> Hi,
>
> I disagree with your assertion that cybercafes are closing down if
> anything they
> are mushrooming and in more seats that before, in the building where our
> offices
> are we used to have a single cyber on the 2nd floor in the past 12 months
> 2 have
> opened on the ground floor replacing a bookshop and a pharmacy each with
> over 30
> stations.
>
> The availability of mobile on the phone is actually a plus for the cyber
> business as it creates a more aware market who end up spending more time
> and
> money as they need to download staff, print, cd burn etc.
>
> Unless you have an iPad the experience of browsing on your phone is still
> not as
> good as on a large 17" screen.
>
> Finally, many of thus opening cybers today have a better understanding of
> the
> business than the me too crowd that used to run them before. Any cyber
> cafe
> that does not charge automatically for printing is doomed to close soon.
>
> As more knowledgeable investors come into the cyber cafe business expect
> to see
> more of them coming up and with the right tools for monitoring and
> generating
> revenue such as protocol based billing. I visited a cyber in Rongai where
> billing was bandwidth based as they where using a Safaricom 3G connection.
>
> Regards
> Robert Yawe
> KAY System Technologies Ltd
> Phoenix House, 6th Floor
> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
> Kenya
>
>
> Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Edith Adera <
eadera@idrc.or.ke>
> To:
robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Sent: Wed, 2 March, 2011 19:12:16
> Subject: [kictanet] The Death of Cybercafes?
>
>
> Listers
>
> Just back from Ghana where I was impressed to see that cybercafes are
> still
> alive (e.g. BusyInternet)...as my experience in Kenya is that it's hard to
> find
> a functional cybercafe within easy reach with cutting edge services and
> programs (PDF etc)....most are closing down with Internet available on the
> mobile (with aggressive competition). So outside the office set-up and
> with
> minimal home connections...one has almost no options for innovation.
>
> Is it a good thing that cybers are dying in Kenya and broadband is yet to
> reach homes? what needs to be done differently to inform our efforts on
> digital
> villages etc?
>
> Edith
>
> ________________
> Edith Ofwona Adera
> Senior Program Specialist
> ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program
> International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le
> développement international
> Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa
> Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera
>
eadera@idrc.or.ke |
www.idrc.ca|
www.crdi.ca
>
>
>