O.K....
middle ground model where all stakeholders are happy. Plse
managing OFC'.
walu.
4) Best Model (Business+Regulatory) for E. Africans (2days)
Some interesting insights from Badru and Njorohio...
walu.
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:16:22 +0300
To: APC - Private list for use by EASSY Workshop
Participants
CC: African Information Society Initiative - Discussion
Forum
Subject: Re: [Fibre-for-africa] Join KICTAnet's online
discuission: What is
the best model for providing the Fiber Optic Submarine
Cable to East
Africans?
I think we all know "who shot EASSY". it was politics and
egos which
have never been good bed fellows. The guilty parties that
pulled the
trigger are kenya and South Africa though the jury is
still out on this.
Then along the way came some other characters who used
the impasse to
get some free publicity (we all know who they are ). when
time to pay up
came they all disappeared and guess who is suffering.
If government's and Nepad want to be in please consult
the community,
lay the law and rules of engagement and stay away. then
next should be
those who have the pockets to come in and build the
fiber.
I mean at the end of the day business rules will kick in
and eventually
the price will come down. If government wants to
intervene to bring
costs down then give the businesses an incentive to offer
good pricing,
maybe tax waivers etc.
Lets forget the nice world in the clouds where everyone
has access and
buys at the same price etc. Some things need to be given
time to develop
naturaly.
Many things and services in all our walks of life are
built by private
entities some are closed clubs and others are open. that
is a business
decision.
Forget open access and all that baloony, all those
consultants who were
singing all this nice to the ears stuff are back sitting
behind there
10mB links costing them a few dollars while we are
sitting on our 16k
32k links moaning EASSY.
Bottom line allow the operators to build the cable
Set operating criteria and acceptable pricing levels
Government concentrates on facilitating internal networks
to Rural
communities
Encourage the production of local content
Put in measures that will create demand and thus market
forces to bring
the prices down.
my 2 cents
gathuri njorohio wrote:
Hi All
The EASSY cable implementation seems to be stalling due
to
disagreement on financing and the way to operate and
manage it.
The Eastern african countries will continue being
overcharged for
their international traffic when they pass through
satellite due to
lack of this cheap way of carrying traffic through the
submarine cable.
We are aware of the regional economic bodies that are
mandated to
promote trade between the countries and I suggest that
they should
also invest in ICT .COMESA and SADC are the bodies
catering for trade
in south and eastern Africa.Why can't they take the
opportunity to
invest in this cable so that it can benefit the
countries they are
serving.
A company can be formed answerable to these two bodies
for the
installation , maintenance and operation of this cable.
The western africa and central africa can do the same
for the western
cable link.
The existing cables can continue to give redundancy for
the new cables.
The e commission of the NEPAD could facilitate these
intiatives as a
neutral body for the development of Africa.
Eng. Njorohio
(Apologies for Cross positing)
Attn: Telco Operators, Regulators, Academia, Media,
Civil Society,
Consumers
The Last Frontier: The East African Coast remains
the last region
in the
world that is yet to connect to the cheaper and
more reliable Global
Submarine Optical Fiber Network. EASSy, TEAMS and
others promise
to change
that by providing this crucial link.
EASSy, TEAMS, etc,: What is the best model for
providing the Fiber
Optic
Submarine Cable to East Africans?
Join the Online Discussion: Starting Monday Jan
22nd – Sat Feb 3rd
2007 and
make your views be known regarding this historic
development.
to subscribe:
Please send your details to
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