Re: [kictanet] [eThinkTankTz] Uganda has the cheapest Broadband Internet in E-Africa.

19 Oct 2013

      @Dr. Zaipuna,

I can tell you are a true scholar from your consistent and persistent approach :-).   Defining and agreeing on what is Broadband Internet is indeed the first step to harmonizing research in this domain.  

Again, ITU (apologies for quoting what appears to be a discredited ITU*) in the same publication observes that Broadband meant different things across the 200 economies /countries sampled. With the observation that only 30% of the world giving its definition of broadband as a minimum link of 2Mbit/s - the rest advertising it as below this figure.

The situation gets murkier when ITU observes that the said broadband service can be offered over fixed-line(fiber/copper), fixed broadband(wireless), mobile broadband (GSM) amongst others.  To harmonize its ranking, ITU takes a re-calculated price of  1Mbits/s Fixed broadband (wireless) across the economies. 

It further notes that in Africa, Mobile broadband is more common and provides another ranking based on 500MB and 1GB data bundles per month - of which East Africa is still at the bottom quarter of the food chain in terms of affordability :-) . Obviously data bundles (Volume based and caped) vs 1Mb/s "unlimited data" per month can spawn an entirely new debate within the context of broadband quality...and perhaps outside the scope of the esteemed Listers here.

As for WSIS targets, they look fine BUT again they must be normalized accross economies. Kenya may for example connect 20 of its 40Universities to the Internet while say Uganda connects say only 15Univerisities. However, if Uganda has a total of 15Universities, it will have connected 100% of its Universities while Kenya  will have connected only 50% of its universities :-)

Finally, plse share the actual Research ICT Africa report. What you shared was a comprehensive newspaper article on the same but am sure it missed other details (methodology, sample size, margin of error, etc) which could be useful to me.

walu.
*Disclosure: I have disagreed with ITU on several issues but on Telecommunication, I am yet to come across another agency with a such a global experience and reach in telco data-gathering and analysis.

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On Sat, 10/19/13, Zaipuna Yonah <zaipuna.yonah@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: Saturday, October 19, 2013, 1:34 PM

 Dear Dr. Ndemo and
 Walu,
 Having participated in driving the
 reduction of prices of broadband connectivity in Tanzania
 (core/transport Backhaul) by over 99% compared to 2009
 prices; it is now time to agree on what we mean
 "Broadband". Further, I suggest we seriously agree
 on what it means to connect xxxxxx to ICTs, to help/guide
 all researchers in reporting about meeting the WSIS targets
 by 2015. Please recall...the first six targets are about
 connecting xxxx to ICTs. Here they are:

 1.To
 connect villages with ICTs and
 establish community access points.

 2.To
 connect universities, colleges,
 secondary schools and primary
 schools with
 ICTs.

 3.To
 connect scientific and research centers with
 ICTs 4.To
 connect public libraries, cultural centers, museums, post
 offices
 and archives with ICTs.

 5.To
 connect health centers and hospitals
 with ICTs.

 6.To
 connect all local and central
 government departments and
 establish websites
 and email
 addresses.

 Dr. Ndemo, comming up with a
 harmonised definition certainly will help
 data 
 collectors to give our region a
 fair reporting. I request your thoughts
 on this.

 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 Sat, Oct 19, 2013
 at 12:37 PM, Hassan Wekesa <hwekesa@gmail.com>
 wrote:

 Walu,The same argument also applies to
 the measure economists use to gauge growing economies in
 Africa. When they say country A has the fastest growing
 economy, you wonder what parameters have been used. You
 cannot  compare a country that has just gained stability
 after maybe civil unrest and a country that has been stable
 in terms of economic stability. 

 It is apparent that the latter will have a higher GDP
 than the former and thus cannot be used as a benchmark for
 comparison. Having said that,  I guess the same analogy can
 be used in comparing the cost of verifying where the cost of
 broadband is cheaper.

