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

03 Dec '07

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

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

02 Dec '07

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

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

02 Dec '07

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

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

01 Dec '07

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

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[Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] Global Policy Proposal for Remaining IPv4 Address Space – Background Report --- Global Policy Proposal for Autonomous System Numbers – Background Report]
by alice 30 Nov '07

30 Nov '07

Global Policy Proposal for Remaining IPv4 Address Space – Background Report 29 November 2007 * Introduction * The development of Global Internet Number Resource Policies is the subject of an MoU between ASO/NRO and ICANN <http://aso.icann.org/docs/aso-mou2004.html>. There are also specific ICANN Board Procedures <http://www.icann.org/general/review-procedures-pgp.html> for handling global policy proposals in this context. The Board procedures also state that the Board can request ICANN staff to undertake an "early awareness" tracking of proposals for global policies under development in the addressing community. At its meeting on 20 November 2007, the Board resolved to request such tracking of the development of a global policy proposal for allocation of remaining IPv4 address space, currently being discussed in the Regional Internet Registries, or RIRs. The status overview presented below is compiled in response to this request and will be timely updated as developments proceed, for information to ICANN entities and the wider community. * Status Overview * The table below indicates the current status within each RIR for the foreseen Global Policy for remaining IPv4 address space. Hyperlinks are included for easy access. There are two concurrent versions of the Global Policy Proposal for Allocation of the Remaining IPv4 Address Space in the Regional Internet Registry System: * A version (1) "Global Policy for the Allocation of the Remaining IPv4 Address Space", first presented at LACNIC X in May 2007 * A version (2) "End Policy for IANA IPv4 allocations to RIRs", first presented at APNIC 24 in September 2007 Both versions feature the same approach and propose to distribute an equal number N of /8 IPv4 address blocks to each RIR when the IANA pool is approaching exhaustion, but differ in the proposed value of N, notably 2 or 1, respectively (although originally with N proposed as 5 in the first version). Due to their similarity, both versions are being discussed in parallel in the RIRs and are regarded essentially as one proposal, with a view to converging on a value for N. The proposal will subsequently be handled by the NRO EC and the ASO AC according to their procedures before being submitted to the ICANN Board. It should be noted that other proposals have been put forward and are being discussed regarding IPv4 address space exhaustion, although only the two mentioned above have been scoped as global policy proposals in the sense of the ASO MoU, i.e. focusing on address allocation from IANA to the RIRs. RIR AfriNIC APNIC ARIN LACNIC RIPE Topic Introduced 9 July 2007 afpol-asn200707 <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2007/000774.html> (1) 29 Aug 2007 proposal <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2007/000838.html> (2) 26 July 2007 prop-051-v001 <http://www.apnic.net/mailing-lists/sig-policy/archive/2007/07/msg00006.html> (1) 8 August 2007 prop-046-v002 <http://www.apnic.net/mailing-lists/sig-policy/archive/2007/08/msg00016.html> (2) 28 Aug 2007 prop 2007-18 <http://lists.arin.net/pipermail/ppml/2007-August/008834.html> (1) 28 Aug 2007 prop 2007-23 <http://lists.arin.net/pipermail/ppml/2007-August/008839.html> (2) 23 April 2007 LAC-2007-07 <http://mail.lacnic.net/pipermail/politicas/2007-April/012082.html> (1) 30 July 2007 prop 2007-06 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/maillists/archives/address-policy-wg/2007/msg00552…> (1) 15 Oct 2007 prop 2007-07 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/maillists/archives/address-policy-wg/2007/msg00647…> (2) Discussion list Resource Policy Discussion List <https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd> SIG-Policy <http://mailman.apnic.net/mailing-lists/sig-policy/index.shtml> Public Policy Mailing List <http://www.arin.net/mailing_lists/ppml/index.html> Politicas – Policy Mailing List <http://www.lacnic.net/mailman/listinfo/politicas> Address Policy WG <http://www.ripe.net/mailman/listinfo/address-policy-wg> Public Forum AfriNIC 7 <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-7/index.htm> 