Walu, Kwach and all,
I read the discussion and analysis about broadband costing with immense interest. I belief that the stats below can enrich and contribute in putting into perspective what we are talking about in a nutshell. I have lifted it from a paper am reviewing. I therefore see CCK's plate quite full in making sure that we consistently move towards the direction of affordable rates.

Herbert

Development Informatics Working Paper no.42: The ICT4D 2.0 Manifesto

Broadband: New Hope / New Divide

Broadband is already an integral part of ICT usage in the global North. In the US, for example (one of the poorer performers), by 2008, there were 25 broadband subscriptions per 100 citizens, and 55% of households had broadband, representing around 90% of all Internet connections.

 

By contrast, the subscription rates for most African countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda were well under 0.1% of the population. Tiny Andorra had roughly as many broadband subscriptions as Africa's most populous country, Nigeria.

 

So, as we start seeing digital divides closing around Internet access and mobile phone ownership, a new broadband divide is growing. This is already – and will continuingly – require a strategic response which, if not led, must at the least be coordinated by government. As and where this happens, the development results will be impressive. Broadband uptake is associated at the macro level with growth in indicators such as employment and GDP, and at the micro level there are many new employment- and productivity-enhancing opportunities.

 

Manchester Centre for Development Informatics Working Paper 42

 

Full citation

The ICT4D 2.0 Manifesto: Where Next for ICTs and International Development?

Richard Heeks

Development Informatics Group

University of Manchester, UK

2009



--- On Tue, 10/27/09, kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

From: kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 29, Issue 65
To: herbertwamalwa@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 8:53 AM

Send kictanet mailing list submissions to
    kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
    http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
    kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke

You can reach the person managing the list at
    kictanet-owner@lists.kictanet.or.ke

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..."


Today's Topics:

   1. Re: [Skunkworks] Safaricom to introduce    unlimitedinternet
      service (Akich Kwach)
   2. Re: "Outsource our jobs? Why firms are afraid of BPOs"
      (Edith Adera)
   3. Re: "Outsource our jobs? Why firms are afraid of BPOs" (Rad!)
   4. Fw: press invite - kenya economic report 2009 launch
      (alice munyua)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:30:26 +0300
From: "Akich Kwach" <kwach@archway-productions.com>
To: "Walubengo J" <jwalu@yahoo.com>
Cc: Kenya ICT Policy - kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] Safaricom to introduce
    unlimitedinternet service
Message-ID: <BCCA03C03191455C9A683D8ACEDA96DF@USERPC>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Walu,
I have been receiving such direct marketing mails from Safaricom. One thing i noted with concern; are such products developed/informed based market research, i doubt if ordinary Kenyans would have made such proposals. In my view, this is like pushing products/services down the customers throat. Even with those "wonder speed", COST is stil a fundamental factor especially for the SMEs under which majority of Kenyans fall. One fact is the operator is ignoring the public expectations - speed without cost is just but a fallacy. Thank you for making the GDP comparison which the operators and regulators always ignore, both should aprreciate internet and information are basic needs if we have to achieve the 2030 dream and as such those in the sector should not just be focussing on being declared the highest tax payers. Could someone from Safaricom let us know whom they were targeting with such offers?

Have a blessed week

Akich Kwach   


  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Walubengo J
  To: kwach@archway-productions.com
  Cc: Kenya ICT Policy - kictanet
  Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 9:10 AM
  Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] Safaricom to introduce unlimitedinternet service


        very interesting analysis...@200ksh unlimited internet gives you 6,000Ksh per month as some of you noted - almost 100USD per month. Almost like in the US -BUT the US GDP per capita is about 50times higher than .KE.  So we must adopt some weighting to get the equivalent pricing in kenya.

        Put in another way, Kenyans should work towards 50x less the US monthly rates (of 100USD) for broadband internet i.e. 2USD per month for unlimited  broadband internet. It wont happen tomorrow, maybe 2030?  But am glad the operators are tweaking all possible combinations as the 1st step in seeing how to move in that direction...

        walu.
        --- On Sun, 10/25/09, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com> wrote:


          From: Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com>
          Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] Safaricom to introduce unlimited internet service
          To: "Skunkworks Forum" <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke>
          Date: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 12:55 PM


          Thats Kbps not KBps...
          ./bernard


          On Sun, Oct 25, 2009 at 11:50 AM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com> wrote:

            My peak is approx 260KBps. Average 140 KBps...
            However,
            I don't doubt the capacities provided by the submarine fiber cables...Thats no longer a constraint now....My biggest worry is at the radio interface. The biggest bottleneck in any GSM/UMTS network is at the BTS/Node B level...You can have STM-1 capacities on the transmission but the bandwidth in the wireless medium diminishes exponentially as the number of users per cell increases. Also voice is always given a priority so again this should add to the congestion(remember the free calls ?)

