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My day with journalists……By Jose Ngunjiri
by Jose' 19 Apr '07

19 Apr '07

It was the first time for Kimathi Information Centre (KIC) to do a presentation at a panel of ICT stakeholders. I was still getting to know how things work around the meeting until the journalists sought to interview me. Working around journalists has made me become more cautious with what I say. I was interviewed by KBC and the first time is always shaky, you don’t know what to say or what not to. It went on well and we got valuable coverage. Thanks to Kictanet. After the forum, KDN (Kenya Data Networks) Pledged that they will help us network the six E-learning centres that we are planning to open. The big question is where are the resources to sustain all these? We are a group operating at the community level and we are under so much pressure from the neighboring communities to set up e-learning centres. Our growth is narrowed down by lack of resources. in as much as we have no money, we are approaching local banks for loans but the only collateral we have are computers and we have not made progress in securing loans. We are not afraid to get loans because we believe in what we are doing. Countries like Malaysia succeeded on commercial loans and through hard work they have reaped benefits. We will too. On March 24th, we organized a financing symposium that mainly addressed areas that require financing and how to approach financing institutions. Small Medium enterprise Solution centre (SSC) a World Bank affiliate attended the symposium and emphasized on starting small enterprises and on ways to access funds as the youth and the importance of building business capacity. More than 134 youth delegates were inspired to see Edith Adera from IDRC. Adera is KIC’s mentor and greatest supporter. Thanks for your support! Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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setting digital pace in Eastlands
by Rebecca Wanjiku 19 Apr '07

19 Apr '07

SETTING DIGITAL PACE IN EASTLANDS When Dr Bitange Ndemo, Information and Communication Permanent Secretary asked Collin Bruce and his team to visit Eastlands, everybody was eager. Eager because the PS had sang praises about Kimathi Information Centre (KIC) and how it had used Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to uplift the lives of the youth in the area. As the PS and his team snaked through the streets of Maringo, Jerusalem, Bahati and Uhuru, the team of youth at KIC were putting final touches to the presentation. The KIC team is comprised of Catherine Atieno Agallo {21}, Jose Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri {26} and Lillian Gloria Okumu {28). Before welcoming the visitors, the KIC team and the volunteers had to ensure that all the work due to the local schools has been delivered and any other pending jobs are finalized. This is their day to show what the youth can do. The PS has been so impressed by KIC’s digital innovation and integration to the community that every visitor to Ndemo’s office is referred to the centre for examples of how Kenya has embraced ICTs. Bruce, the World Bank country director was not disappointed at what he saw. He witnessed how the area youth had worked with meager resources to improve living conditions in the area. “We have received tremendous support from Dr. Ndemo. It has motivated us to keep exploring our potential,” said Ngunjiri. He was speaking at the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) monthly forum, where innovators in ICTs showcase their achievements to other industry players as well as the public. So why was KIC started? According to Ngunjiri, they teamed up in December 2005 and decided to come up with innovative practical solutions to the problems of unemployed youth in the area. KIC serves Eastland’s community in Kimathi, Bahati, Jerusalem, Maringo and Uhuru. Apart from unemployment, the youth in the area lack of proper skills to search for jobs, lack job interview skills and some have been unable to secure attachment opportunities after university. Armed with their findings and suggested solutions, the trio approached Computer for Schools Kenya and the International Development Research Council (IDRC) seeking assistance. Impressed by the innovation, the two organizations donated 13 computers and agreed that the trio would train and equip the youth and the whole communities in the area. “I think they have done an excellent job that can be shared with others,” said Edith Adera from IDRC. Ngunjiri told KICTANet members how that partnership has improved ICT knowledge, reduced crime rate, unemployment and ignorance among the youth. “We have tried to ensure that the community owns the project, they give collective security and our equipment has never been stolen. The youth who would have been out mugging people is now working behind computers,” Ngunjiri added. KIC works with neighbouring schools to provide computer services if needed. For instance, at the end of the term, the teachers forward the scores for tallying and grading instead of doing it manually. “It is now easier and time saving for teachers to grade the students. Once they mark the exams, we send one volunteer to get the data, organise according to instructions then send back to the school. A minimal cost is charged,” said Ngunjiri. KIC has tried to integrate everybody into the project provided they show interest in learning. Those with skills they can share with others are encouraged to visit the centre and benefit the others. Working with university graduates, KIC goes beyond ICTs skills and teaches accounting and small business management skills to those aspiring to start businesses. Other services offered include- research and study centre, library centre through e-learning, data base centre for small business entrepreneurs, security pay point for Kimathi estate, networking centre, web design training for teenagers under the Mtandao Africa initiative. Out of the activities, the centre raises money to sustain itself and pay minimal wages to the workers. The priority now is to ensure the community fully embraces ICTs before they can pursue profits. To fulfill their social responsibility, Ngunjiri told KICTANet forum how KIC supports Shelter of Hope Centre- the local children’s home. The home houses sixty orphans in the neighboring Kiambiu slum. Because the space at KIC is limited, two trainers from the children’s home have been trained with the expectation that they will impart the orphans with ICT knowledge. Every Sunday, have a volunteer from KIC teaches 5 students from the children’s centre on computer packages and any advanced skills needed. The progress of KIC has not gone unnoticed by the corporate sector, Popote wireless gave thirty volunteers a chance market the company’s products. The library and research centre expects to train many students and enter competition for international awards including the Bill and Melinda gate Foundation Program. Ends Rebecca Wanjiku, journalist, p.o box 33515, Nairobi.00600 Kenya. Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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media workshop
by Rebecca Wanjiku 19 Apr '07

19 Apr '07

Kictanet and Kenya ICT journalists network will be holding a workshop for journalists on April 26 at Jacaranda from 9 am to 1 pm, the workshop, addressing OFC, FOI and ICT bill the workshop is basic and we expect to hold further training in a month or two, if you are interested in attending, please confirm with me directly, regards becky __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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IT in rural schools
by Rebecca Wanjiku 19 Apr '07

19 Apr '07

TAKING IT TO RURAL SCHOOLS At the heart of Meru district, a dusty road leads to Ruiga girls’ school. It is a typical village school with no power and vehicles to the shopping centre operate only on market days. To access it, one needs prior information, if it rained; don’t bother visiting because the road is impassable. The school is two kilometers from the road with no public transport. Imagine this: the school has an integrated system that allows teachers to teach mathematics, chemistry, biology and physics using animated computer graphics and has an integrated system that allows parents to monitor students’ academic and disciplinary progress from the internet. The imagination can roll on to the classroom where the teachers use LCD projectors in place of black boards and exam past papers are available online. The assignments are forwarded via email and teachers, parents and students are in constant communication. Well, this is the dream that the headmistress of the school has dared to dream. The school is typical of many village schools but wants to be the pioneer of computer technology in the area. This school imposes itself as the testimony of the determination by Cyber School Technology Solutions (CSTS) of providing quality educational services to schools in Kenya- whether rural or urban. With no power and coming from a place where computers are still perceived as myths, CSTS is proving that all students can enjoy world-class teaching aids that enhance the learning environment. Fatma Bashir, chief marketing officer at CSTS narrated to ICT stakeholders gathered for the KICTANet forum how she has had to teach communities about benefits of computers before embarking on her mission to promote educational packages. “One time a headmistress of another school blocked us from entering the school because we were introducing ‘bad pictures through the internet’ to the students. I took time to explain to the teachers the benefits of computers in schools, and that we had good intentions,” Bashir told the forum. CSTS develops teaching resources, aligned to specific syllabi, featuring 3D animations. Each Unit within a Chapter apart from 3D animations contains 2D animations, visuals, charts, experiments and other reference materials required by teachers in a classroom environment. Today, Ruiga girls’ school has 220 students and 12 teachers. Granted the challenges, the school was ranked 18 out of 79 schools in 2006, up from 33rd position in the district in 2005, and according to Bashir, the students have demonstrated positive index improvement in sciences subjects after using the Digital Science products for barely 6 weeks before the final exams. This school epitomizes the desire by CSTS to bridge the infrastructure and digital divide and ensure that rural schools enjoy similar opportunities as those enjoyed by urban schools. Through the electronic teaching aids offered to schools, CSTS hopes to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban schools. This, Bashir argued, will lead to early familiarization with ICT for teachers and students alike. According to Bashir, CSTS hopes to qualitatively improve learning by conceptualizing more creatively and digitizing learning resources to help educators build better learning interventions. For the tough science subjects, CSTS hopes to make them fun by introducing new teaching aides in the subjects of Mathematics, Biology, Physics and Chemistry that animate and turn the subjects to life, making it easier to learn and recall. Standardizing the learning process thereby creating an equal opportunity for success for every student sitting the examination across the board. Digital Science is a revolutionary teaching aid because by using animated visuals, that brings to life the abstract concepts learning science has been made easier thus more interesting and readily understood by the students. “The interactivity built into these modules also gives students a feeling of hands-on experience. At the same time, it gives control to the teachers and students as the lessons follow syllabi of specific subjects while pace and explanations can match the level of the student,” said Bashir. In Physics, interactivity allows students to tweak parameters in situations and literally see how the system responds to the change. In short, the limitations of a school laboratory are overcome. For example, no school lab can show a nuclear reaction, but this is also shown in our modules. In Chemistry, using the virtual lab, students can conduct potentially hazardous experiments safely and without the expenditure of chemicals. Even dangerous experiments dealing with poisonous gases, etc. can be performed (students are warned adequately in such cases to prevent them from replicating it in reality). They can also repeat experiments over and over until they are familiar with the process in preparation for practical examinations, all this at the click of a button. In Biology, through animation of complex concepts students get to understand what they are being taught and can thus apply this not only in their lives but also while responding to examination questions. For example a process such as importance of diffusion in the human body, cell division during reproduction etc are visually depicted aiding the understanding and retention process required in the teaching and learning environment. CSTS has introduced a new technique of teaching mathematics. In Mathematics, when teaching about shapes, the animation shows the shapes in 3 dimension, thus attracting the students to get into the concept and learn it better and with self-interest. CSTS recognizes the necessity for educating students about HIV / AIDS appropriately and effectively, using the power of multimedia. The organization has developed innovative, original multimedia teaching tools, on CD ROM for HIV / AIDS education for children between the ages of 6 and 18. The content sophistication increases for higher age groups, covering the nature of viral infections and causes and effects of HIV / AIDS. Because this is a global problem with many mature themes, it is treated in a sensitive and flexible, non-judgmental manner to appeal to persons from different backgrounds. The lessons are created in a visually attractive style with cartoon characters giving the message in a manner which is easy to understand. This is followed by interactive exercises, quizzes, etc. to reinforce the learning process, evaluate what they have learnt, and show them how this knowledge can be applied in safe behavior to avoid HIV / AIDS. By Advocating the use of relevant ICT software in education CSTS hopes to improve learning processes of all students in Kenya as well as improve living standards. Ends Rebecca Wanjiku, journalist, p.o box 33515, Nairobi.00600 Kenya. Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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kictanet monthly forum
by Rebecca Wanjiku 18 Apr '07

