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doc link
by Rebecca Wanjiku 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

just to let you know that the media council bill and the KC amendment bill are available on the APC Africa website, once the Kictanet website is done, we will have them there.... http://africa.rights.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=he_1&x=5077882 --------------------------------- Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.

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doc link
by Rebecca Wanjiku 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

just to let you know that the media council bill and the KC amendment bill are available on the APC Africa website, once the Kictanet website is done, we will have them there.... http://africa.rights.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=he_1&x=5077882 --------------------------------- Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] EASSy breaks fresh ground]
by alice 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

EASSy breaks fresh ground By Wairagala Wakabi CIPESA/ Fibre for Africa Kampala, June 11, 2007 The East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) has concluded interconnection agreements with three cable systems to carry traffic between Africa, Europe and Asia. It has also included the Comoros in its planned fibre network, to which 29 African entities are party. The cables are SAFE/SAT3, SEA ME-WE and FLAG, according to John Sihra, the coordinator of EASSy and a director with Tanzanian operator ZANTEL. The SAT3/WASC cable runs from Portugal, through Spain, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola to South Africa. SAFE begins from South Africa, to La Reunion, Mauritius, on to India and Malaysia. FLAG covers the Indian sub-continent and is extending to the Middle East and North Africa, while SEA ME-WE runs in the Middle East and North Africa. Sihra and other members of the EASSy steering committee ended a three-day meeting in Kampala, Uganda last Friday June 8 to finalise legal paperwork for the interconnection deals and the inclusion of the Comoros, among others. They also harmonised the various legal documents they had drawn up since they signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2003. Open Access Sihra and other parties to the EASSy MoU told Fibre for Africa that the EASSy project cost remained $235 million, and reiterated that the cable would be operated along open access principles. Even 10 years from now other operators who come on board will get capacity at the same price as existing operators, said Sihra. We have had some pressure from NEPAD (the New Partnership for African Development) to make sure the project takes into account the expectation of regional governments, namely that capacity pricing should be competitive and cost based, and that new companies have non-discriminatory access to it. We have addressed these concerns. But at exactly what price shall EASSy bandwidth come? We cannot give exact prices now, he said. There are many competing cables coming up; everyone now wants to build a cable round east Africas coast. They were sleeping but EASSy woke them up, he added, suggesting that revealing at what price EASSy would lease out its bandwidth could play into the hands of competitors. Completion date With EASSy expected to be ready for commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2008, signatories to the MoU said they were certain to be the first cable on the eastern coast of Africa. They promised competitive prices and high quality services, which they believed would make EASSy the most viable marine cable in the region. The actual laying of cables, which will be done by Alcatel Lucent Submarine Networks of France with whom a contract was signed on March 9 2007, will take 6-7 months. A detailed feasibility study was concluded, so has an environment impact assessment which the operators said found the cable would not negatively impact on the marine ecosystem. A marine survey is due to start, to map the cable route, and ascertain whether the findings of earlier studies are accurate regarding best route and length of the fibre system. Landing points Under the new arrangement there will be landing points at Grand Comoro and at Mayotte, and these will be funded by the Comoros government. Their inclusion will bring to 10 the number of EASSy landing points the others being at Mtunzini in South Africa, Maputo (Mozambique), Toliary (Madagascar), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Mombasa (Kenya), Mogadishu (Somalia), Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti) and Port Sudan (Sudan). The operators said because EASSy is regional in nature with shareholders from 17 countries, and because these shareholders are not in EASSy to make money from bandwidth sales but to use the cable to improve their services, EASSy bandwidth would be competitively priced and the cable would be especially viable. We shall be the first cable to go into water, and for that we shall have an advantage, said Sihra, adding that operators who will lease from third parties who will be in the business of selling bandwidth will end up with high costs and low capacity. The operators said the interconnection agreements they had concluded with other cables would enable EASSy to offer the public and other operators services from the point of origin of the call to any part of the world. International carriers like BT, France Telecom, and Sauditel are part of EASSy and we will have multiple choices for accessing the international system, which will also make us competitive, one official said. Funding Donald Nyakairu, chairman of the EASSy finance committee, said their funding was all in place, with parties such as MTN and Vodacom having contributed directly, while others would contribute through the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) known as the Western Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) which MoU partners have set up. He said the maximum amount of loans EASSy could accept was $170 million but it was likely that borrowed money would not exceed $110 million. The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) announced early in June that it was ready to commit up to $40 million to EASSy but promoters say they might not need all of DBSAs kitty. Backhaul system Nyakairu, also chair of the East African Backhaul System (EABS) and corporation secretary of uganda telecom, said by the time EASSy is completed, there will be a fibre system running from Mombasa, through Nairobi, the Uganda-Kenya border town of Malaba and all the way to the Ugandas capital Kampala. The network will also have extended from Kampala through the Uganda-Rwanda border town of Kabale, to Kigali (Rwanda), through to Bujumbura, to the Tanzanian border and mainland, and onto the landing point at the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam. From the Uganda-Rwanda perspective, we see no problem of hooking up from Mombasa all the way to Rwanda, said Noel Meier, chief executive of MTN Uganda. Telkom Kenya is this year extending the fibre to Malaba from where Ugandan operators will pick it up. MTN currently has fibre from Kampala to the town of Bugiri not far from Malaba; while uganda telecom leases Uganda Electricity Transmission Company capacity that carries fibre to Tororo town, also near the border. On the western side, MTN has fibre to the Ugandan town of Mbarara, and uganda telecom is due to build fibre from there to the Rwandan border where it will link to the fibre that MTN Rwandatel is erecting to that point. Within Uganda, the EABS is expected to be hooked to a national fibre backbone which government is building with Chinese funding of up to $110 m. A backhaul system similar to EABS will be developed by operators in southern Africa. Parties to the MoU Parties to the EASSy MoU comprise of 11 operators who are 100% government owned and 18 who are either partially government owned or fully private sector-owned. They are: 1) Botswana Telecom 2) Onatel (Burundi) 3) Telecel (Burundi) 4) Comoro Telecoms 5) Djibouti Telecoms 6) Ethiopia Telecoms Corporation 7) Kenya Telkom 8) Kenya Data Networks 9) Lesotho Telecom Authority 10) Telcom Malagasy (Madagascar) 11) France Telecom (Mayotte) 12) Mauritius Telecom 13) Telecom de Mozambique 14) Vodacom (Mozambique) 15) MTN Rwanda 16) Dalkon (Somalia) 17) MTN South Africa 18) Telkom South Africa 19) Vodacom (South Africa) 20) Neotel (South Africa) 21) Canartel (Sudan) 22) Sudatel (Sudan) 23) Satcom Tanzania 24) Vodacom Tanzania 25) ZANTEL (Tanzania) 26) Tanzania Telecoms Company (TTCL) 27) MTN Uganda 28) ZAMTEL (Zambia_ 29) Tel.One (Zimbabwe) The non-African members are: BT (UK), Saudi Telecom, VSNL/Teleglobe (India), AT&T (USA), Verizon/ ex MCI (USA), France Telecom, and Etisalat (United Arab Emirates). Ends _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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Opportunity - ICT in Education Prize: call for nominations]
by alice 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