23 - 28 Sept 2007 <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-7/index.htm> - Slides (1) <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-7/presentations/27/AFRINIC7_DidierGl…> - Slides (2) <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-7/presentations/27/AFRINIC7_Endpolic…> APNIC 24 29 Aug – 7 Sept 2007 <http://www.apnic.net/meetings/24/index.html> - Slides <http://www.apnic.net/meetings/24/program/sigs/policy/presentations/el-nakha…> (1) - Slides <http://www.apnic.net/meetings/24/program/sigs/policy/presentations/okutani-…>(2) ARIN XX <http://www.arin.net/meetings/minutes/ARIN_XX/index.html> 17-19 Oct 2007 <http://www.arin.net/meetings/minutes/ARIN_XX/index.html> - Slides <http://www.arin.net/meetings/minutes/ARIN_XX/PDF/wednesday/Gagliano-2007-18…> (1) - Slides <http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_23.html> (2) LACNIC X 22-25 May 2007 <http://lacnic.net/sp/eventos/lacnicx/> - Slides <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/lac200707.pdf> (1) RIPE 55 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-55/index.html> 22 - 26 Oct 2007 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-55/index.html> - Podcast <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-55/podcast-files/address-policy2.mp3> (1+2) Final Call for Comments 13 June - 28 July 2007 <http://mail.lacnic.net/pipermail/politicas/2007-June/012232.html> Next Public Forum AfriNIC 8 <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/index.htm> 24 May - 6 June 2008 <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/index.htm> APNIC 25 <http://www.apnic.net/meetings/25/> 25 - 29 Feb 2008 <http://www.apnic.net/meetings/25/> ARIN XXI <http://www.arin.net/ARIN-XXI/index.html> 6 - 9 April 2008 <http://www.arin.net/ARIN-XXI/index.html> LACNIC XI <http://lacnic.net/sp/eventos/> to be announced <http://lacnic.net/sp/eventos/> RIPE 56 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-56/index.html> 5 - 9 May 2008 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-56/index.html> RIR Board Endorsement Awaiting Board ratification Link to document afpol-asn200707 <http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/afpol-v4gp200707.htm> (1) afpol-v4ep200708 <http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/afpol-v4ep200708.htm> (2) Proposal-051-v001 <http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-051-v001.html> (1) Proposal-046-v002 <http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-046-v002.html> (2) Policy proposal 2007-18 <http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_18.html> (1) 2007-23 <http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_23.html> (2) - English <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/LAC-2007-07-en.pdf> (1) - Spanish <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/LAC-2007-07-sp.pdf> (1) - Portuguese <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/LAC-2007-07-pt.pdf> (1) Policy proposal 2007-06 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2007-06.html> (1) 2007-07 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2007-07.html> (2) Link to Policy Development Process Policy Development Process <http://www.afrinic.net/pdp.htm> Policy Development Process <http://www.apnic.net/docs/policy/dev/index.html> Internet Resource Policy Evaluation <http://www.arin.net/policy/irpep.html> Process <http://www.arin.net/policy/irpep.html> Policy Development Process <http://lacnic.net/en/politicas/desarrollo.html> Policy Development Process <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/pdp.html> Status In discussion In discussion In discussion Awaiting adoption In discussion *Global Policy Proposal for Autonomous System Numbers – Background Report* * 29 November 2007* * Introduction * The development of Global Internet Number Resource Policies is the subject of an MoU between ASO/NRO and ICANN <http://aso.icann.org/docs/aso-mou2004.html>. There are also specific ICANN Board Procedures <http://www.icann.org/general/review-procedures-pgp.html> for handling global policy proposals in this context. The Board procedures also state that the Board can request ICANN staff to undertake an "early awareness" tracking of proposals for global policies under development in the addressing community. At its meeting on 20 November 2007, the Board resolved to request such tracking of the development of a global policy proposal for allocation of Autonomous System Numbers, or ASNs, that is already well advanced towards adoption in the Regional Internet Registries, or RIRs. The status overview presented below is compiled in response to this request and will be timely updated as developments proceed, for information to ICANN entities and the wider community. * Status Overview * The table below indicates the current status within