18 Apr '07

Kictanet will be holding the monthly forum on thursday next week (april 26) at 3pm Jacaranda, the forum will address e-learning issues to coincide with the e-learning conference to be held in Nairobi next month, there will be presentations from government on e-learning intiatives, we expect presentations about all the elements needed to complete the eLearning picture, there will be presentations from organisations working in software development as well as rural awareness, please plan to attend, regards becky __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Time to rebuild the internet]
by alice 17 Apr '07

17 Apr '07

Others explore scrapping Internet By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer Fri Apr 13, 11:04 PM ET NEW YORK - Although it has already taken nearly four decades to get this far in building the Internet, some university researchers with the federal government's blessing want to scrap all that and start over. The idea may seem unthinkable, even absurd, but many believe a "clean slate" approach is the only way to truly address security, mobility and other challenges that have cropped up since UCLA professor Leonard Kleinrock helped supervise the first exchange of meaningless test data between two machines on Sept. 2, 1969. The Internet "works well in many situations but was designed for completely different assumptions," said Dipankar Raychaudhuri, a Rutgers University professor overseeing three clean-slate projects. "It's sort of a miracle that it continues to work well today." No longer constrained by slow connections and computer processors and high costs for storage, researchers say the time has come to rethink the Internet's underlying architecture, a move that could mean replacing networking equipment and rewriting software on computers to better channel future traffic over the existing pipes. Even Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers as co- developer of the key communications techniques, said the exercise was "generally healthy" because the current technology "does not satisfy all needs." One challenge in any reconstruction, though, will be balancing the interests of various constituencies. The first time around, researchers were able to toil away in their labs quietly. Industry is playing a bigger role this time, and law enforcement is bound to make its needs for wiretapping known. There's no evidence they are meddling yet, but once any research looks promising, "a number of people (will) want to be in the drawing room," said Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor affiliated with Oxford and Harvard universities. "They'll be wearing coats and ties and spilling out of the venue." The National Science Foundation wants to build an experimental research network known as the Global Environment for Network Innovations, or GENI, and is funding several projects at universities and elsewhere through Future Internet Network Design, or FIND. Rutgers, Stanford, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are among the universities pursuing individual projects. Other government agencies, including the Defense Department, have also been exploring the concept. The European Union has also backed research on such initiatives, through a program known as Future Internet Research and Experimentation, or FIRE. Government officials and researchers met last month in Zurich to discuss early findings and goals. A new network could run parallel with the current Internet and eventually replace it, or perhaps aspects of the research could go into a major overhaul of the existing architecture. These clean-slate efforts are still in their early stages, though, and aren't expected to bear fruit for another 10 or 15 years assuming Congress comes through with funding. Guru Parulkar, who will become executive director of Stanford's initiative after heading NSF's clean-slate programs, estimated that GENI alone could cost $350 million, while government, university and industry spending on the individual projects could collectively reach $300 million. Spending so far has been in the tens of millions of dollars. And it could take billions of dollars to replace all the software and hardware deep in the legacy systems. Clean-slate advocates say the cozy world of researchers in the 1970s and 1980s doesn't necessarily mesh with the realities and needs of the commercial Internet. "The network is now mission critical for too many people, when in the (early days) it was just experimental," Zittrain said. The Internet's early architects built the system on the principle of trust. Researchers largely knew one another, so they kept the shared network open and flexible qualities that proved key to its rapid growth. But spammers and hackers arrived as the network expanded and could roam freely because the Internet doesn't have built-in mechanisms for knowing with certainty who sent what. The network's designers also assumed that computers are in fixed locations and always connected. That's no longer the case with the proliferation of laptops, personal digital assistants and other mobile devices, all hopping from one wireless access point to another, losing their signals here and there. Engineers tacked on improvements to support mobility and improved security, but researchers say all that adds complexity, reduces performance and, in the case of security, amounts at most to bandages in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. Workarounds for mobile devices "can work quite well if a small fraction of the traffic is of that type," but could overwhelm computer processors and create security holes when 90 percent or more of the traffic is mobile, said Nick McKeown, co-director of Stanford's clean-slate program. The Internet will continue to face new challenges as applications require guaranteed transmissions not the "best effort" approach that works better for e-mail and other tasks with less time sensitivity. Think of a doctor using teleconferencing to perform a surgery remotely, or a customer of an Internet-based phone service needing to make an emergency call. In such cases, even small delays in relaying data can be deadly. And one day, sensors of all sorts will likely be Internet capable. Rather than create workarounds each time, clean-slate researchers want to redesign the system to easily accommodate any future technologies, said Larry Peterson, chairman of computer science at Princeton and head of the planning group for the NSF's GENI. Even if the original designers had the benefit of hindsight, they might not have been able to incorporate these features from the get- go. Computers, for instance, were much slower then, possibly too weak for the computations needed for robust authentication. "We made decisions based on a very different technical landscape," said Bruce Davie, a fellow with network-equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc., which stands to gain from selling new products and incorporating research findings into its existing line. "Now, we have the ability to do all sorts of things at very high speeds," he said. "Why don't we start thinking about how we take advantage of those things and not be constrained by the current legacy we have?" Of course, a key question is how to make any transition and researchers are largely punting for now. "Let's try to define where we think we should end up, what we think the Internet should look like in 15 years' time, and only then would we decide the path," McKeown said. "We acknowledge it's going to be really hard but I think it will be a mistake to be deterred by that." Kleinrock, the Internet pioneer at UCLA, questioned the need for a transition at all, but said such efforts are useful for their out-of- the-box thinking. "A thing called GENI will almost surely not become the Internet, but pieces of it might fold into the Internet as it advances," he said. Think evolution, not revolution. Princeton already runs a smaller experimental network called PlanetLab, while Carnegie Mellon has a clean-slate project called 100 x 100. These days, Carnegie Mellon professor Hui Zhang said he no longer feels like "the outcast of the community" as a champion of clean- slate designs. Construction on GENI could start by 2010 and take about five years to complete. Once operational, it should have a decade-long lifespan. FIND, meanwhile, funded about two dozen projects last year and is evaluating a second round of grants for research that could ultimately be tested on GENI. These go beyond projects like Internet2 and National LambdaRail, both of which focus on next-generation needs for speed. Any redesign may incorporate mechanisms, known as virtualization, for multiple networks to operate over the same pipes, making further transitions much easier. Also possible are new structures for data packets and a replacement of Cerf's TCP/IP communications protocols. "Almost every assumption going into the current design of the Internet is open to reconsideration and challenge," said Parulkar, the NSF official heading to Stanford. "Researchers may come up with wild ideas and very innovative ideas that may not have a lot to do with the current Internet." ___ Associated Press Business Writer Aoife White in Brussels, Belgium, contributed to this report. ___ On the Net: Stanford program: http://cleanslate.stanford.edu <http://cleanslate.stanford.edu> Carnegie Mellon program: http://100x100network.org <http://100x100network.org> Rutgers program: http://orbit-lab.org <http://orbit-lab.org> NSF's GENI: http://geni.net <http://geni.net> __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/message/5866;_ylc=X3oDMTM0Z3V1b3BiB…> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwNjNtMTd2BF9TAzk3M…> | Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNTJpc3E1BF9TAzk3M…> Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNmNoZ2ZtBF9TA…> | Links <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmb3U4c2FqBF9TAzk3…> | Polls <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJmMWVxdjc2BF9TAzk3…> | Calendar <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJkdWcyc2txBF9TA…> Dig Africa site welcomes you to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Digafrica on IT in Africa Aids-Africa is a forum for communication and information on AIDS related issues in Africa and all are welcome to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/aids-africa Join us on hiv/aids forum on Kenya at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenya-aids Join us at a Kenyan networking forum and NGOS at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenyainternational Yahoo! 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East Africa Broadband Connectivity Workshop
by alice 17 Apr '07