 Hassan

 On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 9:30 AM,
 Zaipuna Yonah <zaipuna.yonah@gmail.com>
 wrote:

       Dr. Ndemo,
 I salute you! Thanks for the additional
 insights.
 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 Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 6:58 PM,
 Bitange Ndemo <bitange@jambo.co.ke>
 wrote:

 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
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called: "The Enemy called Average" by John
 Mason!  It is always misleading
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when you  report by numerical rankings instead of
 group rankings
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especially
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using averages!
...

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In my early years of learning signal processing, I
 learnt that the
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mathematical operator called average is really a FILTER
 that only extracts
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the DC value from the noisy signal (data). It throws
 out ALL THE NOISE if
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indeed you have a very very large (infinity) data
 sample. Else the average
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is very noisy! This is the catchy 22 in the integrity
 of the reported
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figures!
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Once again, thanks Walu.
...

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Regards
...

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

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On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 10:34 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com>
 wrote:
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Far from it...this is not "dollarization"
 of our economies.
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It is just that researchers have to find a way of
 defining
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"affordability"
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across different economic domains in order to
 eventually provide an
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objective ranking.
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ITU defines affordability as a function of average
 incomes. Consider the
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following:
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If average incomes in country A = 100Euros (just to
 avoid the dollar
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focus
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:-), while in country B it is = 200Euros. And If in
 BOTH countries a
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1mbs
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Internet link goes for 50Euros per month, which of
 these two countries
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enjoys cheaper internet services?
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50Euros in Country A happens to be 50% of the
 average income while 50%
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Euros in Country B is only 25% of the average
 incomes. Would you like to
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live in a country where internet costs 50% of your
 salary or where its
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25%
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of your salary? Country A is considered to be
 twices as expensive as
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Country B.
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Country B is therefore considered to have cheaper
 internet services
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(even
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though internet does costs the SAME in Euro terms
 across both
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countries).
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not sure if its clearer or worse :-)
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walu.
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On Wed, 10/16/13, Zaipuna Yonah <zaipuna.yonah@gmail.com>
 wrote:
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Subject: Re: [kictanet] [eThinkTankTz] Uganda has
 the cheapest Broadband
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Internet in E-Africa.
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To: "Walubengo J" <jwalu@yahoo.com>
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Cc: "Brian Munyao Longwe" <blongwe@gmail.com>,
 "I-Network Uganda" <
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i-network@dgroups.org>,
 "eThinkers" <ethinktanktz@yahoogroups.com>,
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"KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
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Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2013, 10:04 AM
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Dear Walu,
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Are you suggesting we approve with open arms the
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mammon called dollarization? I am just
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curious!
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http://clknet.or.tz/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/PB1-Dollarization-of-the-Tanz...
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We surely have a long way to go in creating our
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own information even though we have our own
 knowledge about
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issues like this.
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Keep thinking and discussing...
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Regards
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__________________________________
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Eng. Dr. Zaipuna O. Yonah, PhD
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Consulting Engineer in ICTs
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P. O. Box
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32736
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Dar es
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Salaam
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Tanzania
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Tel:
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+255-784-786429
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Fax:
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+255--732-920133
...
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Email: engzaipuna@ieee.org
...
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===============================
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It is About Engineering People's Lives! &
 Advancing
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Technology for
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Humanity!===============================
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On Wed, Oct 16, 2013
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at 9:36 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com>
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wrote:
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@Brian,
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this is where we go wrong. We (East Africans) pay
 top-dollar
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to be members of ITU and then we consistently
 ignore their
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research output for various reasons - including
 lying :-).
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In which case we should at least stop being members
 and save
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the money for something else. Incidentally, ITU has
 been
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around for donkey years doing policy research in
 telecomms
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and we should at least give their report some
 little respect
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and attention.
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But if we doubt them, we should produce alternate
 research
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like what Eng. Dr. Zaipuna O. Yonah, PhD has done
 with
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Research ICT Africa report- whic shows that
 actually .TZ has
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the most affordable internet services. From the
 quick
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reading of that I can see that perhaps what
 Research ICT
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Africa failed to do was that they did not
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"normalize" their figures.
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What this means is that if a coke or any product is
 1USD in
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the US and it is also 1USD in Kenya, that coke is
