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Third annual African VoIP Forum to have high educational value
by Alice Wanjira 29 Jun '06

29 Jun '06

( Apologies for Cross Posting) Third annual African VoIP Forum to have high educational value With its unique combination of conference presentations and training workshops, the African VoIP Forum, to be held at Muson Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos over 21-23 August 2006, offers a high-powered educational opportunity for Africas ISPs, telecom operators and corporate VoIP users. The following is a sample of the rich content: CONFERENCE KEYNOTES The impact of VoIP on African voice markets Russell Southwood, CEO, Balancing Act looks at how VoIP impacts on voice markets: How grey markets operate and the scale and extent of them What legalised VoIP means in different countries and what happens when VoIP competition is more widely available? The winners and losers in the legalisation process The emergence of a new business model bringing together broadband and VoIP New potential developments like VoIP peering, eNUM and mobile VoIP Maximising international connectivity via a virtual service provider Yossi Barkan, Executive Director, Africa, PCCW Global, Hong Kong TDMoIP vs VoIP: Which technology is better for your network? Gaéthan Donlap Kouanga, Video and IP Services Manager, Eutelsat, France Successful revenue generating VoIP deployments in high-growth markets - Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan Tom Koster, GM, Sky-Stream, United Arab Emirates * Market analysis and preparation * Partner selection strategies * Technical considerations * Quality of Service and customer management issues * Lessons for Africa WORKSHOPS WORKSHOP 1: Corporate Users - Introduction to VoIP An interactive workshop Sunday Folayan, MD, Skannet Nigeria 9am 1pm Monday 21 August 2006 While VoIP is set to change the landscape of the communications industry, it is already being used by a number of traditional Telephone companies to connect their regional offices, while on a smaller scale, it is being used by Small Offices/Home Offices who want to trim their communications expenses. The advantages of using VoIP technology includes simplicity, flexibility, cost savings as well as finally removing the huge constraint of circuit switched architecture, and taking advantage of the ubiquitous nature of IP, which is fast becoming a de-facto medium of world-wide communication. This hands-on workshop is designed to introduce participants to the VoIP technology, using the Asterisk Open Source PBX software. Participants will amongst others be exposed to the following: Introduction to the VoIP technology Basic definitions and building blocks Transpprt protocols and packetization Public Swiched Networks and characteristics Protocols for VoIP call control Introduction to the Asterisk Open Source PBX Configuring simple VoIP Servers Configuring simple VoIP Clients Quality of Service (QoS) Issues Services and implementation issues Overview of large scale implementations and issues At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to setup and deploy an Asterisk-based PBX system which will work either via IP or PSTN and be capable of Least Cost Routing. WORKSHOP 2: International links for ISPs & Telecom Operators Mawuli Tse, Sales Director, Africa, iBasis 9am 12pm, Wednesday 23 August 2006 The VoIP landscape - from PC-to-PC to VoB Carrier level interconnections Quality monitoring on a VoIP network Selecting operators - what to consider WORSHOP 3: VoIP - Survival strategies for telcos, ISPs and cyber-cafes Russell Southwood, CEO, Balancing Act, UK 2pm 5pm, Wednesday 23 August 2006 VoIP will change the business model for telcos, ISPs and cyber-cafes. Beyond the ever-present hype, it will begin to transform business fundamentals in some of the following way: threatening existing international revenues; lowering the cost of entry to the voice market; and creating new opportunities like mobile VoIP. All of this will upset traditional markets and the question is: will you survive this shake-out? The workshop has three sessions of just under an hour each with a coffee break. Each of the sessions will have time for questions and answers and sessions 2 and 3 will have interactive exercises. The three sessions deal with the following: Session 1: The business opportunities VoIP offers In this session Russell will look at the kinds of business models that have arisen elsewhere and how things might develop in Nigeria. He will look at the business models for businesses like Skype and Vonage to illustrate how the business model for retail VoIP is developing in North America and Europe. He will then look in greater detail at the type of opportunities that might arise in Africa, including: Pre-pay VoIP calling cards IP-payphones Skype/Vonage clones Campus-wide IP-mobility solutions Municipal networks Corporate IP calling via VPNs Push-to-talk Home broadband Triple/Quad play (including mobile TV) Mobile VoIP VoIP peering He will explain the relationship between these opportunities and the changes in regulation that will enable them to flourish legally. Session 2: Assessing investment in new VoIP opportunities VoIP produces very different types of opportunities. For example, grey market operators have taken advantage of the price arbitrage opportunities that exist. In other words, for example, they are able to compete on price against artificially high international calling prices. Once VoIP is more widely legalised, then this level of price arbitrage opportunity will decline or disappear as prices come down in the market. It will be important to look at the relationship between quality and pricing and to understand what latitude exists for differentiating different service offers. Some opportunities will allow new players to enter the market relatively cheaply whereas others will require capital investment in new infrastructure. The level of capital required along with an assessment of the risks inherent in different propositions will help clarify where any potential should be made and whether a new opportunity is suitable for your company. Lastly the session will examine timing issues and their impact. Some opportunities like those related to price-arbitrage are short or medium-term. Others like mobile VoIP are longer term because the technology is not yet available. All of these factors will be gathered into a simple matrix and scored so that participants can see where the better opportunities lie in Africa. Session 3: VoIP pricing and service strategies in a competitive market The last session of the workshop will look pricing and service strategies and how they develop in a competitive market. Russell Southwood will explain how operators tackle these issues and the way in which different approaches to service and pricing are reflected in the service offer to customers. He will examine the relationship between cost and the price of providing different levels of service. After this briefing, participants will be split into two groups to devise pricing and service strategies for two different companies, one a start-up and the other an existing operator. The two groups will then come together and show what approaches they have arrived at. The group will then look at how it is possible to respond to competitor pricing in ways that differentiate the customer offer. For further details, contact Sean Moroney Tel: +44(0)1480-880774 seanm(a)aitecafrica.com To register as a delegate, log on to www.aitecafrica.com