17 Apr '07

*East Africa** Broadband Connectivity Workshop* The Global Digital Freedom Institute (GDFI), inveneo, and balancing act in cooperation with the United States’ Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI), are pleased to invite you to join colleagues from telecommunications ministries, the information and communications technology (ICT) industries and non-profit communities, to participate in a roundtable discussion about ways of accelerating deployment of high-speed broadband networks in Eastern Africa. The discussion will take place on Thursday, May 10 at the Hotel des Mille Collines, in Kigali, Rwanda beginning at 8:00 am and ending at 5:00pm. It will immediately follow a two day *East Africa Regional Broadband Workshop** **that** *the U.S. Digital Freedom Initiative, under the leadership of Ambassador David A. Gross, will be holding on May 8-9 with Telecommunications Ministers and private/academic sector leaders from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The ministerial-level DFI Workshop will examine potential models and produce a road map for expanding broadband connectivity in East Africa. The follow-up, roundtable discussion on May 10 will delve more deeply into the issues and further refine policy and infrastructure build-out options identified during the preceding two-day DFI workshop. These will include but not necessarily be limited to the following three tasks: · Examining specific steps that ICT businesses and governments in East Africa could take to remove or relax impediments to broadband deployment. · Discussing the feasibility of implementing the policy and infrastructure options developed during the two-day workshop and suggesting enhancements where necessary. · Focusing on connecting universities in the region and building on the work that has already been accomplished. We hope you will view this meeting as an opportunity to positively influence the deployment of broadband networks and applications throughout East Africa, and we very much hope that you will join us in this effort. *Please RSVP by May 1 by e-mail to gmccoy(a)gdfi.org <mailto:gmccoy@gdfi.org>. *

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Freedom of Information Policy
by bitange＠jambo.co.ke 17 Apr '07

17 Apr '07

Dear Joee, Teams shall be partly owned by the GOK. We are now ready to talk to investors who will take up to 40% equity. Our partners, Etisalat will take up 20%. We welcome seacom as redudancy and possibly buy some capacity from them to Europe. Our model is drastically different from Seacom in the sense that ours is a means to an end. Our cost to the consumer will depend on what our competitors, that is, India and the Philipines charge their consumers. If they charge $200 per MB, that is what we shall charge our consumers. We will still have a good return on investment. I do not know who "Heracles" is although I have met Brian Hilehy several times in his capacity as Blackstone Group's represantative. Regards Ndemo. ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world"

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African Banking Technology Conference
by Sean Moroney 17 Apr '07

17 Apr '07

Dear Colleagues, I wanted to invite Kictanet members to participate in our Banking Technology Conference by taking advantage of the 20 free delegate spaces we allocate for members at each of our Kenya events. The full programme is available on our web site. Please notify Judy if you would like to apply for a free registration. I look forward to seeing Kictanet members there - and to having your active participation in the discussions. Best regards, Sean Sean Moroney Chairman AITEC Africa <mailto:seanm@aitecafrica.com> seanm(a)aitecafrica.com UK Tel: +44-(0)1480-880774 UK Fax: +44-(0)1480-880765 UK Mobile: +44(0)7973-499224 Kenya Mobile: +254(0)721-845674 Nigeria Mobile: +234(0)802--0571766 SA Mobile: +27(0)72-610-7153 Skype: seanmoroney <http://www.aitecafrica.com/> www.aitecafrica.com

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flashback.... OFC debate
by Rebecca Wanjiku 17 Apr '07

17 Apr '07

hi, here are some issues raised during the OFC discussion, a full report will be uploaded once the site becomes fully operational.... KICTANET facilitates OFC debate “The government is only facilitating, the owners of the Optic Fibre Cable (OFC) will be the private sector,” said Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communication. “Governments must design and implement regulation based on the needs of a particular country and its peculiar historical or other circumstances, of course tending towards best practices,” said Joseph Kihanya, a lawyer. “Will all this fibre talk translate to real consumer cost savings or are they just the usual public marketing of the wonderful world to come?” asked Alex Gakuru These are some of the comments that came out of the two week online discussion on the OFC facilitated by KICTANET. The online forum was calculated to encourage stakeholder input to the OFC debate, analyze the advantages and the concerns of the various sectors. There were contributions from government, private sector as well as academia. The discussions were divided into five themes; Why OFC?, existing business models for OFC provisioning, existing/appropriate regulatory models for OFC, best model (business and regulatory) for East African, projected impact on stakeholders, reconciling stakeholder Why OFC? OFC has been described as the solution to high cost of international Bandwidth. According to Information and Communication minister, Kenya will be in a position to attract ICT business and compete with countries like India, once the cable is in place. Once the whole country is linked via a backbone, then rural areas can conduct business online locally and internationally. For instance, the coffee societies licensed to market their coffee can easily sell their coffee directly without coming to Nairobi or other major towns. In the region, OFC will make easier and cheaper to communicate and share information. Uganda and Ethiopia have already laid their cable, expected to connect through Kenya to the world. With the backbone, the banks and other regional businesses can use the same network for transactions. Existing Business Models Three models persisted throughout the discussion, namely, Open Access (EASSy), Private-led (Flag), and the Consortium models. There was lively discussion about separation of Cable ownership from Cable Management which fits squarely with the Open Access thinking, whereby, the investors in the cable (Govt, Public, Private Companies) appoint an independent management agent (at a fee) to operate the cable on their behalf on a cost-recovery, open access basis. I.e. open to current and future operators wishing to connect to the landing points or invest further in the cable on equal basis. In this case, the cable becomes an essential service or public good, from where operators can compete to offer (other) services at a Profit. Flag- a Private Investment initiative has a variant model where the cable is –privately owned but promises to open access to the landing points - but aims to maximize returns on the investments made on the cable infrastructure by reselling capacity at market rates. They also aim to play only at the infrastructure level, rather than at all levels, namely Infrastructure (cable) and services (network and application), opting to leave that to ISPs and ASP (Application Service Providers). The consortium model was not heavily advocated for but there were suggestions that it can operate if commercial interest are let loose to play dynamically with the market forces. The consortium model is where a group of operators get into a private, closed,Commercial agreement to build, own and operate a submarine cable with aim of maximizing their returns (profit) in the shortest time possible. The question of short term investors has been a bone of contention with arguments that in the end, consumers suffer once investors get their profits and pull out. The short-term interests of investors must be balanced against the long-term social benefits that would accrue from an affordable bandwidth provisions. Discussants asked for the regulator should flex their muscle once the OFC is laid-out. The major financing option was by way Initial Public Offer (IPO) other financing models (Equity, Debt, etc) were not thoroughly discussed. Existing/appropriate regulatory models The overriding argument was that the government should relax its oversight role to allow business to operate with some elasticity. In this relaxed role, the government would maintain the role of regulator e.g. the way governments of other fledging economies such as South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia maintain a subtle oversight role. However, the role of government as the regulatory authority was underscored as the balance between investor interests and the consumers. Why is regulation in telecommunications important?It authorizes new operators, removes barriers to entry, mandates interconnection between players, and oversees the penetration of services in areas that commercial imperatives would not allow or pursue because of minimal profits. Transparent telecommunications will regulate mainly by promoting efficient supply of services, providing an enabling environment for the maintenance of efficient pricing, Protect consumer rights/privacy rights and facilitate interconnection thereby efficient use of communication services. Deregulation was discussed as a theme that is in play in most countries that have achieved above optimal competitive markets. The case of the UK under the Communications Act 2003 was given as an example. Though there is no direct call for deregulation in the draft ICT bill CCK was suggested as a proper authority that could maintaining industry specific competition principles and statutes for the telecommunication sector. Regulation for the OFC may be through the competition framework under the CA (1998) or the ICT bill (2006). Complete lack of regulation may therefore not be an option given the circumstances.The WTO and the ITU also anticipate regulatory oversight given the various international documents that Kenya is signatory to. Projected impact of OFC It was unanimous the OFC will boost connectivity and lower the cost of bandwidth. With faster internet, it will be easier to carry voice, data and images via internet protocol. The issue of local content raised great concern with arguments that Kenya imports 99 % of the content. The implication will mean that people will have to develop content that suits them instead of copying what is already available elsewhere. With local content, the internet industry will employ more people to keep updating the content as well as offer services and goods via the internet. It was felt that regardless of the OFC that will be adopted, benefits might not be maximized due to prevailing market structures. Roland Alden (2006) argues that our current market (regulatory) structures have not adapted to the realities of a converged market and therefore continue to constrain the potential benefits that OFC may bring about. In his extensive writing on telecommunications, Roland contends that networks require capital investment, customers who can support that investment, and a clear regulatory environment that is not disruptive or counterproductive. In Kenya, all three inputs have been in short supply. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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four players in the cable
by Rebecca Wanjiku 17 Apr '07