each RIR for the proposed Global Policy for ASNs. Hyperlinks are included for easy access. The proposal was originally presented at the RIPE-54 meeting in March 2007, inter alia to formalize the transition from 2-byte (16 bits) to 4-byte (32 bits) ASNs. The proposal has since been introduced in all RIRs, following their respective policy development processes. Once adopted by all RIRs, the proposal will subsequently be handled by the NRO EC and the ASO AC according to their procedures before being submitted to the ICANN Board for ratification. RIR AfriNIC APNIC ARIN LACNIC RIPE Topic Introduced 20 Aug 2007 afpol-asn200708 <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2007/000837.html> 23 July 2007 prop-049-v001 <http://mailman.apnic.net/mailing-lists/sig-policy/archive/2007/07/msg00002.…> 28 Aug 2007 prop 2007-19 <http://lists.arin.net/pipermail/ppml/2007-August/008835.html> 15 May 2007 LAC-2007-08 <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/LAC-2007-08-en.pdf> 1 May 2007 prop 2007-4 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2007-04.html> Discussion list Resource Policy Discussion List <https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd> SIG-Policy <http://mailman.apnic.net/mailing-lists/sig-policy/index.shtml> Public Policy Mailing List <http://www.arin.net/mailing_lists/ppml/index.html> Politicas – Policy Mailing List <http://www.lacnic.net/mailman/listinfo/politicas> Address Policy WG <http://www.ripe.net/mailman/listinfo/address-policy-wg> Public Forum AfriNIC 7 <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-7/index.htm> 23 - 28 Sept 2007 <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-7/index.htm> - Slides <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-7/presentations/28/AFRINIC7_GlobalPo…> APNIC 24 29 Aug – 7 Sept 2007 <http://www.apnic.net/meetings/24/index.html> - Slides <http://www.apnic.net/meetings/24/program/sigs/policy/presentations/pawlik-p…> ARIN XX <http://www.arin.net/ARIN-XX/> 17-19 Oct 2007 <http://www.arin.net/ARIN-XX/> - Slides <http://www.arin.net/meetings/minutes/ARIN_XX/PDF/wednesday/2007-19_Pawlik.p…> LACNIC X 22-25 May 2007 <http://lacnic.net/en/eventos/lacnicx/> - Slides <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/lac200708.ppt> RIPE 54 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-54/> 7-11 May 2007 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-54/> - Slides <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-54/presentations/Global_Policy.pdf> Final Call for Comments 2 - 17 Oct 2007 <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2007/000890.html> 25 Sept – 23 Nov 2007 <http://mailman.apnic.net/mailing-lists/sig-policy/archive/2007/09/msg00041.…> 23 Oct - 6 Nov 2007 <http://lists.arin.net/pipermail/ppml/2007-October/009610.html> 13 June - 28 July 2007 <http://mail.lacnic.net/pipermail/politicas/2007-June/012232.html> 17 July – 14 August 2007 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/maillists/archives/address-policy-wg/2007/msg00541…> Next Public Forum (N/A - this stage is passed for all) RIR Board Endorsement Awaiting adoption by the Board Awaiting endorsement by Executive Committee Awaiting adoption by Board of Trustees Awaiting Board ratification Final adoption by consensus on 5 September 2007. <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/maillists/archives/policy-announce/2007/msg00032.h…> Link to document Proposal afpol-asn200708 <http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/afpol-asn200708.htm> Proposal-049-v001 <http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-049-v001.html> Policy proposal 2007-19 <http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_19.html> - In English <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/LAC-2007-08-en.pdf> - In Spanish <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/LAC-2007-08-sp.pdf> - In Portuguese <http://lacnic.net/documentos/lacnicx/LAC-2007-08-pt.pdf> Policy document RIPE-416 <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-416.html> Link to Policy Development Process Policy Development Process <http://www.afrinic.net/pdp.htm> Policy Development Process <http://www.apnic.net/docs/policy/dev/index.html> Internet Resource Policy Evaluation <http://www.arin.net/policy/irpep.html> Process <http://www.arin.net/policy/irpep.html> Policy Development Process <http://lacnic.net/en/politicas/desarrollo.html> Policy Development Process <http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/pdp.html> Status Awaiting adoption. Awaiting adoption. Awaiting adoption. Awaiting adoption. Adopted. _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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[Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] The EU Law on Electronic Signatures and its Recent Report]
by alice 30 Nov '07