            Also, there's no info on how long this promo is(or whether it is a promo)...


            ./bernard




            On Sun, Oct 25, 2009 at 11:35 AM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi@gmail.com> wrote:

              10 gigs at what rate Bernard? I think they now have extra bandwidth on
              Teams, hence the unlimited product.

              --

              with Regards:

              Get your free technology e-magazine in pdf format: Tekniaonline:
              http://bit.ly/tekniaonline-2

              Maybe we should start a Reality show of collapsing buidlings:
              http://gramware.blogspot.com
              _______________________________________________
              Skunkworks mailing list
              Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke
              http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks
              ------------
              Skunkworks Rules
              http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94
              ------------
              Other services @ http://my.co.ke
              Other lists
              -------------
              Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce
              Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science
              kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general






          -----Inline Attachment Follows-----


          _______________________________________________
          Skunkworks mailing list
          Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke
          http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks
          ------------
          Skunkworks Rules
          http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94
          ------------
          Other services @ http://my.co.ke
          Other lists
          -------------
          Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce
          Science:  http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science
          kazi:     http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general




------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  kictanet mailing list
  kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
  http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet

  This message was sent to: kwach@archway-productions.com
  Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kwach%40archway-productions.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20091026/d0f57c78/attachment-0001.html>

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:15:02 +0300
From: Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke>
To: "kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] "Outsource our jobs? Why firms are afraid of
    BPOs"
Message-ID:
    <46563326FAEDB04F92FED3DB099C98BB1E31A53BB1@esaroms07.ESARO.IDRC.ORG>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Michael,

>From the article, it's clear that the sector has a long way to go!

I recall during the BPO workshop at KICC, Dr Ndemo pledged to host a local workshop to bring stakeholders together (including these firms) to discuss these issues and explore how trust can be built to outsource to local BPO firms.

The time is ripe.

Edith
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20091026/f04a4bb3/attachment-0001.html>

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:22:39 +0300
From: "Rad!" <conradakunga@gmail.com>
To: Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] "Outsource our jobs? Why firms are afraid of
    BPOs"
Message-ID:
    <911107610910260622v59ad0a65k256f30c045a996e8@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I would be interested in more initiatives to promote other BPO
initiatives besides call centers. These have since become cliche. I
have nothing against call centers but I think alternatives such as
software development would contribute much more significantly towards
the empowerment and skill of locals

On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 4:15 PM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:
> Michael,
>
> >From the article, it's clear that the sector has a long way to go!
>
> I recall during the BPO workshop at KICC, Dr Ndemo pledged to host a local
> workshop to bring stakeholders together (including these firms) to discuss
> these issues and explore how trust can be built to outsource to local BPO
> firms.
>
> The time is ripe.
>
> Edith
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> This message was sent to: conradakunga@gmail.com
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/conradakunga%40gmail.com
>
>



------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:56:42 +0000
From: "alice munyua" <alice@apc.org>
To: "KICTANet KICTANet" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: [kictanet] Fw: press invite - kenya economic report 2009
    launch
Message-ID:
    <1189514998-1256622995-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-907620081-@bda192.bisx.produk.on.blackberry>
   
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"



-----Original Message-----
From: nmathu@treasury.go.ke
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:32:02
To: <nickwaitathu@financialpost.co.ke>
Subject: press invite - kenya economic report 2009 launch

Dear Partner,

RE: THE KENYA ECONOMIC REPORT 2009 LAUNCH

The Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) and
the Ministry of State for Planning, National Development & Vision 2030
cordially invite you to the Launch of the inaugural edition of the Kenya
Economic Report (KER) 2009 on Wednesday 28th of October 2009 at the
Kenya School of Monetary Studies starting at 9:00am.

The Kenya Economic Report will be published annually and will primarily
focus on the economic performance of the country over the previous one
year and prospects for the following three years.

The report, produced by KIPPRA in consultation with the Ministry of State
for Planning, National Development & Vision 2030, Ministry of Finance and
Central Bank of Kenya, shall be laid before the National Assembly by the
Minister for Planning, National Development & Vision 2030.

You are cordially invited to attend and cover this function.

Nancy Mathu
PRO
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: kippra launch of kenya econ report 2009.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 35328 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20091027/f59918b2/attachment.doc>

------------------------------

_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet


End of kictanet Digest, Vol 29, Issue 65
****************************************

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com