17 Apr '07

FOUR PLAYERS IN THE CABLE Its now official, another company- Harakles Telecom LLC has commissioned Tyco to survey the 13,000km East and South African coast. Herakles awarded the SEACOM marine survey to Tyco Telecommunications of USA. The survey commences the development of the undersea fiber optic network which will provide high capacity bandwidth connectivity between South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, India and Europe. SEACOM becomes the fourth entrant to the scene with questions being raised on whether the costs will come down and the time its likely to take before we get the cable. In February, the government said the cost of international broadband is set to drastically reduce within 18 months after it confirmed it is ready to adopt three different under sea cables provided through various routes. Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communication said that Kenya was taking a three pronged approach calculated to reduce the cost of international connectivity. Priority is given to the East African Marine System (Teams) the fibre optic cable link to Fujairah in the UAE. “The lead arranger will take over the private/public TEAMS project and will be in charge of financial sourcing. We expect to be done within 18 months,” said Ndemo. Under the Teams agreement, the Kenya Government will have a 40 per cent holding in the project, Etisalat of UAE will hold 20% and the remaining 40% will go to investors in the East African region. The Government has said it will organise an Initial Public Offer (IPO) on the Kenyan Stock Exchange. According to John Waweru, Director General at the Communication Commission of Kenya, the Teams project is expected to recover the costs within three years. Kenya is still pursuing the controversial East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) an initiative aimed at constructing and operating a submarine fiber optic cable along the East African Coast. EASSy will connect nine coastal countries and island nations and to the rest of the world. The route will be from South Africa to Port Sudan, covering over 9,000 km, connecting Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan and Tanzania (including Zanzibar). Thirty-two leading telecommunications operators from East and Southern Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in December 2003 to carry out the construction and maintenance of EASSy. But the project was dogged by controversy over whether NEPAD should take the overall leadership or the leadership should be led by the private sector. Terrestrial backbone networks are also being built in separate developments to link all capitals and major cities in Eastern and Southern Africa to the EASSy cable and the international backbone system. The third international fibre project is fronted by Kenya Data Network (KDN) and which has now signed its contract with Flag Telecom. KDN will link from Mombasa and terminate in an undersea junction in international waters off of the Yemen. KDN says the link will be fully operational in the first quarter of 2008, just 15 months away. KDN also stresses that its landing station at Mombasa will allow other carriers to co-locate therefore charging only electricity and services at cost. According to the PS, the three options are meant to make Kenya competitive in provision of international broadband. Ndemo underscored the need for the country to compete internationally and attract international businesses. He argued that the broadband purchased by international businessmen at a cost of USD 200 costs USD 7,500 in Kenya, therefore ruling the country out as an internet investment destination. SEACOM now gives industry players a chance to evaluate whether any of the operators will lay the cable, then the debate can start over its efficacy. Ends __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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ICT law or none???
by Rebecca Wanjiku 16 Apr '07

16 Apr '07

STILL WAITING FOR ICT LAW It has been a long wait for an ICT Act, and there is no immediate sign that the wait is over. Though the draft policy was presented to the cabinet by Attorney General Amos Wako, it is yet to be published in the Kenya gazette. If the draft is published in the gazette, then there can be a chance it will be presented to parliament for debate before end of this year. Though the AG’s office claims to be attending to the bill together with others pending, the challenge is how to harmonize the draft bill to be in tandem with the Communications Act (1998). Wako’s office is debating whether to come up with a separate ICT Act or to repeal the communications Act to incorporate the draft bill. Lawyer Paul Mwangi, who has been following developments of the draft policy, says that the AG can come up with a new Act so long as it does not contradict the Communications Act. “The draft bill can be published and presented to parliament then they can decide whether to enact an ICT Act or to come up with a more comprehensive Act by repealing the Communications Act and,” says Mwangi. Mwangi argues that the excuses by the AG are about convenience, and nothing substantial. He adds that it is just a matter of codifying the law, and that can come up with another Act and they will still be applicable. Lawyer Joseph Kihanya agrees that Bills can be debated and passed to repeal Acts in force. “Why this cannot be done with the Communications Act (1998) I can not tell,” says Kihanya. Kihanya adds that Telecommunications law demands that the laws be consolidated into one statute. He illustrates this by quoting the UK Communications Act 2003 which was consolidated into one statute that deals with every aspect of ICTs. The UK Communications Act (2003) deals with issues ranging from regulations, media ownership and control, internet, ecommerce to the relationship between the ministry and the British Broadcasting Corporation. The UK CA (2003) is divided into parts that exhaust legislation relation to the field for instance, part 5 deals with competition in communications market. Under this part, there are chapters guiding on functions of the ministry according to the law, and media mergers, detailing how they should be carried out. The Kenya ICT draft bill is a product of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (2003-2007) and was developed by the Ministry of Information & Communications in January 2006. According to the ministry of Information and Communication website, the ICT draft bill is seeking to encourage sustained economic growth and poverty reduction, promote social justice and equity, mainstream gender in national development, empower youth and disadvantaged groups, stimulate investment and innovation in ICT, and achieve universal access. The draft bill addresses market structure, policy objectives and targets, implementation strategies, universal access, and the institutional framework of information technology (IT), broadcasting, telecommunications, radio frequency spectrum, and postal services. But some stakeholders in the ICT industry feel that some amendments should be made to the draft before it is presented for debate. Media owners feel that the draft has not adequately addressed their concerns and instead has come up with draconian measures regarding media ownership. Ends __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Kictanet events
by Rebecca Wanjiku 16 Apr '07

16 Apr '07

April 26: One day workshop for journalists, April 26: Kictanet monthly furum May 17: KICTANet monthly forum June 14: KICTANet Monthly forum July12: KICTANet Monthly forum August 9: KICTANet monthly forum August (TBC) KICTANet launch Strategic plan, website, Institutional Assessment report and Positioning for the future study September 13: KICTANet Monthly forum October 11: KICTANet monthly forum November 8: KICTANet monthly forum December 20: KICTANet Monthly forum __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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newsletter articles
by Rebecca Wanjiku 16 Apr '07

16 Apr '07

Editor’s note Welcome to the first issue of the KICTANET newsletter. The newsletter will be a forum for members to share views and get updates on the happenings in the ICT industry. This month, the focus is on the Optic Fibre Cable (OFC), a summary of the online discussion and some background information on the three cables that Kenya is pursuing. The articles give some of the suggestions made relating to the regulation as well as legal aspects in the OFC business. Focusing on the ICT draft bill, there are opposing views on how the Attorney General should react- a separate ICT Act or to repeal the Communications Act (1998) and replace it with a more detailed and exhaustive Act. It is proving to be a convoluted debate which KICTANET hopes to keep updating. Remember to update your calendar on all ICT related events, the newsletter will feature upcoming events but members can also contribute to this by writing to KICTANET. Because it is the inaugural issue, KICTANET is counting on you to read and give feedback on the newsletter. Members are invited to forward suggestions on what should be the title of the newsletter. Write to: alice(a)apc.org __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Fwd: [Idlelo2] Google and East african Universities
by Judy Okite 16 Apr '07

