Here is the latest issue of the APC Africa ICT Policy Monitor e-updates
No. 10, a selection of the latest content added to the Africa ICT Policy Monitor
Website chosen by our editors.

The content is categorised by theme and country to allow you to view
items in the following main sections of the website;

-          News
-          Information & Resources
-          Upcoming Events
- 	   Featured Organizations

Do send us your feedback, comments or news on ICT policy issues and we
will add to the Africa ICT Policy Monitor Website.


Kind Regards,

Editor
APC Africa Policy Monitor Website
http://africa.rights.apc.org/

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News > Access

 Zambia: Celtel to connect Mbala, Mpulungu and Mwembeshi
24/06/2005 (The Zambia Post) -- Celtel Zambia will next week connect Mbala, Mpulungu and Mwembeshi to its network as part of its next roll out programme that would cost about K160 billion. This roll out programme will also lead to the addition of about twenty-eight new sites to the Celtel network coverage area throughout the country by the end of August this year.

 Ghana Telecom expands services in Upper East Region
22/06/2005 (Ghanaweb) -- Telephone landline service in some districts of the Upper East Region including the Bolgatanga Municipality, has witnessed a major boost in recent times, following the expansion of the networks in those areas.

 Uganda Telecom targets rural areas for growth
21/06/2005 (The Monitor) -- The heat in the telecommunication sector is high with players targeting virgin areas with new products. Bamuturaki Musinguzi conducted an interview on Uganda Telecom Marketing Manager, Mr Hans M.F. Paulsen on the latest developments in the industry.

 Thuraya,UEA based satellite operator, launches telephone commercial service in Ethiopia
20/06/2005 (ENA) -- Thuraya, the UEA based regional satellite operator, announced on Monday that it has launched a telephone commercial service in Ethiopia. The company has launched the service in Ethiopia in accordance with the contract agreement signed with the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC).

 Namibia: Community development centre opened by Minister
20/06/2005 (NewEra) -- The Minister of Information and Broadcasting officially opened a community development centre at Oshuungu in the Etayi Constituency of the Omusati Region on Saturday. The Kamanya Amupolo Community Centre is named after the Senior Headman of Oshuungu.
 

News > Telecommunications

 Kenya: Government to retrench 12,000 as privatization plans are pushed to April 2006
29/06/2005 (East African Standard) -- The Kenyan Government will spend Sh10 billion to retrench 12,000 (more than 50%) Telkom Kenya employees. The announcement came even as Information and Communication Permanent Secretary James Rege said the restructuring report by PKF Consulting, an international audit firm was ready and that the corporation’s privatisation strategy has been pushed to April next year.

 Nigeria: Slow fixed line growth worries experts
28/06/2005 (BusinessDay Online) -- The crawling progress of the fixed telephone networks in the country, is becoming a source of worry to telecom experts and stakeholders. Growth in the fixed line networks has become stunted, since the introduction of digital mobile phones in the country in 2002. Experts worry that the pre-occupation of government, investors and indeed, consumers with GSM phones appears to be killing the fixed line sub-sector.

 Tanzania: Zantel to start operations on Tanzania Mainland
27/06/2005 (IPP Media) -- The Zanzibar Telecommunication Company Limited, (Zantel) launches its operations on Tanzania Mainland next Thursday, the company Public Relations Officer, Kassim Suleiman, has said.

 Zambia: MTN enters pact to acquire controlling stake in Telecel (Z)
23/06/2005 (The Zambia Post) -- The MTN Group has now entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Telecel Zambia, subject to regulatory and competition approval from the relevant authorities in Zambia.

 Vodafone offers Kenya $100m for controlling stake in Safaricom
22/06/2005 (East African) -- Vodafone, the giant British mobile phone company, could soon take a controlling share of Safaricom – the largest cellular phone company in East Africa. The takeover if it happens, such a development carries implications for competition.

 Zambia: Govt abandons plans to privatise ZAMTEL
19/06/2005 (The Zambia Post) -- Zambia's Ministry of Transport and Communication permanent secretary Bob Samakai has disclosed that government had abandoned plans to privatise Zambia Communications Company (ZAMTEL).

 Regional states set to streamline e-government plan
28/06/2005 (East African Standard) -- The East African Community member states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania held discussions yesterday aimed at consolidating the region’s e-government strategy that will streamline communication systems. The discussions were centred around minutes of an earlier meeting in Tanzania last year.

 e-government enables online efficiency in Mozambique
17/06/2005 (ICTWorld) -- The Government of Mozambique says that it has successfully implemented an e-government pilot project connecting 15 national public administration entities in Maputo. The initiative was funded through the Development Gateway Foundation’s e-government grants programme, in partnership with the Government of Italy.