30 Nov '07

INTERNET LAW - The EU Law on Electronic Signatures and its Recent Report Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director Wednesday, November 28, 2007 http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1920 Directive 1999/93/EC constitutes the legal framework for electronic signatures and certain certification services in the European Union (EU). Up to 2007, 25 EU countries have domestically adopted the general principles of this Directive and it has positively, although slowly, impacted the evolution of electronic commerce among them. This article presents a brief explanation of Directive 1999/93/EC and its complementary directives, and informs on the report by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the impact of this Electronic Signature directive. The purpose of Directive 1999/93/EC (the Directive) is to facilitate the use of electronic signatures in the EU countries and contribute to its legal recognition. The Directive defines electronic signatures as 'data en electronic form which are attached to or logically associated with other electronic data and which serve (sic) as a method of authentication." An example of this could be the simple signature attached to an e-mail, Additionally, the Directive defines 'advance electronic signature' as an electronic signature that is uniquely linked to the signatory, is capable of identifying the signatory, is created using means under the sole control of the signatory, and is linked to the data to which it relates in a way that alterations may be easily detected. Examples of these e-signatures are those e-signatures that use a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). They use a private and public key and use encryption technology (For instance, online credit card signatures). Article 5 of the Directive expressly states the legal effects that an 'advance electronic signature" and an 'electronic signature' should have in the EU states. The Directive, article 5, rules that 'advanced electronic signatures' shall be admissible evidence in legal proceedings among the EU member states, provided that some requirements are met. First, the advance electronic signature should be based on a 'qualified certificate;' it should be created by a 'secure-signature creation device'; it should satisfy the same legal requirements as if it were related to a paper-base data. Yet, the legal effects of simple 'electronic signatures' (not advanced e-signatures) seem to be far reaching according to the norm. Article 5,(2) establishes that the EU member states must ensure that electronic signatures are effective and admissible evidence in legal proceedings even if they are in electronic form and do not meet the above listed requirements. Thus, your signed e-mail is certainly admissible evidence in the EU member states. After the adoption of this Directive on Electronic Signatures in 1999, the EU has implemented new legislation that complements this Directive and creates an appropriate legal environment for e-commerce and e-transactions. For instance, Directive 2001/115/EC on electronic invoices. Directive 2001/115/EC recognizes the validity of electronically sent invoices that use advance electronic signatures. Another example of EU Directives complementing the one on electronic signature is the public procurement Directives. These Directives do not explicitly state the type of e-signatures to be used on public procurement but notes that the use of electronic signatures must be according to Directive 1999/93/EC. These Directives though, call for uniformity on the domestic institution of e-signatures for public procurement so there are not barriers for e-procurement transactions among the EU states. But in the 'real world' (or practical world- whatever your philosophy is), how is this Directive really impacting the development of e-commerce in the EU states? According to the European Parliament and the Council August-2006 report, the use of advanced electronic signatures in the EU has been less than expected and it has reported some slow development. Thus, the Commission cannot provide a comprehensive assessment of the exchange of electronic signatures among EU states. The Commission deems that economic grounds are the reasons for this sluggish development of e-signature exchange among the EU states. The Commission says service providers do not have enough incentives to create interoperable solutions or 'multi-application electronic signature.' They rather want to develop solutions for their specific services, like the banking sector, etc. Besides lack of interoperable solutions, comprehensive solutions for electronic archives constitute another problem that precludes the development of e-signature interchange among the EU members. The Commission notes that e-procurement in the EU have reached an interesting level and promises to drive the market in the future. The role of e-government applications have is set on the i2010 initiative 19. The Commission concludes it report saying that they will closely monitor the use of electronic signatures in the EU and "particular emphasis will be on interoperability and cross-border use of electronic signatures. The Commission will encourage further standardization work in order to promote the interoperability and use of all kinds of technologies for qualified electronic signature in the internal market." _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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[Fwd: [governance] Google Policy Fellowships]
by alice 30 Nov '07

30 Nov '07

"We¹re [Google] looking for students who are passionate about technology, and want to spend the summer diving headfirst into Internet policy." <http://www.google.com/policyfellowship/> <http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2007/11/calling-aspiring-tech-policy…>

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Re: [kictanet] Fibre Optic
by robert yawe 30 Nov '07