16 Apr '07

This really looks good ! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dapo Ladimeji <dapo(a)ladimeji.co.uk> Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:04:08 +0100 Subject: [Idlelo2] Google and East african Universities To: idlelo2(a)fossfa.net East African universities to gain from web tools deal The deal will give more students access to communication technologies Kimani Chege 26 March 2007 Source: SciDev.Net [NAIROBI] A software deal signed between universities in East Africa and the US-based internet giant Google will improve access to web-based communications for staff and students. Under the deal, Rwanda's government ministries and three Rwandan universities — the National University of Rwanda, the Kigali Institute for Education and the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology — as well as Kenya's University of Nairobi (UoN) will have free access to Google Apps. The applications include email, shared calendars, instant messaging and word processing software, along with the associated support services provided by the corporation. The deal, signed last week (19 March), looks set to improve internal communications at UoN and facilitate research, particularly for studies undertaken in remote areas. The head of information and communication technology at UoN, Elijah Omwenga, says the email application Gmail will be particularly useful in reducing the bandwidth required for internal communications by its 50,000 students and staff. He told SciDev.Net that the institution was facing major challenges in acquiring enough bandwidth. "This means our students and staff can access mail from the campuses as well as from outside. This will facilitate communicating all research, even when it is being done in remote areas," said Omwenga. However, he called for Google to come up with specific details of the offer, so that Google and the UoN can develop research schemes geared towards Africa's needs — such as developing software in local languages and making it more relevant to the local audience. About 20,000 users in Rwanda will have access to Google Apps in the first phase. This will be followed by a broader countrywide introduction. Students at UoN will be the first to use Google Apps in Kenya. Software access will then be extended to 150,000 Kenyan students at universities across the country. A Google spokesperson told the International Data Group News Service, "We are exploring other opportunities in both countries, and throughout the region as well." *Related SciDev.Net articles:* Zambia announces ICT training centre for scientists <http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3453&langua…> Web 2.0 can benefit the world's poor <http://www.scidev.net/Opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readOpinions&itemid=572…> ICT for development: hope or hype? <http://www.scidev.net/Opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readOpinions&itemid=537…> *Related links:* University of Nairobi <http://www.uonbi.ac.ke> National University of Rwanda <http://www.nur.ac.rw/> *Photo Credit:* SciDev.Net/Tonks *Dossiers:* Technology Transfer <http://www.scidev.net/dossiers/index.cfm?fuseaction=dossierItem&Dossier=12> Back to news <http://www.scidev.net/news/> To the top <http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3508&langua…> Print Format <http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=printarticle&itemid=3508&la…> Email Article <javascript:emaillink()> Comment <javascript:comments()> Regional Gateways World Map * Latin America <http://www.scidev.net/latinamerica/> * Sub-saharan Africa <http://www.scidev.net/africa/> * Middle-East & North Africa <http://www.scidev.net/middleeast/> * South Asia <http://www.scidev.net/sasia/> * China <http://www.scidev.net/china/> * South-East Asia <http://www.scidev.net/seasia/> Dossiers * Agri-Biotech <http://www.scidev.net/agribiotech/> * Biodiversity <http://www.scidev.net/biodiversity/> * Bird Flu <http://www.scidev.net/birdflu/> * Brain Drain <http://www.scidev.net/braindrain/> * Climate Change <http://www.scidev.net/climate/> * Desert Science <http://www.scidev.net/desertscience/> * Ethics of Research <http://www.scidev.net/ethics/> * HIV/AIDS <http://www.scidev.net/hiv/> * Indigenous Knowledge <http://www.scidev.net/indigenous/> * Intellectual Property <http://www.scidev.net/ipr/> * Malaria <http://www.scidev.net/malaria/> * Research and Development <http://www.scidev.net/randd/> * Technology Transfer <http://www.scidev.net/techtransfer/> Quick Guides * Genomics <http://www.scidev.net/genomics/> * Nanotechnology <http://www.scidev.net/nanotechnology/> * Science Publishing <http://www.scidev.net/sciencepublishing/> FREE SciDev.Net Newsfeed *Would you like to carry SciDev.Net stories on your website? We offer a constantly-updated 'newsfeed' featuring our top three news items. To find out more, click **here* <http://www.scidev.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=subpages&root=aboutthissite&page…> Book Reviews Read SciDev.Net's selection of book reviews <http://www.scidev.net/bookreviews/> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE This e-mail including any attachments may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you should not use the contents or disclose them to any other person. Unauthorised recipients are requested to preserve this confidentiality and to advise the sender immediately of any error in transmission. Ladimeji & Co, Chartered Accountants & Chartered Tax Advisers, Springfield House, 23 Oatlands Drive Weybridge KT13 9LZ TEL; +44-207-096-1811 FAX: +44 207-900-3574 -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. "Even if you are on the right track, you'll still get run over if you just sit there."

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CCK Internet Market Study - Looking for PDF copy.
by John Walubengo 13 Apr '07

13 Apr '07

I note the above has now been uploaded at http://www.cck.go.ke/internet_market_study/ However, am looking for a PDF copy for the same. I realise that my mind is hard-wired to read 'offline' rather than 'online' when i get into serious analysis. walu. nb: maybe CCK could upload a PDF version as well? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL

4 3

Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 26, Issue 24
by Joan Walumbe 13 Apr '07

13 Apr '07

Thanks Simret. Joan ----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request(a)kictanet.or.ke> To: "Joan" <jwalumbe(a)globalnetcorps.org> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 11:19 AM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 26, Issue 24 > Send kictanet mailing list submissions to > kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > kictanet-request(a)kictanet.or.ke > > You can reach the person managing the list at > kictanet-owner(a)kictanet.or.ke > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..." > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: CCK Internet Market Study - Looking for PDF copy. > (Alex Gakuru) > 2. Re: CCK Internet Market Study - Looking for PDF copy. > (Odhiambo WASHINGTON) > 3. Fwd: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) > Compromised (Alex Gakuru) > 4. Fwd: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) > Compromised (Alex Gakuru) > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >

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Fwd: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) Compromised
by Alex Gakuru 13 Apr '07

