penetrates more Kenyan businesses, schools and households". Meanwhile, the US Library of Congress office in Nairobi is racing against time to digitise the newspapers of 29 sub-Saharan newspapers that are crumbling to dust in archives across the continent. The project started with a "computer-based index of the articles published in the major Nairobi newspapers from 1980 onwards covering the cultural affairs of this country, mainly music, dance, theatre, literature and art", overseen by Ruth Thomas, a noted Nairobi librarian. "Subsequently the topics expanded to include reproductive health, law/ governance affairs, and various others. "Hundreds, if not thousands, of newspaper titles from some 29 sub- Saharan countries have already been microfilmed and dozens more are being filmed on an annual basis by the library and its office in New Delhi, India. "In spite of this laudable work, many more newspaper titles and corresponding issues remain in our ever-growing backlog," says Howard- Reguindin. Ten sub-Saharan titles are being sent to the library in Washington, DC for treatment (www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/nairobi/lc_npapers.html for the list). At the library's office in New Delhi several cameras and camera operators are working overtime to film as much as possible of another 115 titles. "One possible role of Kenyan librarians would be to encourage the newspaper managers to offer internet access to full content of the articles free to Kenyan schools and universities." This "could be a role for any national African library association. Many journal publishers located in the US and Europe are now allowing internet users in developing countries to access full content of journal articles without charge". "If this open access could be offered to Kenya newspaper readers, the information in the daily press could strengthen efforts in governance and democratisation, literacy and responsible civic leadership," says Howard-Reguindin. (Source: Cape Argus) The potential of data vending in Kenya The poor penetration of Internet services coupled with low levels of computer literacy in Kenya are holding back the country's emerging data vending industry. The data vendors, who sell and distribute financial and business news, are targeting rural populations as well as Kenyans in the diaspora. Mr Bildad Kagai , the managing director of data vending firm MediaCorp Limited, told the Business Daily that while data vending has the potential to be a major industry in the financial services sector, more needed to be done to ensure computer services reached majority of the people. "Kenyans, especially those outside Nairobi, have been waiting eagerly for the Real Time data, but inability to access the Internet remains a big challenge," says Mr Kagai He said traders did not have to physically go to the bourse to get financial data, but they could do this in the comfort of their offices through the Internet. He said the highest potential for growth in data vending was in rural towns and that lack of Internet services was limiting the uptake of online financial news and data. MediaCorp earlier this month launched its data vending services in Mombasa to increase its presence in the country. Symon Ndirangu, the chief executive officer of Information Convergence Technologies ICT Ltd, says that with the signing of an average of 50 to 100 new users every month, most of the six data vendor currently operating in the market should break even within the next 12 months. "Although it is taking time for many investors to appreciate the value of data, we are upbeat that revenue will pick up very soon." Currently, the cost of a data vending license from the NSE is valued at Sh170,000 (US$2500) while ISPs are charging about Sh50,000 per month for connection. With an estimated Sh180,000 in other costs, data vendors are paying at least Sh400,000 a month or Sh4.8million annually to stay afloat. Ndirangu however projects that with the developments in the ICT sector as well as the Capital Markets, the data vendors should have at least each have 10,000-20,000 customers utilizing their services. At an annual charge of Sh5000 per customers, data vendors could easily rake in Sh50 million in a year. Eric M.K Osiakwan Executive Secretary AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 Fax: + 233.21.258811 Cell: + 233.244.386792 Handle: eosiakwan Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ Slang: "Tomorrow Now" [View Less]

1 0

Internet Service Providers Record Rise in Earnings in Kenya
by Eric Osiakwan 15 Sep '07