For all those engaging in e-learning etc -------------------------------------------------------- ICT in Education Prize: call for nominations Open Access to Education is the theme of the 2007 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTS in Education. Funded by the Kingdom of Bahrain, the US$50,000 Prize is divided between two winners. The deadline for submissions is 31 July 2007. Launched in 2005, the prize aims to reward the projects and best practices of individuals, institutions and NGOs in using information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance learning, teaching and overall educational performance. Winners will be celebrated at an award ceremony to be held on 19 December 2007 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Candidatures must be presented by the government of a Member State of UNESCO or an international non-governmental organization, maintaining formal consultative relations with UNESCO and active in the relevant fields covered by the Prize. Each government or international non-governmental organization is entitled to nominate only two candidates per year. A self-nomination cannot be considered. For further details about the application procedure please consult the PDF file below: How to Apply - Guidelines and Checklist http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=24691&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECT…

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Kenya E-Commerce
by Alex Gakuru 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

Break from "Hyde" park, our consumers network is currently holding a "HOW-TO" realise e-commerce in Kenya discussion at http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers and you are most welcome to contribute examples, successes, failures, ideas and suggestions on-list. Alternatively, if you do not wish to register on the consumers e-list, you may send your comment to me directly. Thank you. Alex Gakuru --------------------------------- Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more.

