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-Tanz...
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/MIS201...
@ CS Matiang'i - this could be part of your bedtime
reading collection :-)
walu.
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