15 Sep '07

Internet Service Providers Record Rise in Earnings in Kenya Local Internet service providers are earning higher revenues signalling increased use of the web among consumers, industry statistics show. The data indicate that average revenue per user (ARPU), a measure of how each user spends on internet access, has risen to an all time high of $600 in some segments of the market, up from an average of $500 last year. Globally, ARPU is used as a measure of how much money a service … [View More]provider makes from the average user and enables the ISPs to make revenue projections as well as determine which products are earning most revenues. It also provides an accurate picture as to what services and products are popular with consumers in certain segments of the market. "Most ICT firms, however, have indicated application of cost leadership strategies, resulting in lower ARPUs with the intention of raking in higher subscriber number," said Shida Mutuku, the group head of marketing at Africa Online. The pan-African ISP, which is changing focus from being a pure ISP services company to a supplier of comprehensive IT services, says demand for ICT products is rising across the board. ISPs can maximise on their resources by using ARPU data to their advantage. ARPU can also be used as a measure of how successful a company is in moving users to new services that are regarded as strategically important. Citing steadily increasing revenues from its broadband product, AccessKenya Group hopes to realise its projected revenue target from customers looking for better speed and capacity from their internet connection. Last week, AccessKenya said it was on track to realising an ARPU average of $540 owing to increased number of large customers coming on board and many existing customers upgrading their bandwidth. The ICT company, which recently announced that it had realised its customer target of 1,720 four months ahead of schedule, says its current ARPU is underpinned by the strength of its Broadband Max 2 leased line solution that has become popular with the corporate market. "Broadband Max 2 offers a quadruple downlink coupled with high reliability evidenced by a 99.8 per cent Service Level Agreement," said Jonathan Somen, the managing director of AccessKenya. "We are the only ISP offering this sort of solution in the Kenyan market and have realised significant increase in demand over the past six months," he said. Somen said AccessKenya had set a new target of enrolling a minimum of 1,900 leased line customers by the end of the year, and has been reinvesting some of its profits from increased customer numbers to build up sales and customer service teams. Africa Online refused to reveal its current ARPUs but said it was targeting ARPU of $1,000 per use by the end of the year. The ambitious target is based on increased demand for corporate leased line solutions and increased take up in the residential user market of the wireless broadband product, Infinet. (Source: Business Daily) Eric M.K Osiakwan Executive Secretary AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 Fax: + 233.21.258811 Cell: + 233.244.386792 Handle: eosiakwan Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ Slang: "Tomorrow Now" [View Less]

1 0

Fwd: SV: [AfrISPA.Discuss] Undersea cable plan tangled in acrimony inSouth Africa
by Eric Osiakwan 14 Sep '07