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2006 MELLON AWARDS FOR TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATION
by Alice Wanjira 29 Jun '06

29 Jun '06

2006 MELLON AWARDS FOR TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATION The Program in Research in Information Technology of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation invites nominations for the 2006 Mellon Awards for Technology Collaboration (MATC). In support of the Programs mission to encourage collaborative, open source software development within traditional Mellon constituencies, these awardsto be given for the first time in 2006will recognize not-for-profit organizations that are making substantial contributions of their own resources toward the development of open source software and the fostering of collaborative communities to sustain open source development. The awards will provide the recipients with opportunities to strengthen their commitment to inter-organizational collaboration and open source software development. Awards will be given at two levels: $25,000 awards to recognize important organizational contributions to open source projects which currently or potentially provide significant benefits to at least one traditional Mellon constituency; and $100,000 awards to recognize highly significant contributions to open source projects offering larger benefits to more or larger constituencies. Multiple awards will be bestowed at each level, at the discretion of the Award Committee and the Trustees. For more details, visit http://rit.mellon.org/awards/ FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Please contact: Christopher J. Mackie Associate Program Officer Program in Research in Information Technology The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 282 Alexander Rd. Princeton, NJ 08540 609-924-9424 cjm(a)mellon.org For more about the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, please visit: http://www.mellon.org/

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[internet governance] IGF Workshops call for proposals
by Alice Wanjira 27 Jun '06

