Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Fibre optic delays cost 5000jobs a month]

Hello, As much as I agree that we need at least 2 cables, please see the following cost calculation: Assume a 1 Mbps duplex Sat capacity costs USD 6 000 per month (it is actually lower). Compression for good quality ranges from 8 Kbps to 16 Kbps, so let's take an average of 12.8Kbps So on one Mbps you can have a minimum of 80 calls or 4800 call minutes per hour. On a 20 hour operation this leads to 96 000 call minutes per day a and in a 30 day month to 2 880 000 call minutes per month. You communication cost per call minute = 0.14 KSH !! If you say your call centre is only loaded by 50% = a quarter of a KSH per call minute. What is the cost of electricity, labor, rent ... in perspective? I still believe we can build competitive call centers even on SAT basis! Rgds Kai -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+kai.wulff=kdn.co.ke@kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+kai.wulff=kdn.co.ke@kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of alice Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 18:06 To: kai.wulff@kdn.co.ke Subject: [kictanet] [Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] Fibre optic delays cost 5000jobs a month] Fibre optic delays cost 5000 jobs a month By Steve Mbogo, Business Daily, March 20, 2007 Every month that passes without Kenya having a fibre optic cable link to the rest of the world, the country loses an opportunity to create 5,000 jobs. The figure, based on data collected by Business Daily interviews with individuals involved in making Kenya a hub for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). BPO involves hiring of vendors to handle business processes like customer care, accounting, and content provision. In Kenya, call centres and publishing content provision are the main focuses, but other examples of BPO include human resources, accounting and payroll outsourcing. Dave Stewart, general manager of KenCall, Kenya’s largest call-centre, said while foreign investors are looking at Kenya as a good destination for BPO, the lack of a fibre link is stifling some. “This (fibre link) is a must if there is to be a serious investment in this area,” said Stewart. Currently established businesses, like KenCall, have no choice but to use the expensive bandwidth through the satellite network. Mr Stewart, whose call centre employs 300 people, spends $30,000 to $70,000 (Sh2.1m to Sh4.9m) for the bandwidth. BPO players estimated the advent of the fibre-optic cable could reduce bandwidth costs by 60 per cent. But cautioned that a single cable might not make a difference as it will run like a monopoly. Outsourcing operations have thrived in developing countries like India which have sufficient, and cheap enough bandwidth as well as educated human resources and sound legal and financial infrastructure. Educated work force Industry players feel Kenya is well positioned to become a preferred BPO hub, despite not measuring up on bandwidth. “Kenya’s competitiveness in terms of human resources is very high,” said Mr Stewart. “Kenya, like India, has a very highly educated work force. The accents here are very popular with the Americans and the Europeans,” he added. And unlike in the West where most see call centre careers as a stepping stone to other opportunities, in Kenya being employed in a call centre is regarded as a career. “This is a potential for growth.” Mr Wallace Gichoho the chief executive of Call Centre Africa Ltd and chairman of Kenya ICT Service Exporters (KISE) said the type of employees that Call Centres look for are those that may not make the universities cut off point but had fared well in the key subject that would enable a company develop skill in them. This forms a majority of the potential working force and has proved more stable than graduate employees. Mugure Kabugua’s BPO company, Preciss offers a service called PrecissPatrol that prowls the Internet on behalf of clients, and the company is planning a call centre. She said the business environment for BPO is improving thanks to the Government encouraging more investment. She says the local industry is getting attention from international BPO concerns. Estimates on how many jobs could be created vary. While Ms Kabugua suggested “hundreds of thousands,” Waudo Siganga, the chairman of the Computer Society of Kenya said a well-functioning BPO industry can create an estimated 60,000 jobs every year, supported by more than 400 companies licensed to offer information communication technology training. Meanwhile, Dr Wahome Gakuru, a coordinator for Government’s Vision 2030 development plan, said BPO could created “millions of jobs,” for young professionals. Whichever number is correct, the sector is getting attention from the places of power. _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa@lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kai.wulff%40kdn.co.ke ************************************************************** Scanned by eScan Anti-Virus and Content Security Software. Visit http://www.mwti.net for more info on eScan and MailScan. ************************************************************** ************************************************************** Scanned by eScan Anti-Virus and Content Security Software. 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