Eng. Dr. Yonah,
The average is one of the measures of central tendency.  It is not used
without looking at other measures in order to give you a clear picture.
You always should know the range and the standard deviation.  We usually
use the average or the mean to get you the rough estimate.  In a
population the mean is closer to the truth but in a sample collected
randomly, it can vary but not too much.  There is always a problem with
data gathering where some people may not understand the ethics behind
authentic data.  There are numerous occasions when people lie with
statistics.

In essence we should not blindly dismiss any numbers unless we have looked
at the methodology which is always not given although it is a requirement
in such data.


Ndemo.

> Thanks Walu! Very helpful indeed. But it reminded me of a book I once read
> called: "The Enemy called Average" by John Mason!  It is always misleading
> when you  report by numerical rankings instead of group rankings
> especially
> using averages!
>
> In my early years of learning signal processing, I learnt that the
> mathematical operator called average is really a FILTER that only extracts
> the DC value from the noisy signal (data). It throws out ALL THE NOISE if
> indeed you have a very very large (infinity) data sample. Else the average
> is very noisy! This is the catchy 22 in the integrity of the reported
> figures!
>
> Once again, thanks Walu.
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> __________________________________

> *Eng. Dr. Zaipuna O. Yonah, PhD*
> *Consulting Engineer in ICTs*
> *P. O. Box 32736*
> *Dar es Salaam*
> *Tanzania*
> *Tel: +255-784-786429*
> *Fax: +255--732-920133*
> *Email: **engzaipuna@ieee.org* <engzaipuna@ieee.org>
> ===============================
> *It is About Engineering People's Lives! **& *
> *Advancing Technology for Humanity!*
> *===============================*

>
>
> On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 10:34 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
>