27 Jun '06

>From http://www.intgovforum.org/workshops.html http://www.intgovforum.org/workshops.html> Workshops This is a call for proposals for workshops which will be held in parallel to the General Sessions. Organizers of workshops are asked to present their proposals making use of the template posted below. Proposals should respect the organizational principles and criteria for the selection of workshops. The Advisory Group will assess the proposals and establish a final programme for the Athens meeting in light of the proposals received. An online workshop proposal form will be posted on this Web site next week. Organizational Principles - The guiding organizational principle for holding workshops is the multi-stakeholder approach. Geographical diversity is an equally relevant factor. - There is no distinction between different types of meetings other than the one referring to General Sessions and Workshops. - All workshops will be held under the auspices of the Advisory Group and coordinated by the IGF Secretariat. - All proposals fulfilling the selection criteria and using the template will be posted on the IGF Web site. - Proposals should preferably be submitted in English. 24 August 2006 is set as the final deadline for submitting proposals in English. The deadline for submitting proposals in UN languages other than English is 31 July 2006. - Interested parties are encouraged to submit their proposals as early as possible, as the selection process will take place on an ongoing basis. An early decision will facilitate the planning of workshops. - The final selection will be made by the Advisory Group at its meeting on 7-8 September 2006. - The rooms reserved for workshops and all equipment, including a screen and a PC or laptop for projections and a projector (XGA/SVGA Data), will be available free of charge. Details related to the logistics will be made available in due course. No Secretariat funding is available for the organization of workshops. - There will be no interpretation available for workshops. Content and format - Workshops will focus on the specific issues relevant to the Athens meeting themes as well as on other topics of relevance to Internet Governance. - Most workshops are expected to deal with the first meeting's four broad themes. A number of workshop slots will be made available to deal with important topics that do not fit easily within the main themes of the conference but which are nonetheless of importance to many of the stakeholders. - Workshops dealing with topics that are addressed in the main meeting will not be scheduled at the same time as the main meeting. - Workshops should explore a theme from different angles and different stakeholders' perspectives. Pure advocacy workshops will not be considered. - All workshops will be audiocast. - Workshops should respect the general format of meetings and should be structured to be interactive, allowing a large portion of their time for open discussion and interaction with meeting attendees, such as a Q&A session. They could include keynote presentations, moderated panels and discussions both from the floor and from remote participants. Workshops should be designed with the format that is most appropriate to the particular topic under discussion. Selection criteria - Relevance to the overriding themes and topics. Priority will be given to proposals for workshops related to the main themes. - Demonstratively proposed and organized through multistakeholder collaboration. - Capacity to improve understanding of the IGF themes and topics. - Proven expertise and experience to manage the staging of the workshop, including raising the funds necessary to do so. Template for submitting proposals - Name of the sponsors of the workshop and their affiliation to various stakeholder groups. - Describe your past experience in organizing similar events. What is your budget and how do you plan to finance or raise the funds necessary to stage the workshop? - Describe how the sponsors/organizers will take steps to adhere to the multi-stakeholder principle, including geographical diversity. - Describe how the workshop would include different perspectives of different stakeholders and ensure an overall balance of views. - A concise formulation for the proposed workshop theme. Proposals for workshops on topics not related to the main themes should include an explanation as to why they should be discussed during the first IGF meeting. - Describe the workshop's conformity with the Tunis Agenda in terms of substance, and explain which paragraph(s) the workshop theme is referring to. - Describe its conformity with the mandate of the IGF as set out in para 72. - How does the workshop theme correspond to or enhance the understanding of the four main themes of the first IGF meeting? - Why do you think the proposed theme is important? - Why do you think this theme should be addressed in the first IGF meeting rather than in subsequent ones? - Describe the main actors in the field. Have you approached them and asked whether they would be willing to participate in the proposed workshop? - The proposal should not exceed 1000 words. Reporting back to the General Session One summary report of all the workshops held in one day in a UN working language (i.e. English or French) will be prepared by the Secretariat in cooperation with the organizers. This report will be read out at the recap session at the beginning of the General Session in the Main Hall and benefit from interpretation in all UN languages and real-time transcription. It will last no longer than 40 minutes.

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KDN PIPS EASSY TO THE POST $115M DEAL WITH FLAG - COST OF
by Alice Wanjira 26 Jun '06