News > Freedom of Expression

IFEX Members Urge African Union to Protect Free Expression

News > Intellectual Property

 WIPO Negotiators Tackle Proposals On Reform For Development
23/06/2005 (IP Watch) -- Negotiators at a 20-22 June meeting to discuss possible reform of the World Intellectual Property Organisation to better address developing country needs began on the second day tackling the details of various proposals put forth by member governments.

News > Laws and Regulation

 South Africa: SMEs locked out of VOIP revolution
20/06/2005 (ITWeb) -- At least 50% of South African companies have been excluded from the voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) revolution because of the market structure, says Storm joint-CEO Tim Wyatt-Gunning. He was talking to ITWeb following the announcement that the Internet service provider has developed a VOIP product for companies that have a monthly phone bill of less than R3 500.

 South Africa: Convergence Bill raises concerns
24/06/2005 (ITWeb) -- Government's proposed Convergence Bill has been described as a positive step by an industry expert, although certain aspects of the process, as well as the Bill itself, are seen as problematic.

News > Media

 African community radios go on line
22/06/2005 (AMARC Africa) -- Five African community radio stations have opened their Web portals to the world, and more will follow their lead as part of a project that seeks to strengthen radio broadcasting on the continent, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) in Africa announced today.
 

News > National ICT Strategies

Namibia: ICT Alliance Launched

News > Security and Privacy

 Nigeria: Federal Government Plans Central Database on Cybercrime
28/06/2005 (Technology Times) -- Lagos, Nigeria. June 28, 2005. The Nigerian law enforcement and intelligence community are to link into a proposed centralised information database in a major collaborative effort to tackle Internet and allied crimes in the country. This emanated out of a recent joint session where the law enforcement agencies highlighted initiatives underway by the Nigerian government to secure the information superhighway.

News > Training and Education

 Uganda: Illiterate women get computer training
24/06/2005 (NewVision) -- Uneducated Women under the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Ltd (UWEAL), Kabale chapter, have started computer training to market their products worldwide on the Internet.

 South Africa: Training authority adopts new strategy
20/06/2005 (ITWeb) -- The ICT sector education training authority, ISETT SETA, admits there have been abuses of learnerships, but says a new strategy will solve these problems. "It is true we have had problems with workplace training in past learnership programmes, but we remain committed to delivering skills through learnerships and have adopted a new strategy that focuses on quality, not quantity," says ISETT SETA's CEO, Oupa Mopaki.

News> WSIS

 Nigeria to host ITU meeting and Civil Society Forum
19/06/2005 (Vanguard) -- Nigeria had been chosen by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to host the regional preparatory meeting to be held on July 3rd – 7th 2005, the Civil Society forum will discuss the role of the civil society among others in achieving the MDGs and also towards the next WSIS meeting in Tunis.
 

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Laws and Regulation

 Regulatory Reform as a Tool for Bridging the Digital Divide
29/06/2005 -- This paper examines one narrow aspect of the digital divide, the effects of regulatory reform on telecommunication networks. While regulatory reform is only one part of the global digital divide problem,it can play a key role in helping telecommunication markets bridge some of the gaps on their own. It is therefore imperative that policy makers consider regulatory reform as a necessary but not sufficient step towards overcoming the digital divide.

 Time to end advance phone licence fees
27/06/2005 -- Growing competition in the telephone industry is characterised by targeted pricing of voice and data services. The level of competition depends upon the specific market conditions and the regulatory framework under which competition is introduced. The licensing framework should assist development of new and innovative services. However, regulatory and trade barriers in telecommunications constrain the diffusion of new services.

National ICT Strategies 

 Role of Infrastructure in Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction -- Lessons learned from PRSPs of 33 Countries
29/06/2005 -- As Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are the driving force behind the overall development strategy of many developing countries, it is essential to consider the role of infrastructure in this important poverty reduction process. This document summarises the findings of a background research paper that analyses the role of infrastructure in the PRSPs of 33 countries that completed their report as of 1 December, 2003. The background paper offers a stocktaking of the contribution of infrastructure interventions to poverty reduction and pro-poor growth in each of these PRSPs.

 Policies and Institutions for E-Commerce Readiness: What can developing countries learn from OECD experience?
27/06/2005 -- As e-commerce spreads through both the developed and the developing worlds, research will be needed into the effects of this DIALECT on both private and public enterprise. This technical paper represents another product in taking up the challenge of serving as a bridge for the two-way flow of ideas between the OECD and the developing world. 