>> **

>>
>>
>> Far from it...this is not "dollarization" of our economies.
>>
>> It is just that researchers have to find a way of defining
>> "affordability"
>> across different economic domains in order to eventually provide an
>> objective ranking.
>>
>> ITU defines affordability as a function of average incomes. Consider the
>> following:
>>
>> If average incomes in country A = 100Euros (just to avoid the dollar
>> focus
>> :-), while in country B it is = 200Euros. And If in BOTH countries a
>> 1mbs
>> Internet link goes for 50Euros per month, which of these two countries
>> enjoys cheaper internet services?
>>
>> 50Euros in Country A happens to be 50% of the average income while 50%
>> Euros in Country B is only 25% of the average incomes. Would you like to
>> live in a country where internet costs 50% of your salary or where its
>> 25%
>> of your salary? Country A is considered to be twices as expensive as
>> Country B.
>>
>> Country B is therefore considered to have cheaper internet services
>> (even
>> though internet does costs the SAME in Euro terms across both
>> countries).
>>
>> not sure if its clearer or worse :-)
>> walu.
>> --------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Wed, 10/16/13, Zaipuna Yonah <zaipuna.yonah@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] [eThinkTankTz] Uganda has the cheapest Broadband
>> Internet in E-Africa.
>> To: "Walubengo J" <jwalu@yahoo.com>
>> Cc: "Brian Munyao Longwe" <blongwe@gmail.com>, "I-Network Uganda" <
>> i-network@dgroups.org>, "eThinkers" <ethinktanktz@yahoogroups.com>,
>> "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2013, 10:04 AM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear Walu,
>> Are you suggesting we approve with open arms the
>> mammon called dollarization? I am just
>> curious!
>> http://clknet.or.tz/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/PB1-Dollarization-of-the-Tanzanian-Economy.pdf/
>>
>> We surely have a long way to go in creating our
>> own information even though we have our own knowledge about
>> issues like this.
>> Keep thinking and discussing...
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> __________________________________
>> Eng. Dr. Zaipuna O. Yonah, PhD
>> Consulting Engineer in ICTs
>> P. O. Box
>> 32736
>> Dar es
>> Salaam
>> Tanzania
>> Tel:
>> +255-784-786429
>> Fax:
>> +255--732-920133
>> Email: engzaipuna@ieee.org
>> ===============================
>> It is About Engineering People's Lives! & Advancing
>> Technology for
>> Humanity!===============================
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 16, 2013
>> at 9:36 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> @Brian,
>>
>>
>>
>> this is where we go wrong. We (East Africans) pay top-dollar
>> to be members of ITU and then we consistently ignore their
>> research output for various reasons - including lying :-).
>> In which case we should at least stop being members and save
>> the money for something else. Incidentally, ITU has been
>> around for donkey years doing policy research in telecomms
>> and we should at least give their report some little respect
>> and attention.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> But if we doubt them, we should produce alternate research
>> like what Eng. Dr. Zaipuna O. Yonah, PhD has done with
>> Research ICT Africa report- whic shows that actually .TZ has
>> the most affordable internet services. From the quick
>> reading of that I can see that perhaps what Research ICT
>> Africa failed to do was that they did not
>> "normalize" their figures.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> What this means is that if a coke or any product is 1USD in
>> the US and it is also 1USD in Kenya, that coke is still
>> considered more expensive in Kenya because of differentials
>> in national income levels i.e. they are not equally
>> affordable . Put differently an American finds it easier to
>> spend the 1USD than the Kenyan would.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> So if one was to "normalize" the Research ICT
>> report against national income levels, we would most likely
>> arrive at the same (ITU) conclusion.
>>
>>
>>
>> walu.
>>
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Tue, 10/15/13, Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] [eThinkTankTz] Uganda has the
>> cheapest Broadband Internet in E-Africa.
>>
>> To: jwalu@yahoo.com
>>
>> Cc: "I-Network Uganda" <i-network@dgroups.org>,
>> "eThinkers" <ethinktanktz@yahoogroups.com>,
>> "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>
>>
>> Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2013, 11:29 PM
>>
>>
>>
>> It's a lie, I am here and
>>
>> frustrated with high costs of broadband...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at
>>
>> 9:15 PM, Zaipuna Yonah <zaipuna.yonah@gmail.com>
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> How about the attached report? Sometimes, you got
>>
>> to find a comparative approach to make sense out of these
>>
>> studies. Sometimes it matters who reports.....But the
>>
>> customer knows the truth!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> __________________________________
>>
>> Eng. Dr. Zaipuna O. Yonah, PhD
>>
>> Consulting Engineer in ICTs
>>
>> P. O. Box
>>
>> 32736
>>
>> Dar es
>>
>> Salaam
>>
>> Tanzania
>>
>> Tel: +255-784-786429
>>
>> Fax: +255--732-920133
>>
>> Email: engzaipuna@ieee.org
>>
>> ===============================
>>
>> It is About Engineering People's
>> Lives! & Advancing
>>
>> Technology for
>>
>> Humanity!===============================
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 8:16 PM,
>>
>> Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com>
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Folks,(apologies for cross-posting)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> This comes as a suprise. One would have thought Kenya and
>> TZ
>>
>> by virtue of "owning" the International Internet
>>
>> conne Submarine connectivity/Gatewyas at Mombasa and Dar
>>
>> respectively, they would offer the cheapest Internet
>> costs.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> But according to the latest 2013 ITU report that has been
>>
>> tracking and measuring affordability of internet, UG is
>>
>> ranked no 139, TZ at no 143 and Kenya at no 149 globally
>> in
>>
>> terms of affordability.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Cost of broadband internet in Kenya is put at 49% of the
>>
>> Gross National Income(GNI) compared to .UG at 32%. Put
>>
>> differently it costs an average Kenyan half(50%) his
>> salary
>>
>> to connect to a broadband internet link. In SA it is about
>>
>> 4% of their GNI.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Those who can withstand the statistics/readings can pull
>> the
>>
>> Executive Report at
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/publications/mis2013/MIS2013-exec-sum_E.pdf
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> @ CS Matiang'i - this could be part of your bedtime
>>
>> reading collection :-)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> walu.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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University of Nairobi
Business School, Lower Kabete Campus