26 Jun '06

>From Balancing act TOP STORY: KDN PIPS EASSY TO THE POST $115M DEAL WITH FLAG - COST OF BANDWIDTH COST? AROUND $150 PER MBPS PER MONTH _____________________________________________________________________ The EASSy saga, which has had more twists and turns than a mountain road, took what may be a final turn. Kenya Data Networks announced that it has secured a separate deal with Flag Telecom to build a spur from off the cost of Yemen to Mombasa. The deal is believed to be worth US$115 million and the pipe will be built before EASSy was planning to come on stream. And the cost of the bandwidth? An eye-wateringly low figure of around US$150 per mbps per month for Mombasa to London. Russell Southwood spoke to KDN's CEO Kai Wulff this week about how it will work. Flag is in the process of completing the Falcon system that runs through the Gulf and it will be up-and-running in early 2007. The spur to Mombasa will be completed at the latest by September 2007. In the deal with Flag, KDN is believed to be putting up a capacity guarantee and will in turn sell capacity to others in the region. The cost of this capacity will be at cost plus operating, maintenance and interest charges. Therefore this effective cost price will be around $150 per mbps per month, a figure that is considerably lower than any of those mentioned verbally by members of the EASSy consortium. Flag will manage the system and be responsible for maintenance. KDN's Kai Wulff has a very clear attitude to capacity sales:"We will take the capacity. We will be the guarantor. We will sell to all serious players at the cost price. We want everyone to be able to offer value-added services and infrastructure in the (national) market. We will not mark up capacity and we don't see why others should do so. We will have a huge chunk of capacity and will keep competition open by capping bandwidth at cost. When it comes to the next upgrade of the pipe, everyone can negotiate their own deal." "I don't want to dominate the market. If the international bandwidth is cheap, I will be so busy with other business that selling capacity will look like a joke. I'll leave that to the ISPs." He hopes that by 2008 that it will be possible to offer a 4 mb DSL line to users at between US$20-22, coming well below the current cheapest continental price being offered by Maroc Telecom. "We already outsource as many of KDN's function's as possible. We do it with satellite. We will do the same with fibre. There are not many serious private fibre operators and this is why we have ended up making the deal with Flag." And what of the EASSy consortium? "We will continue to be active in the EASSy consortium but we need to rethink the purpose of EASSy". He points out that having built this first link that the balance of the cost of the submarine link will halved:"We need to reach the other countries. They could follow us and speak to Flag and use the same model as we are.

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Fwd: A SKILLED IT PROGRAMMER LOOKING FOR ATTACHMNET/WORK
by charles nduati 24 Jun '06

24 Jun '06

Hi all, Attached kindly find henry kamau's cv. He looks quite skilled so may be you might want to engage him. Cheers all, Charles nduati Note: forwarded message attached. CHARLES N. NDUATI BUSINESS MANAGER JKUAT ENTERPRISES LTD JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY JUJA MAIN CAMPUS, THIKA P. O. BOX 79324-00200 NAIROBI, KENYA TEL: 254-067-52420 OR 254-067-52711 FAX: 254-067-52438 MOBILE:254-722728815 EMIAL:charlesnduati2002@yahoo.co.uk www.jkuat.ac.ke ___________________________________________________________ All new Yahoo! Mail "The new Interface is stunning in its simplicity and ease of use." - PC Magazine http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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[Fwd: www.stock-detective.co.ke]
by Bill Kagai 23 Jun '06

23 Jun '06

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Info" <info(a)circuitspackets.co.ke> To: billkagai(a)gmail.com Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2006 01:03:46 +0300 Subject: www.stock-detective.co.ke The death knell to shareholders of Uchumi Supermarkets could have been avoided if the investors had accurate information and reliable projections of the company's performance in real time. Speculation is already rife that Unga Group investors ought worry though no information is available to the shareholders from the relevant stakeholders. The Hosted Services Unit at Circuits&Packets Comunications Ltd has developed a web-based portal www.stock-detective.co.ke combined with a swahili version www.KacheroWaHisa.co.ke which will provide you with data, news and analytics in the stock market. Updated and archived financial and market data, pricing, trading, news and communications tools will now be available in a single, integrated solution to corporations, business professionals and individual shareholders in Kenya. The Stock-Detective also integrates real-time and historical information on all the 49 listed companies, bonds, equities, commodities, currencies and funds. The unique feature of the Stock-Detective is that it contains no frames to ease accessibility and deliberately does not feature images, file attachments or compressed documents for download so that once data is available it can integrate seamlessly with your computer, cell-phones or hand-held devices either through the internet or via short messaging service (sms). The beta version of the solution is now available for tests, editing and bug fixing at www.stock-detective.co.ke As a potential user of our services, we welcome you to have a glance. Your comments and suggestions will be held in high esteem. Stock-Detective Team Circuits & Packets Communications Ltd Hosted Services Unit Suite B2, Tetu Apartments, State House Avenue P. O. Box 20311 - 00200 Nairobi, Kenya Tel. 254 20 2728332 Fax. 254 20 2726965 Email. info(a)circuitspackets.co.ke URL. www.circuitspackets.co.ke