14 Sep '07

fyi from the AfrISPA discuss list.... Begin forwarded message: > From: "Anders Comstedt" <anders(a)ssvl.kth.se> > Date: 9 September 2007 21:52:19 GMT+03:00 > To: <Discuss(a)afrispa.org> > Subject: SV: [AfrISPA.Discuss] Undersea cable plan tangled in > acrimony inSouth Africa > Reply-To: Discuss(a)afrispa.org > > Frank, > > You are right that everyone else but RSA needs a cable to RoW much, > much > more than the good folks south, also that … [View More]the thing has got stuck in > political concerns and power games. The good thing is, however, > that the > general consensus on the needs, commercial impact and development > leverage > of a widely available optical fibre cable has shifted from cold to > warm. > > Technically, there is no need for an East African submarine cable > south > beyond Maputo at all, as there is well protected optical fibre > Maputo - > Pretoria on the power lines. Which, btw, RSA has effectively > prevented open > & fair use of during several years, effectively leaving Maputo on > VSAT for a > much longer time than necessary. So SA could connect that route, > already > today, to any cable from the north that lands close to Maputo. > > Now two small issues: > First, RSA companies are major stakeholders in any submarine cable > proposal > that has emerged the last couple of years, dominant to the extent > that it > has made other parties concerned on who actually will control a > cable system > supposed to be a joint project with some 23 participants. The > Telkom SA part > of EASSy is closer to 50% than 1/23, and may well increase to >50% > if Telkom > buys any of the other participants, which has been contemplated by > some > pundits. > Second, the RSA market is a closed market where only a very limited > number > of politically approved players are carefully allowed to > participate in > sharing the revenues of an artificially high price level market. > Who wants > to rock that boat of the industry insiders? So you have strong > concerns > among established telecom industry interests in RSA to not change > the game > for as long as possible. According to some analysts, keeping this > inflated > price for another year or so is worth much more money in excessive > profits > than the entire investment in EASSy. Why give away money by a too > early > price reduction? > > So what does the rest of the SSA think about this? And also the > international community in general, forking in quite a bit of the > financing > into any of the cable projects suggested? > Well, they probably don't go easily on potentially offending the > single > biggest partner they have in all other trade and political issues > in SSA by > suggesting a solution without clear RSA involvement. The bean > counters then > look at the traffic volumes and say that any project without the > RSA volume > will be a commercial disaster, and what about restoration if we > cannot reach > and have an agreement with SAT-3? > > You end up in a situation where the question is: Who blinks first? > > If there is no initiatives potentially making any EA submarine cable > roll-out happen ex RSA, there will be little change in any broader RSA > stance as long as the revenues and influence of the joint RSA > political and > industrial telecoms interests are lined up the way they are. > > Others have to consider their positions and responsibilities in > relation to > all this. Personally, I cannot help looking at TEAMS in the light > of the > above. > > What about an EASSy project, now financed even more by international > development money, first built to those countries where an open market > exist? Gradually expanding South instead of gradually expanding North? > > Loosing a big Telkom part of the financing is of cause not what those > banking, operator and vendor interests want that have got the > financial > EASSy-packet stitched together with difficulty. > > The interesting thing, however, is that the financing of EASSy > seems to have > been growing softer by the day during 2007. What was a year ago > portrayed as > a pure commercial financing is now looking more and more to be > relying upon > soft elements just short of labelling significant amounts pure grants. > > This shift opens up interesting considerations on the entire > development > financing too: Shall such money be used to shelter commercial > interests from > competition, actively preventing driving user prices down? > Maintaining artificially high profits to protected operators in > restricted > markets is not necessarily in line with what should be eligible for > support. > At some point of time that discussion will re-surface too in a > similar way > as it did at WSIS when the WBG took a clear stance pro openness and > equal > availability of cable capacity for all interested parties. > > I have a hard time understanding how EU institutions can provide > not only > the initial semi-soft "commercial loans" but now more of softer > financing to > any venture so openly wide open to violating several EU principles > regarding > telecoms and general market openness. Sure, as long as it stayed > under the > radar various individuals could claim ignorance, but that is > getting harder > and harder with the EA debate on why an obvious need is not met in > a fair > way. Supporting a questionable package could soon kill a promising > career > inside the EU system rather than promoting it. Time must be running > out on > the non-open conditions? > > The alternatives to EASSy now visible, funded by pure commercial > capital > like SEACOM, makes it even more questionable to give soft funds to any > set-up having questionable market development properties. Rather, it > reinforces the need to justify any support by such funds with even > MORE > arguments on the project openness and development leverage. > > Both EASSy and SEACOM seem to have a hard time in RSA as long as > they are > not clearly controlled by local interests. > > Both seem up for a hard choice in RSA: > Give in, as little as possibly, but the control must be in RSA hands > Pass RSA in an immediate implementation of the rest of the system, or > Delay the whole thing, waiting for RSA to blink in fear of being > left out. > > Other EA stakeholders need to consider what situation they like to > promote > for any cable project in the above respect. Don't just ask the cable > projects to carry the burden of dealing with this political risk > all by > themselves, later blaming them for whatever compromise they make! A > risk now > being the main obstacle between the current deficit and a state-of- > the art, > reasonably priced cable connection for SSA to RoW. > > The worst alternative for RSA operators is probably a combination > of an > early East-West SSA link (EA to Angola or Nigeria?) with two new > terrestrial > and/or submarine links north to the Mediterranean from EA. All the > current > transit traffic from RSA neighbours to SAT-3 will then disappear in > a flash. > Instead, RSA may be faced with not only a very limited interest > from others > to consider an EA submarine cable south, but a desire to making RSA > operators subject to a similar transit pricing practice that Telkom > SA has > up to now offered its neighbours in connecting to SAT-3. > Considering the > profits in the closed RSA market such a scenario may, however, > still be a > good alternative to some players in that local market as it may > delay the > tide by another year or two. > > The frustration over the EA development lag by the delay in cable > implementation is causing a lot of impatient folks to say that "the > only > important thing is that a sub marine