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member profile
by Rebecca Wanjiku 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

hi, this is a reminder to all Kictanet members who would like to be featured in our bulletin, please send us your profile, send to me directly, not to the list, regards becky --------------------------------- Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car Finder tool.

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Kenyan Ministry Joins Push for Telcoms Tax Cuts
by alice 10 Jun '07

10 Jun '07

KenyaN Ministry Joins Push for Telcoms Tax Cuts The ministry of Information and Communications is backing efforts by mobile companies to have taxes levied on the industry reduced. peaking during the ITU's Forum on Telecommunications Regulation in Africa, Information and Communication Minister, Mutahi Kagwe, said there is need for a tax cut. "I think there is a case for it. But of course, you have to balance the need for the reduction and the Government's need for revenue," he said. The forum, hosted by the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) and attended by other Africa regulators, was convened to discuss ways of raising access to telecommunication services, by making it possible for service providers to share network and other common infrastructure. obile telephone operators want tax on mobile calls reduced and excise duty removed. "I am negotiating with my colleague in Treasury to see what can be reduced," he said, but declined to disclose whether the pleas will be factored in this year's budget. That, I will leave to the minister (Finance) but I hope he will consider the proposal," Mr Kagwe said. The idea to encourage sharing of infrastructure is borne out of the realisation that it could lower entry costs for new companies to participate in the telecommunication industry, increasing competition and lowering access costs to users. Infrastructure sharing holds tremendous promise for Africa, where investment in ICT development is yet to match market demand," CCK Director-General John Waweru said. he commission, he disclosed, is in the process of developing a framework to facilitate harmonious infrastructure sharing, and will be out in three weeks. (SOURCE: The Nation )

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TOP STORY FROM BALANCING ACT: GOOGLE APPOINTS WANANCHI'S MUCHERU TO HEAD UP ITS NEW OPERATION
by alice 10 Jun '07

10 Jun '07

TOP STORY: GOOGLE APPOINTS WANANCHI'S MUCHERU TO HEAD UP ITS NEW OPERATION _____________________________________________________________________ Google is moving outside of the continental comfort zones for most global investors, North and South Africa, and is opening its first operation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya has been chosen as the base camp for what is likely to turn into a sub-regional business. It has chosen Joseph Mucheru, former CEO of Wananchi to be its Site Lead- Kenya and although he has barely got his feet under the desk, Russell Southwood spoke to him about what Google might be doing, infrastructure initiatives and Kenya's media and communications bills. Q: With more competitive markets in Kenya, it's an exciting time for anyone in the telecoms and Internet markets there. So why did you leave Wananchi? Strategically, Wananchi is going into building infrastructure. There's no denying there's a huge need for it but I've always had a passion for content and applications. In the past, I've always been dragged into infrastructure to support my web business. Also this is the first time an international content player like Google has entered this market and it's very exciting. And this is another reason I've chosen to work with them. Q: So what's Google want to do? Initially there will be three big things. Firstly, we want to optimise the use of Google applications in the region. We already have a lot of customers in the region but further development of the market is hindered by the absence of an international cable offering cheap bandwidth. Google understands that this is an impediment and is willing to go to the extent of buying international bandwidth that locals don't have to pay the current considerable premium they are. The second thing they want to develop is their Maps product to make sure it has local information that is searchable and useful. The third thing is using Google advertising in ways that can help monetize local content. Lots of people have done local content but most times it's flopped. We hope to show that there's a way of doing advertising that can support content. If we can do this, it will generate jobs and work. But I should say clearly that I've only been with the company a week.. Q: So what's your role? I'll be the Site Lead - Kenya and will lead a whole team. I'll be involved in facilitating all the initiatives going on in the area. The company is massive but works in small teams. So I'll help determine what can be done and be pro-active about making it happen which means I'll be acting in an entrepreneurial way. Q: I hear that Google is also interested in policy issues? Google has an interest in what's happening in terms of policy and has a policy team and they want to have someone in every region. Their concern is to ensure that when policy is made that it benefits all of mankind. So it is willing to support someone who will participate in policy debates. So for example, here in Kenya, that person might look at the media and communications bills and Google would be able to lend its support and bring in its experience of these issues from elsewhere. Q: So as a Kenyan what do you personally make of these two pieces of legislation? I've looked at the Communications Bill and I think that there are certain things that would be disastrous, particularly for e-commerce. For example, it says that you will need to get a licence to get a sub-domain and this cuts right across existing global practice. The second thing is that the Bill says that certification authorities must have licences. In effect, it's saying that for Verisign to be recognised it must get a licence from CCK. Q: What issues are there with the media bill? There's an issue in terms of the registration and deregistration of journalists. I'm happy that's what being suggested would work with the current Government but it would be a great deal less good under a bad Government. Q: How will journalists be registered? The Government will decide on the basis of qualifications and writing if an individual will get a licence to practice as a journalist. There must be a way of monitoring standards but something more like a Media Council needs to be set up to monitor the licensing. Something more like the Law Society of Kenya in relation to lawyers. This would have an independent board but the Government might have a single seat but would be equal to everybody else on that board. Q: I understand that there are also some definitional difficulties with the legislation? Yes, it defines broadcasting as anything that is broadcast speech like radio and moving pictures like television. Currently whether this applies to something like You Tube is very vague. Also on a separate issue, the regulator is required to determine the content of the programming code. We can't expect CCK to do that. We need to be able to review these issues so they don't become monumental.