13 Apr '07

I need user opinion on this issue. Could you kindly spare some time and comment either on or off line? TIA Alex Gakuru <gakuru(a)gmail.com> wrote: Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:27:47 +0300 From: "Alex Gakuru" <gakuru(a)gmail.com> To: ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net Subject: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) Compromised *** Any comments*** Identity Management Systems invade individual's privacy. Interception of communication, lawful or otherwise, is primarily used to gain "informed advantage" and fore-warn law enforcement agencies to protect everyone, commercial espionage, Intellectual property thefts, or sheer mischief, such as embarrassing an online user, among others. "Private censorship" is a far bigger and real problem that government censorship considering technology users served by state-owned Telkom. Privacy has never been a bigger issue that it is today. For example, with 8 million subscribers but only 2.7 million internet users in Kenya, how, if, when, and where did 7 million pre-paid subscribers ever read website-posted terms of service? These terms are repeated in broadcast advertisements as "terms and conditions apply" Celtel appears not to bother posting their terms of service but several interesting clauses can be read at Safaricom's pre-paid "contract" at . [Safaricom Pre-paid users "contract"] f) Please note that the confidentiality of your communications via our Network is not guaranteed. You are advised that for reasons beyond our control, there is a risk that your communications may be unlawfully intercepted or accessed by those other than the intended recipient. We cannot accept any liability for any loss, injury or damage whether direct or consequential arising out of any such compromise of confidentiality; g) You accept that we may disclose and/or receive and/or record any details of your use of the Services including but not limited to your calls, emails, SMS's, data, your personal information or documents obtained from you for the purposes below: i. Fraud prevention and law enforcement; ii. For reasonable commercial purposes connected to your use of the mobile service, such as marketing and research related activities; iii. Use in our telephone directory enquiry service in printed or electronic format; iv. To comply with any legal, governmental or regulatory requirement; v. Our lawyers in connection with any legal proceedings; vi. In business practices including but not limited to quality control, training and ensuring effective systems operation. h) You must comply with any instructions that we may give you from time to time about the use of the Services; i) The maximum call duration for any one single call made using the Services is approximately sixty (60) minutes. j) With the exception of calls made to our Customer Service Hotline numbers and to any other designated toll free numbers, a variable minimum network access credit requirement shall be applied and shall depend on the Tariff used by the Customer. 2 . 3. ACCEPTANCE AND COMMENCEMENT OF CONDITIONS OF USE You are deemed to have accepted these Conditions of Use as amended from time to time and which take effect:- (a) Upon the Re-charge of your account at any time with any amount using the designated recharge voucher or using any other approved means of Re-charge ; or (b) Upon your use of our Services or upon you accessing our Network at any time; or (c) Upon the initial activation of your SIM Card.3 The EU has perhaps more protection for privacy than in the U.S. The Data Protection Directive of 1995 prohibits sharing of information with any nation that does provide adequate protection for personal data. In 1999 the U.S. Dept. of Commerce worked out a safe harbor regulation that has so far satisfied the EU. FTC (US) has led govt. action to protect consumer privacy. FTC thinks that web sites should adhere to the Five Fair Information Principles: 1. Notice/Awarenessright to be notified if someone is collecting information about you 2. Choice/Consentright to opt out of having information about you collected 3. Access/Participationright to see files collected about you and right to offer corrections 4. Integrity/Securityright to have personal files collected about you be secure 5. Enforcement/Redressright to sue if any of the first four FIPs are violated ------- [How Stuff Works] by Jeff Tyson Carnivorous Evolution Carnivore was the third generation of online-detection software used by the FBI. While information about the first version has never been disclosed, many believe that it was actually a readily available commercial program called Etherpeek. In 1997, the FBI deployed the second generation program, Omnivore. According to information released by the FBI, Omnivore was designed to look through e-mail traffic travelling over a specific Internet service provider (ISP) and capture the e-mail from a targeted source, saving it to a tape-backup drive or printing it in real-time. Omnivore was retired in late 1999 in favor of a more comprehensive system, the DragonWare Suite, which allowed the FBI to reconstruct e-mail messages, downloaded files or even Web pages. DragonWare contained three parts: * Carnivore - A Windows NT/2000-based system that captures the information * Packeteer - No official information released, but presumably an application for reassembling packets into cohesive messages or Web pages * Coolminer - No official information released, but presumably an application for extrapolating and analyzing data found in the messages As you can see, officials never released much information about the DragonWare Suite, nothing about Packeteer and Coolminer and very little detailed information about Carnivore. But we do know that Carnivore was basically a packet sniffer, a technology that is quite common and has been around for a while. Packet Sniffing Computer network administrators have used packet sniffers for years to monitor their networks and perform diagnostic tests or troubleshoot problems. Essentially, a packet sniffer is a program that can see all of the information passing over the network it is connected to. As data streams back and forth on the network, the program looks at, or "sniffs," each packet. Normally, a computer only looks at packets addressed to it and ignores the rest of the traffic on the network. When a packet sniffer is set up on a computer, the sniffer's network interface is set to promiscuous mode. This means that it is looking at everything that comes through. The amount of traffic largely depends on the location of the computer in the network. A client system out on an isolated branch of the network sees only a small segment of the network traffic, while the main domain server sees almost all of it. A packet sniffer can usually be set up in one of two ways: * Unfiltered - Captures all of the packets * Filtered - Captures only those packets containing specific data elements Packets that contain targeted data are copied as they pass through. The program stores the copies in memory or on a hard drive, depending on the program's configuration. These copies can then be analyzed carefully for specific information or patterns. When you connect to the Internet, you are joining a network maintained by your ISP. The ISP's network communicates with other networks maintained by other ISPs to form the foundation of the Internet. A packet sniffer located at one of the servers of your ISP would potentially be able to monitor all of your online activities, such as: * Which Web sites you visit * What you look at on the site * Whom you send e-mail to * What's in the e-mail you send * What you download from a site * What streaming events you use, such as audio, video and Internet telephony * Who visits your site (if you have a Web site) In fact, many ISPs use packet sniffers as diagnostic tools. Also, a lot of ISPs maintain copies of data, such as e-mail, as part of their back-up systems. Carnivore and its sister programs were a controversial step forward for the FBI, but they were not new technology. ---- Alex Gakuru _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.

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Fwd: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) Compromised
by Alex Gakuru 13 Apr '07

13 Apr '07

I need user opinion on this issue. Could you kindly spare some time and comment either on or off line? TIA Alex Gakuru <gakuru(a)gmail.com> wrote: Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:27:47 +0300 From: "Alex Gakuru" <gakuru(a)gmail.com> To: ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net Subject: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) Compromised *** Any comments*** Identity Management Systems invade individual's privacy. Interception of communication, lawful or otherwise, is primarily used to gain "informed advantage" and fore-warn law enforcement agencies to protect everyone, commercial espionage, Intellectual property thefts, or sheer mischief, such as embarrassing an online user, among others. "Private censorship" is a far bigger and real problem that government censorship considering technology users served by state-owned Telkom. Privacy has never been a bigger issue that it is today. For example, with 8 million subscribers but only 2.7 million internet users in Kenya, how, if, when, and where did 7 million pre-paid subscribers ever read website-posted terms of service? These terms are repeated in broadcast advertisements as "terms and conditions apply" Celtel appears not to bother posting their terms of service but several interesting clauses can be read at Safaricom's pre-paid "contract" at . [Safaricom Pre-paid users "contract"] f) Please note that the confidentiality of your communications via our Network is not guaranteed. You are advised that for reasons beyond our control, there is a risk that your communications may be unlawfully intercepted or accessed by those other than the intended recipient. We cannot accept any liability for any loss, injury or damage whether direct or consequential arising out of any such compromise of confidentiality; g) You accept that we may disclose and/or receive and/or record any details of your use of the Services including but not limited to your calls, emails, SMS's, data, your personal information or documents obtained from you for the purposes below: i. Fraud prevention and law enforcement; ii. For reasonable commercial purposes connected to your use of the mobile service, such as marketing and research related activities; iii. Use in our telephone directory enquiry service in printed or electronic format; iv. To comply with any legal, governmental or regulatory requirement; v. Our lawyers in connection with any legal proceedings; vi. In business practices including but not limited to quality control, training and ensuring effective systems operation. h) You must comply with any instructions that we may give you from time to time about the use of the Services; i) The maximum call duration for any one single call made using the Services is approximately sixty (60) minutes. j) With the exception of calls made to our Customer Service Hotline numbers and to any other designated toll free numbers, a variable minimum network access credit requirement shall be applied and shall depend on the Tariff used by the Customer. 2 . 3. ACCEPTANCE AND COMMENCEMENT OF CONDITIONS OF USE You are deemed to have accepted these Conditions of Use as amended from time to time and which take effect:- (a) Upon the Re-charge of your account at any time with any amount using the designated recharge voucher or using any other approved means of Re-charge ; or (b) Upon your use of our Services or upon you accessing our Network at any time; or (c) Upon the initial activation of your SIM Card.3 The EU has perhaps more protection for privacy than in the U.S. The Data Protection Directive of 1995 prohibits sharing of information with any nation that does provide adequate protection for personal data. In 1999 the U.S. Dept. of Commerce worked out a safe harbor regulation that has so far satisfied the EU. FTC (US) has led govt. action to protect consumer privacy. FTC thinks that web sites should adhere to the Five Fair Information Principles: 1. Notice/Awarenessright to be notified if someone is collecting information about you 2. Choice/Consentright to opt out of having information about you collected 3. Access/Participationright to see files collected about you and right to offer corrections 4. Integrity/Securityright to have personal files collected about you be secure 5. Enforcement/Redressright to sue if any of the first four FIPs are violated ------- [How Stuff Works] by Jeff Tyson Carnivorous Evolution Carnivore was the third generation of online-detection software used by the FBI. While information about the first version has never been disclosed, many believe that it was actually a readily available commercial program called Etherpeek. In 1997, the FBI deployed the second generation program, Omnivore. According to information released by the FBI, Omnivore was designed to look through e-mail traffic travelling over a specific Internet service provider (ISP) and capture the e-mail from a targeted source, saving it to a tape-backup drive or printing it in real-time. Omnivore was retired in late 1999 in favor of a more comprehensive system, the DragonWare Suite, which allowed the FBI to reconstruct e-mail messages, downloaded files or even Web pages. DragonWare contained three parts: * Carnivore - A Windows NT/2000-based system that captures the information * Packeteer - No official information released, but presumably an application for reassembling packets into cohesive messages or Web pages * Coolminer - No official information released, but presumably an application for extrapolating and analyzing data found in the messages As you can see, officials never released much information about the DragonWare Suite, nothing about Packeteer and Coolminer and very little detailed information about Carnivore. But we do know that Carnivore was basically a packet sniffer, a technology that is quite common and has been around for a while. Packet Sniffing Computer network administrators have used packet sniffers for years to monitor their networks and perform diagnostic tests or troubleshoot problems. Essentially, a packet sniffer is a program that can see all of the information passing over the network it is connected to. As data streams back and forth on the network, the program looks at, or "sniffs," each packet. Normally, a computer only looks at packets addressed to it and ignores the rest of the traffic on the network. When a packet sniffer is set up on a computer, the sniffer's network interface is set to promiscuous mode. This means that it is looking at everything that comes through. The amount of traffic largely depends on the location of the computer in the network. A client system out on an isolated branch of the network sees only a small segment of the network traffic, while the main domain server sees almost all of it. A packet sniffer can usually be set up in one of two ways: * Unfiltered - Captures all of the packets * Filtered - Captures only those packets containing specific data elements Packets that contain targeted data are copied as they pass through. The program stores the copies in memory or on a hard drive, depending on the program's configuration. These copies can then be analyzed carefully for specific information or patterns. When you connect to the Internet, you are joining a network maintained by your ISP. The ISP's network communicates with other networks maintained by other ISPs to form the foundation of the Internet. A packet sniffer located at one of the servers of your ISP would potentially be able to monitor all of your online activities, such as: * Which Web sites you visit * What you look at on the site * Whom you send e-mail to * What's in the e-mail you send * What you download from a site * What streaming events you use, such as audio, video and Internet telephony * Who visits your site (if you have a Web site) In fact, many ISPs use packet sniffers as diagnostic tools. Also, a lot of ISPs maintain copies of data, such as e-mail, as part of their back-up systems. Carnivore and its sister programs were a controversial step forward for the FBI, but they were not new technology. ---- Alex Gakuru _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.