cable gets built". That is > understandable but dangerous. Remember SAT-3. > > Dispatched over an industry standard 100Mb/s connection to the home, > commonly available for a couple of Big Macs/month in an open, > competitive > market. > > Anders > > -----Ursprungligt meddelande----- > Från: Discuss-owner(a)afrispa.org [mailto:Discuss-owner@afrispa.org] > För Frank > Habicht > Skickat: den 9 september 2007 09:27 > Till: Discuss(a)afrispa.org > Ämne: Re: [AfrISPA.Discuss] Undersea cable plan tangled in acrimony > inSouth > Africa > > Question(s)... > > Who _needs_ (badly) that Eassy lands in SA ? > I'm not up-to-date with most things, but I guess for many the > connection > to Sudan will connect them to the world (maybe without redundancy, but > maybe that redundancy would be clumsy anyway). > > I think the ones who need Eassy to land in SA the most are SA > operators > (maybe excl. Telkom, maybe not?). > > For everyone else only one thing is important: that this thing gets > built! > If SA wants to stay with the connectivity they have now.... fine with > me. I don't want myself to stay with VSATs. > > So, let the SA companies loose out. Let them take it up with their > government. Or change the same if necessary. Their problem. > > The worst thing that can happen in my little uninformed opinion is > that > this political (*&^%()*&% delays the building of that cable. > > So, can we continue to build it up to Maputo, please? > The ..... opinion of politicians in SA shouldn't prevent ~20 other > countries to get proper connectivity. > > For how long has this project dragged on already? For how long been > delayed by politics? > Wasn't the contract done to start building? > > Frank > impatient, disappointed, upset > > > On 9/8/2007 3:10 PM, Eric Osiakwan wrote: >> The sole active supporter of the NEPAD-backed Broadband >> Infrastructure >> Project that will never be built, the South African Government is >> trying >> to arm-twist EASSy because the project has slipped free of NEPAD >> control. This is the arrogant display of naked political power that >> those who have not signed the NEPAD political protocol feared would >> occur if the larger African brother failed to get its way. >> >> The 10,000km Eassy cable will be 27% owned by Telkom, Neotel and MTN, >> and is designed to provide desperately needed cheap bandwidth to 21 >> African countries. But SA's communications department has taken >> umbrage >> at what it sees as the commercial nature of the enterprise, and >> intends >> to withhold landing rights. >> >> Instead, the government will use taxpayers' money to roll out two >> rival >> cables heading east and west, jointly known as the Nepad Broadband >> Infrastructure Network. Denying landing rights to EASSy will be >> detrimental to the three local companies, which, they say, have >> had the >> foresight to invest in the project to slash bandwidth prices. >> >> It will also be anticompetitive if EASSy members are not allowed >> to sell >> bandwidth to other operators in SA, says Mohsen Khalil, a director >> with >> the International Finance Corporation (IFC). He also says the >> government's hostility shows it has not understood a new >> commitment the >> consortium has made to open access. >> >> The IFC is part of the World Bank, and is investing $32,5m to help >> about >> 15 small operators participate in Eassy. Yet the director-general >> of the >> communications department, Lyndall Shope Mafole, remains vehemently >> opposed to the project. "Eassy is bad news for developing >> countries that >> are not at the level of SA," she says. >> >> "We have many problems with it. The fact that you work for the World >> Bank makes you think you know what's good for Africa even when you >> don't >> live in Africa. I find that quite insulting." >> >> Because Eassy's biggest shareholders are giants like MTN and Telkom, >> their bulk buying power gives them an advantage over smaller >> operators >> also trying to buy and resell capacity to customers in each >> country, she >> says. >> >> "South African companies could use their dominance to compete >> unfairly >> in other countries. We have a responsibility as the government to >> ensure >> there is fair competition. We are not willing to look at something >> that >> is clearly discriminatory. We couldn't rest with a clear >> conscience." If >> the South African Government has this responsibility, why has it not >> exercised it over Telkom's SAT3 prices? The Department of >> Communications >> talks the talk but does not walk the walk. >> >> A bigger issue threatening not only Eassy but also other foreign- >> backed >> cables is a demand that any cable landing in SA is partly owned by >> local >> companies. The minimum percentage of local ownership will be >> determined >> by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe Casaburri. >> >> The instant reaction is to question whether SA has the right to do >> that. >> It has, under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, >> Shope-Mafole says. The second reaction is to assume that foreign >> investors will be deterred. The government's belligerent stance in an >> effort to promote local industries may backfire and deprive >> consumers of >> cheaper bandwidth if foreigners opt to bypass SA's coastline. >> >> Nonsense, Shope-Mafole says. "There are millions of people who >> want to >> enter into arrangements and land in SA. We welcome anybody who >> wants to >> invest in submarine cables that land on South African soil, but we >> need >> South African companies to invest." >> >> Although Eassy boasts 27% local ownership, that may not be enough. >> Seacom, another private cable already under construction, must also >> recruit local investors for the plans on its map to match reality. >> Seacom has signed a deal for SA's second network operator, Neotel, to >> operate the local landing station, which does not impress the >> government. >> >> Shope-Mafole said the demand for local ownership in the entire cable >> linking India to Europe via SA was discussed with Seacom's mostly US >> investors over a cup of coffee. "I don't think they thought it was >> unreasonable. I wouldn't say they loved it, but they didn't throw >> their >> cups at us," she says. >> (Source: Business Day) >> >> >> >> Eric M.K Osiakwan >> Executive Secretary >> AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org <http://www.afrispa.org>) >> Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 >> Fax: + 233.21.258811 >> Cell: + 233.244.386792 >> Handle: eosiakwan >> Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North >> Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North >> Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ >> Slang: "Tomorrow Now" >> >> >> >> > > To unsubscribe send a mail to: imailsrv(a)afrispa.org. Type the > following in > the body of your mail (not header): "Unsubscribe discuss" (without > quotes). > This List is operated by ZAnet Internet Services: www.zanet.co.za > on behalf > of www.afrispa.org. For any List Admin queries send mail to > William(a)zanet.co.za > > To unsubscribe send a mail to: imailsrv(a)afrispa.org. Type the > following in > the body of your mail (not header): "Unsubscribe discuss" (without > quotes). > This List is operated by ZAnet Internet Services: www.zanet.co.za > on behalf > of www.afrispa.org. For any List Admin queries send mail to > William(a)zanet.co.za > Eric M.K Osiakwan Executive Secretary AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 Fax: + 233.21.258811 Cell: + 233.244.386792 Handle: eosiakwan Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ Slang: "Tomorrow Now" [View Less]

11 19