 

 Policy critical for technology growth
21/06/2005 -- Originally, it was billed ‘the Bomas of ICT policy’. However, the Kenya National Information and Communication Technology Policy conference at the Coast last week was spared the acrimony which characterised Kenya’s constitutional review process. Like Bomas, differing views from the participants challenged consensus building efforts. Everyone besides the Information and Communications ministry was there to make sure Government did not monopolise policy-making processes.


Software

 Open to development: Open-Source software and economic development
25/06/2005 -- This paper examines the role that open-source software can play in an economy and its development, with a focus on empirical evidence and economic logic. It argues that, while open-source can clearly be a viable part of a developed software industry, the available evidence does not support the position that open-source software can form the basis of an industry on its own, especially in nations where the technology sector is still embryonic.

 Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?
23/06/2005 -- Want to get a heated debate going among technologists? Ask them this question: Can the open source software movement defeat (or severely cripple) Microsoft in the marketplace? With little academic attention focused on this question, Harvard Business School professors Pankaj Ghemawat and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell decided chose to explore the fundamental competitive dynamics question: Will OSS ever displace traditional software from its market leadership position?

 Privacy and Security 

  "Harmonizing National Legal Approaches on Cybercrime"
29/06/2005 -- This background paper deals mainly with harmonizing criminal enforcement mechanisms for a few reasons. First, all countries have criminal justice systems and not all countries have yet recognized private rights of property or of enforcement for cyberspace.

 A Comparative Analysis of Cybersecurity Initiatives Worldwide
29/06/2005 -- This paper investigates national cybersecurity initiatives in order to identify common themes and best practices, but especially problems and pitfalls for a global culture of cybersecurity.

 

 "A Comparative Analysis of Spam Laws: the Quest for Model Law"
28/06/2005 -- This paper focuses on the potential nature of the legal regulation of spam, specifically the importance of harmonizing regulations in the form of a model spam law. The authors recognize that the law is only one means towards this end and urge regulators to incorporate other modes of control into their efforts, including technical methods, market-based means, and norm-based modalities.

Internet Governance

 Internet Governance - Issues, Actors & Divides
24/06/2005 -- Internet Governance is not a simple subject. Although it deals with a major symbol of the DIGITAL world, it cannot be handled with a digital - binary logic of true/false and good/bad. Instead, the subject’s many subtleties and shades of meaning and perception require an ANALOG approach, covering a continuum of options and compromises.

 ICANN President address to the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)
20/06/2005 -- ICANN President, Paul Twommey addressed some of the issues that have been raised in relation to ICANN during the recently held meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). Some of the issues he addressed included,the relationship between the US Department of Commerce and ICANN, the role of governments, civil society and other stakeholders,the effects of ICANN’s legal presence in the US and under California legislation and finally the role of governments in the management and redelegation of ccTLDs.

WSIS

 From Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships to Public-Private Ones
29/06/2005 -- The WSIS Thematic Meeting announced on the ITU web site as "Government of Germany - International Policy Dialogue: 'Mainstreaming ICT for Development: the Key Role of the Private Sector'," drew about 50 participants on 21 and 22 June. It departed decisively from the WSIS framework of multi-stakeholderism and focused on public-private partnerships (PPPs). Civil society participants were allowed to attend, but their interest in this two-day event seemed next to non-existent. They did not miss much, except good food and very interesting conversations during the breaks.

 WSIS as a case of information capitalism?
27/06/2005 -- A conference in Amsterdam last week (22 June 2005) brought together many info-activists and critical intellectuals for reflections on the “information for development” discourse. Themes of the “Incommunicado” event ranged from multi-stakeholderism at WSIS to the global political economy of information. It also was the largest gathering of people involved inside and outside the WSIS that provided a critical look at “the big picture”. Timing was good, as discussions like this have been going on implicitly and informally for a while.

 Discussions on Implementation and Follow-Up After WSIS
27/06/2005 -- Discussions on how to proceed after the second WSIS summit in November are getting more urgent. There is a danger of this question to be lost due to the dominance of financing and internet governance negotiations in the second phase of WSIS. A recent meeting of the “Group of the Friends of the Chair” (GFC) in Geneva tried to bring some clarity, but a consensus is still far away. Meanwhile, civil society groups are lamenting the fact that they will be locked out of the next GFC meetings.



Resources


 Free Press: Beginner's Guide to Media Reform
19/06/2005 -- The Beginner's Guide presents an introductory look at media reform for people new to the issue. Why is the media system the way it is? Why is it important to the issues I care about? What's being done to fix it?

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//\//\//\//\//\//\// FEATURED ORGANIZATIONS //\//\//\//\//\//\/

-- 
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Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna
Africa Policy Monitor Project 
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Email: africa.rights@apc.org or njenga@apc.org
Web: http://africa.rights.apc.org
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