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Anita Borg Award for Social Impact: Call for Nominations
by alice 11 Apr '07

11 Apr '07

Anita Borg Award for Social Impact Call for Nominations - Submission deadline: April 16, 2007 *Submission Guidelines - ONLINE SUBMISSIONS <https://ssl.linklings.net/organizations/abi/>NOW BEING ACCEPTED * The third Anita Borg Social Impact Award <http://www.anitaborg.org/about/history.php#anita>, an international prize, will honor an individual or team who has caused technology to have a positive impact on the lives of women and society or who has caused women to have a significant impact on the design and use of technology. The recipient of the 2006 Anita Borg Social Impact Award will receive a $10,000 award and will be honored at the 2007 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/ghc/> conference Awards Banquet to be held in Orlando, Florida, October 18, 2007. The inaugural Social Impact Award was presented to Karen Banks <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/awards/kbanks.php>, Global Coordinator, APC Women's Networking Support Programme, located in London, England. Working with programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America for 15 years, she brought information and communication technologies (ICTs -eg. internet, radio, video, cell phones) to underserved women and communities as a vital tool for empowerment and positive social change. Their network numbers over 100 women from more than 35 countries. Their network includes individual women and women's groups and organizations working in the field of gender and ICT and actively supporting women's networking. Their members have formed themselves into regional networks in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Africa and they are building an emerging network in Europe. In 2006, the award was given to Dr. Carol Muller <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/awards/cmuller.php>, the Founder and CEO of MentorNet, The E-Mentoring Network for Diversity in Engineering and Science. MentorNet (www.MentorNet.net <http://www.mentornet.net/>) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in San Jose, CA. Founded in 1997, its mission is to further the progress of women and others underrepresented in scientific and technical fields through the use of a dynamic, technology-supported mentoring program; and to advance individuals and society, and enhance engineering and related sciences, by promoting a diversified, expanded and talented global workforce. Mentornet began by matching 539 mentoring pairs representing students at 27 universities and 261 individuals at companies in 1999. In 2006 Mentornet matched over 2,500 pairs at 111 universities and 1045 companies. In 2006 students from 97 countries and mentors from 67 countries were represented in the program. *Selection Criteria* * Impact will be measured by 1) the degree and type of social change, 2) the amount of women's increased empowerment through the technology or increased influence over technology and 3) its sustainability and scalability. * The award recipient may have developed the technology, motivated social change and empowerment through that technology, or increased women's influence over and decision-making about technology. * The award recipient must be available to participate in the 2007 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference"s Awards Banquet on October 18, 2007 in Orlando, Florida. Your nomination may be for a colleague or you may nominate yourself. Only completed submissions will be considered by the jury. *Required Materials* (Online Submission Only) <https://ssl.linklings.net/organizations/abi/> 1. Title of nominated achievement* 2. Name(s) of nominee(s)* 3. 30 word (maximum) summary of the person and project, for the selection committee to use for identification purposes* 4. Expanded statement of merit with examples (2-3pages). This must include short bio(s) of the nominated person(s) and address the following issues: Describe the impact and how it was measured. Was the action taken with respect to a specific situation? What motivated the nominee(s) to take action? Did he/she/they encounter any significant challenges?** 5. Resume or curriculum vitae** 6. Letters of reference (2-3)** 7. Nominator's name, e-mail address, phone number and relationship to nominee* *You will submit the nomination title, nominee(s) name(s), summary statement and your contact information via web forms at https://ssl.linklings.net/organizations/abi/. For more information about the Awards, please visit: http://anitaborg.org/programs/awards/ <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/awards/>. **The expanded statement of merit, resume or curriculum vitae, and letters of reference must be in separate Microsoft Word or text documents. Additional information about this award may be found at http://anitaborg.org/programs/awards/ <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/awards/>.Questions may be emailed to the Chair of the Anita Borg Social Impact Award Committee, Amy Pearl at socialaward_2007(a)anitaborg.org <mailto:socialaward_2007@anitaborg.org> *Schedule* Nomination packages due April 16, 2007 Finalists selected May 14, 2007 Award recipient notified July 9, 2007 Awards ceremony in Orlando, Florida October 18, 2007 Selection Committee The 2007 Anita Borg Award for Social Impact is chaired by Amy Pearl.

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[Fwd: [At-Large] NomCom: seeking candidates for ICANN leadership positions]
by alice 11 Apr '07

11 Apr '07

Hi, ICANN's NomCom is recruiting candidates, we are selecting: * 3 seats on the ICANN Board of Directors. * 3 members of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), from Africa, Latin America and Caribbean and Asia/Australia/Pacific regions. * 2 members to Generic Names Supporting Organization Council (GNSO). * 1 Country Code Names Support Organization Council (ccNSO) member. NomCom website <http://nomcom.icann.org> has information about the process and more information about the positions. You can nominate yourself. You can suggest someone you think would be a good candidate (details of how to do that here <http://nomcom.icann.org/formal-call-2007.html#H>). Or just send me the names of anyone you think would be a good candidate for any of the positions. Please pass on this information to your ALS or any other groups and individuals you think may be interested. I would be happy to help anyone with questions, please forward my email address <ajp(a)glocom.ac.jp>. Deadline for applications in 1 May 2007. I should have asked this list long ago for advice, ALAC --the RALOs and ALS-- is the strongest link to the ICANN user community and potential source of candidates. Apologies. Many thanks, Adam (2007 NomCom Associate Chair) _______________________________________________ ALAC mailing list ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org www.alac.icann.org www.icannalac.org

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[Fwd: [DigAfrica] High Phone Charges Hamper Region's Growth, Says W Bank]
by alice 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

Our never ending connectivity problems and the prices we pay..... The East African Standard (Nairobi) NEWS April 10, 2007 Posted to the web April 10, 2007 By Benson Kathuri and Robert Nyasato Nairobi International phone call and high-speed Internet connection charges are beyond the reach of average classes in 25 East and Southern African countries. A report by the World Bank says the region is the only one not connected to the global optical fibre broadband infrastructure. "The 'missing link' explains why the region accounts for less than one per cent of the world's international bandwidth capacity," says the report released in Washington last week. These countries lack direct terrestrial access to global information and communications infrastructure, relying on expensive satellite connectivity to link up with the rest of the world. As a result, telecommunication users face some of the highest costs in the world, says the study: African Region Communications Infrastructure Programme Report. The countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya. The rest are Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. "International wholesale bandwidth prices are 20 to 40 times higher than in the United States, and international calls are on average 10 to 20 times more than in other developing countries," says the report. This, according to the report, has limited regional and international trade, job creation, use of information and communication technology in learning, good governance, and transparency. "The region's growth and development is being held back by this lack of access to low price and high quality telecommunications services." However, the World Bank has initiated a multi-billion shilling project, the Africa Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme (RCIP) to address the 'missing link'. By the end of the programme, it is expected that all capitals and major cities in East and Southern Africa would be linked to competitively priced high-bandwidth connectivity. "To put 25 agents on the phone, it will cost us close to US$17,000 (Sh1.2 million) a month while elsewhere, it will only cost US$600-900 (Sh42, 000 -Sh56, 000) a month," said Nicholas Nesbitt, CEO of KenCall. Meanwhile, in Kisii town, Internet service charges have doubled in the past two months due to power failure. Many cyber cafes now charge Sh2 a minute up from one shilling. "Whenever there is a power outage, we have to increase the cost of browsing because we use a generator, which is more expensive," said Ms Josephine Kerubo, a worker at one of the Internet shops in the town. Other sops have closed down due to the unreliable supply. Posta withdrew its Internet services earlier this year in unclear circumstances. __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/message/5852;_ylc=X3oDMTM0YnU3NzN1B…> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwaTMwdnJzBF9TAzk3M…> | Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZ3AzYXZrBF9TAzk3M…> Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJldWhrM2MwBF9TA…> | Links <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmYWoxcDBoBF9TAzk3…> | Polls <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJmMjQ1NTZpBF9TAzk3…> | Calendar <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJkZnJsOW40BF9TA…> Dig Africa site welcomes you to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Digafrica on IT in Africa Aids-Africa is a forum for communication and information on AIDS related issues in Africa and all are welcome to join us at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/aids-africa Join us on hiv/aids forum on Kenya at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenya-aids Join us at a Kenyan networking forum and NGOS at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/kenyainternational Yahoo! 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[Fwd: Kenya and EASSy?]
by alice 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

