Barrack,   We definately need a comprehensive policy on broadband spear- headed by the Minister of Information & Communications to compliment their 2008 - 2012 Strategic Plan if the country is to realize the vision 2030 dream.  The Ministry has already implemented what I guess is their Phase I (TEAMS cable). The second phase is well underway I believe including the digital villages which should ensure accessible, affordable, efficient, and realiable ICT services throughout the country. Most importantly the broadband policy should specially outline safeguards to ensure broadband deployment nationally while at the same time preserving and promoting open and interconnected networks allowing consumers to access internet content of their choice.  In addition the consumers should have the ability to run applications and services of their choice, as well as to connect via their choice of network devices.  The consumers should also be entitled to choose network providers, application and service providers, and content providers which should help competition perhaps encourage [tongue in cheek] another "Bharti" out there to do to data what they did to cell services.   LK --- On Wed, 7/6/11, [ Brainiac ] <[email protected]> wrote: On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 9:34 PM, Barrack Otieno <[email protected]> wrote: Dear Listers, •       As a nation do we need a comprehensive policy on broadband, if so what should it contain? •       Does the current ICT Policy ensure that the country maximizes on the potential of the available broadband? the floor is open, feel free to continue contributing to the previous threads. Best Regards -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list [email protected] http://orion.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 -- “The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy” ~  Alex Carey ~ Tel No: 0x2af23696 -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lkimani%40yahoo.com 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.

Thank you Brainiac, Sam Gatere, Lucy Kimani and Francis Hook, you all raise important points. I would just like to stress on the defination of broadband and Service Level agreements as emphasised in your posting, why does it take bashing on lists for companies to honour their Service level obligations, is there a way we can reign in on this poor services from a policy and regulatory perspective? On Thu, Jul 7, 2011 at 7:46 AM, Francis Hook <[email protected]> wrote:

I concur. At IDC for the purpose of measuring BB connections, we take 256k as minimum speeds, especially in emerging markets. In more developed nations, when talking about national brooadband policies (and in some countries it is seen as a "right" alongside access to electricity, water, housing, etc), the definitions range from 1 to 4 Mbps.

Also agree - SLAs - very crucial. In Kenya its too common to see ISPs touting 1Mbps speeds and overlooking to mention that contention rates could be anything between 4-8.....and sometimes seeming to be up to 16 :-) like I am experiencing with our current provider....finally SLA's in terms of availability and speeds...

On 6 July 2011 21:38, [ Brainiac ] <[email protected]> wrote:

...

For starters I think so as not to confuse the public the use of the term broadband should be accompanied by a definition and a service level agreement. :-( !

On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 9:34 PM, Barrack Otieno <[email protected]>wrote:

...

Dear Listers,

• As a nation do we need a comprehensive policy on broadband, if so what should it contain? • Does the current ICT Policy ensure that the country maximizes on the potential of the available broadband?

the floor is open, feel free to continue contributing to the previous threads.

Best Regards

-- Barrack O. Otieno

+254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list [email protected] http://orion.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

-- *“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy”*

~ Alex Carey ~

Tel No: 0x2af23696

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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 not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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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 not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

-- Barrack O. Otieno Afriregister Ltd (Kenya) www.afrire <http://www.afriregister.com>gister.bi, www.afriregister.com<http://www.afriergister.com> <http://www.afriregister.com>ICANN accredited registrar +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno

My question is who should set this defination, is it the industry or the regulator or both? On Thu, Jul 7, 2011 at 2:08 PM, [ Brainiac ] <[email protected]> wrote:

I suggest for all intents and purposes that the absolute minimum for what constitutes as broadband be defined (i propose 1Mbps, 1:4 Max with a SLA) and some way be established to prevent ISPs calling their services broadband.

On Thu, Jul 7, 2011 at 1:36 PM, Barrack Otieno <[email protected]>wrote:

...

Thank you Brainiac, Sam Gatere, Lucy Kimani and Francis Hook, you all raise important points. I would just like to stress on the defination of broadband and Service Level agreements as emphasised in your posting, why does it take bashing on lists for companies to honour their Service level obligations, is there a way we can reign in on this poor services from a policy and regulatory perspective?

On Thu, Jul 7, 2011 at 7:46 AM, Francis Hook <[email protected]>wrote:

...