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MONTHLY PLANNING MEETING
by Evelyne Majale 23 Jun '06

23 Jun '06

Good afternoon On behalf of the chair, Mr. Charles Nduati, I am inviting you to the Kictanet monthly planning meeting to be held at The Jacaranda Hotel on Thursday, 22nd June 2006 at 3.45 p.m. Mr. Kanja Waruru Chairman of the Media Owner's Association will give a feedback on the MOA workshop held at The Norfolk Hotel on 22nd May 2006, while Dr. Ben Sihanya will give a feedback on Kictanet registration. Mr. Marcel will table the issue on Planning for Open Policy Forum. MM could you please handle feedback of ICT bill 2006? If not, please assign one of the facilitators to do it on your behalf. Attached, please find the agenda. Evelyne

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Valentyne
by Emutua 21 Jun '06

21 Jun '06

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Fw: Invitation to BusinessXchange Forum - Thursday 22 June 2006.
by alice＠apc.org 19 Jun '06

19 Jun '06

FYI ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Kimacia" <peter(a)c4IDEA.com> To: "Alice Munyua" <alice(a)apc.org> Cc: <events(a)c4IDEA.com> Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 3:34 PM Subject: Invitation to BusinessXchange Forum - Thursday 22 June 2006. Dear Alice, This month, KPMG East Africa will make a presentation titled 'Regional Budget Analysis and its impact on the ICT industry in Kenya'. This will be followed by a plenary session to discuss the way forward for the ICT industry in Kenya. Our special guest for this forum will be Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications. Date: Thursday 22nd June 2006. Topic: Regional Budget Analysis - Impact on the ICT Industry. Presenter: Mr. Richard Ndungu, CEO, KPMG East Africa. Time: 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Venue: Grand Regency Hotel. Cost: KShs. 1,000/- per person. c4IDEA.com is a resource network that helps individuals and organizations exchange innovative and proactive ideas to develop world-class Kenyan leaders in different professions and disciplines. Please email or contact us to make a reservation for this special businessXchange forum. Call Joan at the contacts listed below. Thanks, Peter. -------------------------------------------- The Office Park, Riverside Drive. Tel: 254-020-444-9277 254-020-444-7655 Fax: 254-020-444-9210 PO Box 12 - 00606, Sarit Centre, Nairobi, Kenya.

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Take a Stand on Internet Governance! - http://internetgovernance.org/comment.asp
by Wainaina Mungai 16 Jun '06

16 Jun '06

> Hello > I am forwarding the message below, about ICANN and its evaluation. You can > make comments individually or collectively as you wish. > Best > divina > > Take a Stand on Internet Governance! > ==================================== > > In advance of renewing the current agreement between the U.S. > Department of Commerce and ICANN, the U.S. government's National > Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has asked for > public comments about its supervision of the Internet Corporation for > Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). > > This is an important opportunity for public participation in the reform > of ICANN and Internet governance. We urge everyone to let your opinion > of how ICANN is working and how it can be improved be known. Comments > are due by July 7. > > The Internet Governance Project is focusing public attention on the > Bush administration's controversial and divisive assertion of unilateral > control over the DNS root. IGP is urging Internet users everywhere to > respond to the NTIA request for comments with the following statement: > > > <statement> > > The Internet's value is created by the participation and cooperation of > people all over the world. The Internet is global, not national. > Therefore no single Government should have a pre-eminent role in > Internet governance. > > As the US reviews its contract with ICANN, it should work cooperatively > with all stakeholders to complete the transition to a Domain Name System > independent of US governmental control. > > </statement> > > You can transmit this statement directly to the NTIA and key > Congressional committee chairs. Just visit > http://internetgovernance.org/comment.asp > > Join this global campaign today! > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Edu mailing list > Edu(a)wsis-cs.org > http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/edu > >

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