I'm confused: I was under the impression, not the least from Bitange Ndemo's* *comments on the KICTANeT list, that Kenya had pulled out of EASSy? Any clarifications welcome. Alan EASSY winner of fibre-optic cable race By A STAFF WRITER The EastAfrican, April 9 2007 Which of the upcoming submarine cable projects out of Mombasa will rollout first? That is the big question in Kenya where the government is investing in two parallel projects at the same time — namely. The East African Marine System (TEAMS) and the East Africa SubMarine Cable System (EASSy). Although the government has justified the investment in TEAMS on the grounds that the EASSy project will take too long to roll out, the indications so far is that EASSy which has already received the support and commitment of 22 telecom operators representing 20 countries, — 90 per cent of which are African operators, both private and public — is likely to move much faster. So far, the project has secured all its funding targets and committed leading development financial institutions to the project. Its funding arrangement is structured to allow equity partners to either participate through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) or come in as direct investors. The SPV, consisting mainly of regional operators, has already been incorporated in Mauritius under the name West Indian Ocean Cable Company Ltd. Financial instruments for the SPV are in process and have been finalised in partnership with the development funding institutions comprising the World Bank, IFC Group, European Investment Bank, KFW of Germany, AFD Prop Arco of France, the African Development Bank and the Development Bank of South Africa. On March 9, nine EASSy members formally signed the supply contract with Alcatel-Lucent, who will be implementing the EASSy fibre-optic cable project on a full turnkey basis. The process of manufacturing the necessary equipment is going on and the approximation is that the project will be concluded by the end of 2008. The overall project cost will be in excess of $200 million. In compliance with international and national regulatory requirements, all operators having been conducting environment and social impact analyses studies which are expected to conclude this month. The EASSy submarine network will span nearly 10,000km linking eight countries from Sudan to South Africa via Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mozambique. The initial capacity will be 20 gigabits per second with ultimate capacity of 320 gbits/s per fibre pair. Last week, the EASSY project received a major boost when the World Bank announced that it has approved $164.5 million for high speed connectivity for Kenya, Burundi and Madagascar. East and Southern Africa is the only region in the world that is not connected to the global broadband infrastructure and accounts for less than one per cent of the world’s international bandwidth capacity. As a result of this “missing link,” the region relies on satellite connectivity, with costs among the highest in the world. One Kenyan call-centre entrepreneur told the World Bank board of directors that the region simply cannot compete with others. “To put 25 agents on the phone will cost us close to $17,000 a month. Elsewhere, it will only cost $600-$900 a month,” said Nicholas Nesbitt, chief executive of KenCall. “It is absolutely imperative that something be done right now to make bandwidth affordable. Otherwise, we’re going to miss a huge opportunity and people are simply going to say that Africa is not ready for these kinds of jobs, is not ready for business.” By the end of the programme, it is expected that all capitals and major cities in East and Southern Africa will be linked to competitively priced high-bandwidth connectivity

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] SA considering second, cheaper undersea cable]
by alice 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

SA considering second, cheaper undersea cable By Lesley Stones, Financial Mail, April 4 2007 ARGUMENTS about the cost of bandwidth on a telecommunications cable to be laid around Africas east coast could see more money pumped into a duplicate cable laid in direct competition to the original R300m project. A second multimillion-dollar cable to replicate the planned East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) may be laid because of a clash between private investors wanting to profiteer and governments demanding cheaper bandwidth to reduce the cost of doing business and stimulate economic growth. Partners in the long-awaited EASSy cable include Telkom, which is 38% government owned. But yesterday the communications departments director-general, Lyndall Shope-Mafole, confirmed that SA might lead a rival cable-building project because of the EASSy consortiums intransigence. Ideally, the EASSy cable will be a key component in a project to increase Africas bandwidth launched by the New Partnership for Africas Development (Nepad). But private investors in the EASSy consortium were more interested in profits than in providing affordable bandwidth, Shope-Mafole said. Telkom CEO Papi Molotsane has repeatedly said Telkom will only invest in EASSy if it can make a decent return on its investment. The EASSy consortium members have complained that African governments are trying to hijack the project, with its finance committee chairman, Donald Nyakairu, recently telling the Ugandan newspaper The Monitor that the politicians are making unreasonable demands. If a compromise is not reached, Nepad will lay a rival undersea connection. We hope it will be the same cable. There is no cable right now but we could absolutely build another one, he said. Twelve African governments have signed an agreement pledging that access to a cable linking SA to Sudan must not be monopolised by a private cabal. International bandwidth is so crucial that Africa can no longer be held to ransom by private companies looking to profiteer, the governments believe. Their policy for international connectivity is dubbed the Nepad Network, based on a submarine cable and a terrestrial network covering landlocked countries. The policy insists that all telecoms operators, internet service providers and other bandwidth-hungry businesses will be able to use the cable for the same price as the companies that invested in the infrastructure. That is a direct attempt to prevent companies from capitalising on Africas lack of bandwidth by charging exorbitant fees, much as Telkom charges punishing fees for access to bandwidth on the Sat-3 cable around Africas west coast. In an interview with the Financial Times this week, President Thabo Mbeki blasted Telkom for charging absolutely phenomenal rates for access to Sat-3 and said the government was applying pressure on Telkom to cut its fees. About 10 companies in SA will be invited to invest up to $2m each to fund the Nepad Network, whether it is based on the EASSy cable or on a rival venture. Technology and telecommunications companies, internet service providers and bandwidth-intensive banks and other businesses would be asked to invest, Shope-Mafole said. Another investor could be InfraCo, a new state-owned entity created with a budget of R647m to supply wholesale bandwidth. Shope-Mafole also said the department would give Mbeki the telecoms price cuts he was demanding when Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri made some policy announcements on May 24. _______________________________________________ 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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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Will EASSy will the war of the cables?]
by alice 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

EASSY winner of fibre-optic cable race By A STAFF WRITER The EastAfrican, April 9 2007 Which of the upcoming submarine cable projects out of Mombasa will rollout first? That is the big question in Kenya where the government is investing in two parallel projects at the same time namely. The East African Marine System (TEAMS) and the East Africa SubMarine Cable System (EASSy). Although the government has justified the investment in TEAMS on the grounds that the EASSy project will take too long to roll out, the indications so far is that EASSy which has already received the support and commitment of 22 telecom operators representing 20 countries, 90 per cent of which are African operators, both private and public is likely to move much faster. So far, the project has secured all its funding targets and committed leading development financial institutions to the project. Its funding arrangement is structured to allow equity partners to either participate through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) or come in as direct investors. The SPV, consisting mainly of regional operators, has already been incorporated in Mauritius under the name West Indian Ocean Cable Company Ltd. Financial instruments for the SPV are in process and have been finalised in partnership with the development funding institutions comprising the World Bank, IFC Group, European Investment Bank, KFW of Germany, AFD Prop Arco of France, the African Development Bank and the Development Bank of South Africa. On March 9, nine EASSy members formally signed the supply contract with Alcatel-Lucent, who will be implementing the EASSy fibre-optic cable project on a full turnkey basis. The process of manufacturing the necessary equipment is going on and the approximation is that the project will be concluded by the end of 2008. The overall project cost will be in excess of $200 million. In compliance with international and national regulatory requirements, all operators having been conducting environment and social impact analyses studies which are expected to conclude this month. The EASSy submarine network will span nearly 10,000km linking eight countries from Sudan to South Africa via Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mozambique. The initial capacity will be 20 gigabits per second with ultimate capacity of 320 gbits/s per fibre pair. Last week, the EASSY project received a major boost when the World Bank announced that it has approved $164.5 million for high speed connectivity for Kenya, Burundi and Madagascar. East and Southern Africa is the only region in the world that is not connected to the global broadband infrastructure and accounts for less than one per cent of the worlds international bandwidth capacity. As a result of this missing link, the region relies on satellite connectivity, with costs among the highest in the world. One Kenyan call-centre entrepreneur told the World Bank board of directors that the region simply cannot compete with others. To put 25 agents on the phone will cost us close to $17,000 a month. Elsewhere, it will only cost $600-$900 a month, said Nicholas Nesbitt, chief executive of KenCall. It is absolutely imperative that something be done right now to make bandwidth affordable. Otherwise, were going to miss a huge opportunity and people are simply going to say that Africa is not ready for these kinds of jobs, is not ready for business. By the end of the programme, it is expected that all capitals and major cities in East and Southern Africa will be linked to competitively priced high-bandwidth connectivity _______________________________________________ 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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