I concur. At IDC for the purpose of measuring BB connections, we take 256k as minimum speeds, especially in emerging markets. In more developed nations, when talking about national brooadband policies (and in some countries it is seen as a "right" alongside access to electricity, water, housing, etc), the definitions range from 1 to 4 Mbps.

Also agree - SLAs - very crucial. In Kenya its too common to see ISPs touting 1Mbps speeds and overlooking to mention that contention rates could be anything between 4-8.....and sometimes seeming to be up to 16 :-) like I am experiencing with our current provider....finally SLA's in terms of availability and speeds...

On 6 July 2011 21:38, [ Brainiac ] <[email protected]> wrote:

...

For starters I think so as not to confuse the public the use of the term broadband should be accompanied by a definition and a service level agreement. :-( !

On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 9:34 PM, Barrack Otieno < [email protected]> wrote:

...

Dear Listers,

• As a nation do we need a comprehensive policy on broadband, if so what should it contain? • Does the current ICT Policy ensure that the country maximizes on the potential of the available broadband?

the floor is open, feel free to continue contributing to the previous threads.

Best Regards

-- Barrack O. Otieno

+254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list [email protected] http://orion.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

-- *“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy”*

~ Alex Carey ~

Tel No: 0x2af23696

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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 not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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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.

-- Barrack O. Otieno Afriregister Ltd (Kenya) www.afrire <http://www.afriregister.com>gister.bi, www.afriregister.com<http://www.afriergister.com> <http://www.afriregister.com>ICANN accredited registrar +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno

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-- *“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy”*

~ Alex Carey ~

Tel No: 0x2af23696

_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list [email protected] http://orion.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

-- Barrack O. Otieno Afriregister Ltd (Kenya) www.afrire <http://www.afriregister.com>gister.bi, www.afriregister.com<http://www.afriergister.com> <http://www.afriregister.com>ICANN accredited registrar +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno

I would suggest that we set Broadband as 1 Mbps, 256 Kbps is Edge, and a low limit would not help the country in attaining much in this age of video streaming and other data hungry applications

if we begin to cite types of technology (EDGE) then perhaps we also need to define whether its mobile BB or Fixed (wired or wireless) BB. I'd say for nationally *relevant* broadband, a greater chunk should be fixed (for education institutions, healthcare, govt, etc). Of course there will be pockets where Mobile BB will be relevant....but having said that, devices for fixed BB are more pervasive/accessible. On a side note - while we have operators offering 3G, I'd be wary of calling that mobile BB if you can only get the service within major cities....and step down to EDGE outside the cities :-) Not quite mobile is it? On 9 July 2011 22:04, Dennis Kioko <[email protected]> wrote:

I would suggest that we set Broadband as 1 Mbps, 256 Kbps is Edge, and a low limit would not help the country in attaining much in this age of video streaming and other data hungry applications _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet

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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.

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Dennis, the national BB infrastructure is largely in place - NOFBI as well as other players like KDN and KPLC. I guess "backhauling" it from the routes it passes through to rural areas is the next step (and of course propagating the last mile after that). On 11 July 2011 09:29, Dennis Kioko <[email protected]> wrote:

There is also the proposed national Broadband network , LTE. I guess should be operational by end of 2012 On 11 July 2011 08:53, Francis Hook <[email protected]> wrote:

...

if we begin to cite types of technology (EDGE) then perhaps we also need to define whether its mobile BB or Fixed (wired or wireless) BB. I'd say for nationally *relevant* broadband, a greater chunk should be fixed (for education institutions, healthcare, govt, etc). Of course there will be pockets where Mobile BB will be relevant....but having said that, devices for fixed BB are more pervasive/accessible.

On a side note - while we have operators offering 3G, I'd be wary of calling that mobile BB if you can only get the service within major cities....and step down to EDGE outside the cities :-) Not quite mobile is it?

On 9 July 2011 22:04, Dennis Kioko <[email protected]> wrote:

...

I would suggest that we set Broadband as 1 Mbps, 256 Kbps is Edge, and a low limit would not help the country in attaining much in this age of video streaming and other data hungry applications _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet

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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.

-- Francis Hook +254 733 504561

-- with Regards:

blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>

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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.

-- Francis Hook +254 733 504561