Twenty years ago, countries in south
Asia were faced with similar problems of connectivity that most of
Then, a group of individuals decided to lay the cable. They got minimal staff and divers to do the work and the connected most of the countries. For them, it was a question of meeting demand and providing it at an affordable cost. That time, no one had looked at issues their way but they knew of a future market.
The story, was told by Brian
Longwe- a reknowned ICT expert, and as he argued, the southern part of
“So what stops me and my friends from laying our own cable and selling it to willing buyers?” Longwe asked Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary at the ministry of Information and communication.
Dr. Ndemo replied that there is nothing stopping any group from laying their own cable, provided they do not become a monopoly.
“There is no law blocking anybody from laying the cable. The government does not want to promote monopolies,” he added.
The debate took place at the workshop discussing the Optic Fibre Cable and the various models that the country may adopt to bridge the digital divide. The workshop was a conclusion of the two week-long online discussion on OFC.