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considered more expensive in Kenya because of
 differentials
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in national income levels i.e. they are not
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affordable . Put differently an American finds it
 easier to
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spend the 1USD than the Kenyan would.
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So if one was to "normalize" the Research
 ICT
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report against national income levels, we would
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arrive at the same (ITU) conclusion.
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walu.
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--------------------------------------------
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On Tue, 10/15/13, Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com>
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wrote:
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Subject: Re: [kictanet] [eThinkTankTz] Uganda has
 the
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cheapest Broadband Internet in E-Africa.
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To: jwalu@yahoo.com
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Cc: "I-Network Uganda" <i-network@dgroups.org>,
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"eThinkers" <ethinktanktz@yahoogroups.com>,
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"KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
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Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2013, 11:29 PM
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It's a lie, I am here and
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frustrated with high costs of broadband...
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On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at
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9:15 PM, Zaipuna Yonah <zaipuna.yonah@gmail.com>
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wrote:
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How about the attached report? Sometimes, you got
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to find a comparative approach to make sense out of
 these
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studies. Sometimes it matters who reports.....But
 the
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customer knows the truth!
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Regards
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__________________________________
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Eng. Dr. Zaipuna O. Yonah, PhD
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Consulting Engineer in ICTs
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P. O. Box
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32736
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Dar es
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Salaam
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Tanzania
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Tel: +255-784-786429
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Fax: +255--732-920133
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Email: engzaipuna@ieee.org
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===============================
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It is About Engineering People's
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Lives! & Advancing
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Technology for
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Humanity!===============================
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On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 8:16 PM,
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Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com>
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Folks,(apologies for cross-posting)
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This comes as a suprise. One would have thought
 Kenya and
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TZ
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by virtue of "owning" the International
 Internet
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conne Submarine connectivity/Gatewyas at Mombasa
 and Dar
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respectively, they would offer the cheapest
 Internet
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costs.
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But according to the latest 2013 ITU report that
 has been
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tracking and measuring affordability of internet,
 UG is
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ranked no 139, TZ at no 143 and Kenya at no 149
 globally
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in
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terms of affordability.
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Cost of broadband internet in Kenya is put at 49%
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Gross National Income(GNI) compared to .UG at 32%.
 Put
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differently it costs an average Kenyan half(50%)
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salary
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to connect to a broadband internet link. In SA it
 is about
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4% of their GNI.
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Those who can withstand the statistics/readings can
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Executive Report at
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http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/publications/mis2013/MIS201...
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@ CS Matiang'i - this could be part of your
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reading collection :-)
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walu.
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a
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multi-stakeholder platform for people and
 institutions
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interested and involved in ICT policy and
 regulation. The
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network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the
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-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a
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multi-stakeholder platform for people and
 institutions
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interested and involved in ICT policy and
 regulation. The
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network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the
 ICT
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sector in support of the national aim of ICT
 enabled
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growth
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and development.
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of
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acceptable
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behaviors online that you follow in real life:
 respect
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people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge,
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don't flame
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not market your wares or qualifications.
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a
 multi-stakeholder platform
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for people and institutions interested and involved in
 ICT policy and
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regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for
 reform in the ICT
...
sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled
 growth and
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development.
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...
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of
 acceptable behaviors
...
online that you follow in real life: respect
 people's times and bandwidth,
...
share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or
 personalize, respect privacy, do
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not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
University of Nairobi

 Business School, Lower Kabete Campus

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 The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a
 multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions
 interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The
 network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
 sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth
 and development.

 KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable
 behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect
 people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame
 or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do
 not market your wares or qualifications.