30 Nov '07

Hi Alex, Explain one issue to me, how will the marine cable increase the remittances from the diaspora, they are sending 3.9 billion over slow, expensive satellite links why should we reduce this by spending 7 billion to land the fiber? Alex, all I ask is can you give me a logical reason why we should spend 7 billion to land this fiber? I am aware this discussion is academic but it should not stop us from questioning the rational. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: Alex Gakuru <alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com> To: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Friday, 30 November, 2007 7:37:39 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Fibre Optic But Yawe, [Sorry for this late response, this message only got to my inbox a short while ago] On Nov 28, 2007 8:06 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > The diaspora makes up less than 5% of the population and many of them add no > value to us, yet you are more concerned about how we can communicate with > them instead of how to make it possible for my children to talk and see > their grandmother in Mbita point without requiring to make the trip. > Not quite so. Diasporans send sizable chunks of home for Mbitarians consumption. "The most recent data available indicates that remittances by Kenyans reached a historic month-on-month high in June when Sh3.9 billion was sent into the country." <http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4622&Item…> Though you are right also about a national fibre network would enhance far flung families bonding and save our Mbitarian business lexicon travel expenses ( i.e. help in converting remittances into investments rather than consumption). "It is estimated that full compliance with the licensing requirements costs Kenyan businesses Sh5 billion annually." <http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4621&Item…> Agreed! Local fibre saves locally and international one boosts remittances hence my argument elsewhere, "we need both pentium and penicillin" and it the juglers' job ( Read Ndemo:) to give us the optimal mix. Notwithstanding, absent fibres remains no excuse for inefficient and opaque service delivery by those employed by the public and all government agencies. Sawa? ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it now. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/

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Re: [kictanet] Fibre Optic
by robert yawe 30 Nov '07

30 Nov '07

Dr Ndemo, You have not answered our concern yet on why we need the marine cable to bring us high speed Internet yet as a country we do not have a cost effective national high speed network? The diaspora makes up less than 5% of the population and many of them add no value to us, yet you are more concerned about how we can communicate with them instead of how to make it possible for my children to talk and see their grandmother in Mbita point without requiring to make the trip. As a democracy I believe our interest should be to serve the greater population than a few out there. I have been looking at the cost of AGM's for listed companies and it is a major drain on this organisations, if you and your team could concentrate on a fiber link to all provincial head quarters we can have the next Kengen AGM held virtually with participants in centers closest to them, to me this would be a greater utilisation of connectivity than being able to talk cheaply to my sister in the US who none the less is too busy working 3 jobs to have time to talk to me regularly irrespective of cost. So Dr. Ndemo gives us a more compelling reason for the fibre optic cable. Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: "bitange(a)jambo.co.ke" <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> To: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, 26 November, 2007 9:13:57 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Fibre Optic Dear Yawe, Gakuru, I promised to respond to the question as to whether we indeed need Fibre Optic Cables. Yes indeed we need them for the time being (Intel shall be commecializing [in 10 years time]a chip with the capability to send data at high speeds without any cables)(see NY Times summary article below). In as much as I do not like cables for connectivity I think they are a necessary infrastructure at the moment. The benefits are immense as I look forward to greater linkages with our increasingly important relatives in the diaspora. With efficient connectivity, there we create opportunities such as localised news that is accessible to anyone everywhere; we shall enable innovation and more importantly create jobs for our youth. The difference here is that some may see entrepreneurial opportunities that come with this infrastructure and unfortunately some will simply watch as events unfold. Fortunately, you only need a few (Steve jobs, Bill Gates etc) to innovate and exploit the opportunity once access to technology is availed. Our role is to facilitate our people to reach their fullest potential. This is what leadership is all about. Bitange Ndemo. A Chip That Can Transfer Data Using Laser Light New York Times: The advance will make it possible to use laser light rather than wires to send data between chips, removing the most significant bottleneck in computer design. A Tiny Laser on a Silicon Chip As a result, chip makers may be able to put the high-speed data communications industry on the same curve of increased processing speed and diminishing costs — the phenomenon known as Moore’s law — that has driven the computer industry for the last four decades. The development is a result of research at Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Commercializing the new technology may not happen before the end of the decade, but the prospect of being able to place hundreds or thousands of data-carrying light beams on standard industry chips is certain to shake up both the communications and computer industries. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/robertyawe%40yahoo.co.… ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it now. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/

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Re: [kictanet] Faith in local web hosting
by Joseph Mucheru 30 Nov '07