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monthly forum June 14
by Rebecca Wanjiku 08 Jun '07

08 Jun '07

you are invited to the monthly forum on June 14th, the theme for this month is Local Content. Michuki Mwangi, from Kenic will give a presesntation on how to promote local content, the various ways, he will also demystify the term local content and show how we can contribute to local content development, Carol Wanjiru will from KOCH Fm will be present to share with us how they are trying to develop content at Koch FM and how its different from other FM stations that contain substantial amount of Hollywood gossip and other foreign programs, the forum will be at Jacaranda starting at 3pm welcome becky Rebecca Wanjiku, journalist, p.o box 33515, Nairobi.00600 Kenya. Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when.

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[Fwd: KShs 670 Million for Digital Villages Start-up Capital]
by alice 08 Jun '07

08 Jun '07

_Subject: KShs 670 Million for Digital Villages Start-up Capital_ The Government of Kenya and the World Bank signed an agreement on 23 May 2007 to create a KShs. 670 million Digital Village Fund. This revolving fund will be used to support entrepreneurs (individual and/or group) to establish and manage digital villages countrywide starting from July/August 2007 through the following programs: · Training in business and ICT, · Finance for set-up costs and equipment, · Provision of ICT support services, · Finance for internet connectivity. In addition to the KShs. 670 million start-up capital, more funds are expected from constituency development funds (CDF), government institutions, development partners, and ICT multinationals to create and support more digital village projects throughout the country. Expect the total amount available for digital village facilities to double or triple by end of 2008. In light of all these developments, ICTVillage.com invites and welcomes all ICT and other organizations to support the rapid and successful implementation of Digital Villages throughout the country via the following initiatives; · *Advertise in the Digital Village Directory*, a special section in the next issue of the ICT Village Magazine available in July 2007. Display your products and/or services for only KShs. 36,250/- (half page) or KShs. 72,500/- (full page) to potential digital village entrepreneurs all over the country. · *Exhibit in the ICT Roadshow* which will be visiting Kisumu from 28^th to 30^th June 2007. Showcase your products and services to potential digital village entrepreneurs in Nyanza Province for only KShs. 36,250/- (without shell) or KShs. 72,500/- with 3x3m shell scheme. (All prices VAT Inclusive). Do not miss out on any of these great opportunities to market your ICT-related products and services all over Kenya. Become a Digital Village Supplier and benefit from the KShs. 670 million revolving fund. Please contact us immediately to book an advert in the Digital Village directory and/or to exhibit at the Kisumu ICT Roadshow. Best Regards, Anne Mutugi, General Manager. ------------------------------------ ICTvillage.com - Idea Factory Ltd, The Office Park, Riverside Drive. P O Box 12, Sarit Centre 00606, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: 254-020-4449277/020-4447655. Fax: 254-020-4449210. www.ictvillage.com

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