30 Nov '07

Hi Eric and Washington, There is another way to look at this. Why is it cheaper overseas? the obvious answer is that bandwidth there is local. In which case the hosting companies are not charged high fees for bandwidth. The infact primarily pay for peering with other networks. In our case we are yet to give hosting companies access to the IXP. One way to solve this is for ISPs to provide an "unbundled" hosting service; a) Local part $x per MB b) International part $x per MB c) Rack Space $x With such a setup it is much easier for webhosting companies to emerge and be very creative and at the same time compete with international players. This would make the business case better for most hosting business and they would not have to pay the high costs. Right now the high bandwidth cost is still paid for by the consumer since they still have to access the internationally hosted sites via the ISP. Joe Mucheru > On Nov 26, 2007 7:48 AM, Eric Osiakwan <eric(a)afrispa.org> wrote: > > > Dear Mr. Washington, > > > > You have stated the obvious which is the challenge but let me try to > > share some light on how to solve the problem. > > > > It is really a chicken an egg situation, the localhosting business would > > develop based on demand but like you said demand is relative to cost. > > > > However in the interest of developing our countries and continent if we > > all commit to having country code top level domain (in this case .ke) and > > host them locally, the demand would trigger supply. > > > > On the other hand if the local entrepreneurs can invest in > > infrastructure and based on market study provide competitive rates (with the > > generic TLDs) then again the supply could trigger the demand. > > > > Having said that, i have noticed something under the sun, which is that > > for some reason African just dont like using what other Africans produce so > > in some ways the former strategy would work better if we deal with the > > attitudinal change. > > > > Eric here > > > > > > On 26 Nov 2007, at 08:35, Odhiambo Washington wrote: > > > > On Nov 26, 2007 8:03 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > > > > > Hi all, > > > > I have raised this issue before when I did a search and found out that > > the > > CCK web site was hosted overseas and thus how can we expect them to > > monitor > > the service quality levels of the ISP's. > > > > On Sunday I visited the Kibaki web site, I experienced unstable audio > > streaming so I decided to find out where the site was hosted, yes you > > guest > > it overseas. The other 2 presidential candidates web sites are no > > better > > they are not locally hosted. Is this a reflection of who the targets of > > this web sites are? > > > > The Kibaki site is developed by one 3Mice, if I remember right, which > > has > > some association with newly appointed ICT Board Managing Director > > Kokubo. > > > > Regards > > Robert Yawe > > KAY System Technologies Ltd > > Phoenix House, 6th Floor > > P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 > > KEnya > > > > > > It's not the faith the people have in local hosting, but rather the > > cost factor. Last time I looked at this web hosting biz, one company > > was charging KES 1,000+VAT per month, which was what was though to be > > competitive. Another one entered into the fray with hype about reduced > > costing charges, but I am not sure how much business they managed to > > pick. All the same, their charges did not compare with what is charged > > internationally (I mean in Europe and the US). > > Websites is not something that has caught up with many Kenyans, > > otherwise the volumes would help sustain such businesses locally. > > I believe the lack of volumes is one of the factors that makes > > entities like 3Mice to host overseas. Top-notch Kenyan techies have > > been hosting their Blog with blogspot (overseas). Bandwidth costs is > > another. In Europe and the US, individuals can afford to connect > > 10MBps in their kitchens while in Kenya, that kind of bandwidth can > > only be purchased by ISPs. > > One last question though: Do you know any reliable webhosting company > > that hosts it's websites locally, and has reliable and efficient > > access to those websites? If there is one, they are not marketing > > themselves enough. > > > > > > > > -- > > Best regards, > > Odhiambo WASHINGTON, > > Nairobi,KE > > +254733744121/+254722743223 > > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ > > > > "Oh My God! They killed init! You Bastards!" > > --from a /. post > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: eric(a)afrispa.org > > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eric%40afrispa.org > > > > > > > > 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" > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: mucheru(a)google.com > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mucheru%40google.com > > > > > > > -- > Joe Mucheru > Office Lead, East Africa > Google Kenya > 7th Floor, Purshottam Place > Westlands Road > P O Box 66217 - 00800 Westlands > Nairobi, > KENYA > > +254 20 360 1701 Office > +254 20 360 1100 Fax > +254 20 360 1000 Switch Board (Regus) > > +254 722522135 Mobile > > > http://www.google.com > > This email may be confidential or privileged. If you received this > communication by mistake, please don't forward it to anyone else, please > erase all copies and attachments, and please let me know that it went to the > wrong person. Thanks. -- Joe Mucheru Office Lead, East Africa Google Kenya 7th Floor, Purshottam Place Westlands Road P O Box 66217 - 00800 Westlands Nairobi, KENYA +254 20 360 1701 Office +254 20 360 1100 Fax +254 20 360 1000 Switch Board (Regus) +254 722522135 Mobile http://www.google.com This email may be confidential or privileged. If you received this communication by mistake, please don't forward it to anyone else, please erase all copies and attachments, and please let me know that it went to the wrong person. Thanks.

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