Connectivity – Page 5

A solar-powered Internet café for Chad

Of late, the North Central African nation of Chad (Tchad) has remained out of the international spotlight. Chad has also been on the periphery of the African tech scene. Libya and Sudan, neighbors to the north and east, respectively, have “stolen” much of the African news. And that is not necessarily a bad thing – life in Chad is seemingly stable. However, it is going to take more than status quo to improve the quality of life in Chad.

Last year, we found Chad’s progress toward information access rather optimistic, observing that, “published expectations for the Central African Backbone project and the apparent Libyan telecom stake in Sotel both are consistent with Chad’s national ICT policy outline created in 2007.” One year later, with only media reports on the well-funded Central African Backbone progress coming down the line, we are less hopeful that Chad will meet 2011 NICI goal of a completed 1,100km SAT-3/fibre backbone between N’Djamena and Adré and a 100% completed e-government network in N’Djamena.

At least work is underway on these initiatives. Lofty are the final goals for 2012. Will Chad boast 50,000 WiFi subscribers – roughly 5% of N’Djamena’s population – by the end of next year? An August 2011 report by Research and Markets confirms that Chad lacks still true fixed-line broadband, lacks 3G, and lacks international bandwidth. Satellite is the only means to a decent web browsing experience and is unreliable given the sporadic nature of power within the country.

All hope is not lost, however. Thanks to efforts from non-profit organizations like Chad Now, the Internet is gradually (and sustainably) reaching more Chadians. Early next year, Chad Now hopes to establish a solar-powered Internet cafe as part of a broader series of small-scale, short-term development projects. Even though broadband is not available in Chad, Cyber Cafe Chari will demonstrate the significance of computers so that Chadians are ready when the time for even greater innovation comes.

The whole endeavor is described on the hot-off-the-presses ChadNow.org. We’re especially intrigued by the option to test the Internet before paying (and the low access costs to spur local competition):

Chad Now centers the Internet cafe concept on the foundations of affordable startup, sustainable operation, cultural appropriateness, and excellent service. The model cafe, located in a low-income area of Chad’s capital N’Djamena, is comprised of four laptop computers powered by a flexible solar cell system. In addition to simple internet services, the cafe also sells computer accessories and refreshments. Free educational courses make the cafe a learning environment, and free access periods allow locals to try out the internet before paying. Once they do, they pay an hourly rate 30% below market price, a step that expands internet access equity and is made possible by the savings of solar power.”

In fact, Chad Now hopes to use this model to bring Internet access to even more Africans. Guidelines are:

launch costs not to exceed $2,000 (includes two months’ pay for two employees)
laptops running Ubuntu Linux
strategic location to bring immediate clientele
reduced access costs to increase demand and cause other cafe owners to cut costs to compete
offer computer accessories for sale
hosting of local entrepreneurs
free computing classes for local groups

The video at the top of this post explains the solar charging system (battery, wiring, solar panel, controller, power inverter) with the goal of helping others avoid a lengthy trial-and-error process.

The beauty here is how two parties can agree on the benefit of an information society. The Plan de développement des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication au Tchad, cites ICT as a vehicle needed to achieve a climate of peace, justice and democracy. Similarly, Chad Now also seeks to empower Chadians and improve livelihoods in Chad. The timing is certainly right with the arrival of international bandwidth via the Central African Backbone.

Follow @Chad_Now on Twitter.

Read about the effort to film a documentary in N’Djamena (including the creation of Cyber Cafe Chari).

Skim Chad Now’s recent article “Solar-powered Internet Cafés for Sub-Saharan Africa” which cites $190/month cost for 128kbps dial-up access and the unreliability of VSAT during Chad’s rainy season.

November 29, 2011/by actualize

Broadband target for 2015: access to 50% of developing world’s population

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) set a new broadband challenge to the global information and communication technology (ICT) community following ITU Telecom World 2011 held last week in Geneva: ensure that 50% of the world’s population has access to broadband Internet.

The multinational event consisted of a series of conferences that brought together leading industry players, government heads, young digital innovators and technological talents looking to harness the power of technology to address local and global issues.

Broadband challenge

The Broadband Leadership Summit, one of the featured events, sought to address challenges in broadband deployment, because of the crucial role this plays for economic growth and job creation.

According to the World Bank, broadband contributes more to GDP growth than other telecom services (i.e. fixed, mobile and internet) and every 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration generates a 1.3 percent increase in economic growth.

The summit stressed the importance of promoting broadband with concrete policy measures and developing locally relevant content. The Broadband Commission for Digital Development challenged world leaders, governments, industry players and civil society organizations to work together and ensure that at least 50% of the developing world’s population, including 40% in households, are using broadband internet by 2015.

Youth and ICT

To highlight the importance of youth in the ICT sector, ITU also sponsored the inaugural Young Innovator and Digital Innovator competitions, which brought 45 finalists from 22 countries to showcase the latest information and communication (ICT) solutions to today’s challenges.

“Youth are the future, and nowhere is this more true than in our fast-changing industry, where innovation is being driven by a new generation of ‘digital natives’ for whom ICTs are a natural and intrinsic part of the world. I have no doubt that many of the 45 young innovators ITU has hosted this week will go on to big things, and help further reshape our digital world,” Dr. Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General was quoted as saying in ITU’s press release.

Winners, voted by delegates in Geneva and around the world via online polls, were:

Nigerian Fab-Ukozor Somto, one of three winners in the Young Innovators category, won with the MS2C (Mobile Skills to Cash) texting service that matches NGOs, private companies, and public sector opportunities to text-messaged skill-sets of citizens seeking work.

And in the Digital Innovators category, Andrew Benson from Sierra Leone, won with Digital Hope, a service that uses digital tools to empower amputees to sell their own home-made goods.

“The ITU Telecom World 2011 Young Innovators workshops provided a bridging effect to actually help you migrate your idea from theoretical concepts to something that is useable practical and feasible,” young innovator Komborerai Murimba from Zimbabwe was quoted as saying in ITU’s press release.

ITU Telecom World 2011 marks the 40^th anniversary of ITU’s commitment to serving the global ICT community through knowledge-sharing, networking, and connecting innovators in the public, private and civil society sector to apply the power of technology in addressing real world issues.

November 1, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Bringing Global Broadband to the Doorsteps – Money is NOT the Issue?

Photo Credit: 8th Biennial US-Africa Summit

While moderating a session at the just ended US-Africa Business Summit, the immediate past CEO of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO), Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah responded to a question from me about the experience of the panelists on the presence and administration of Universal Service and Access Fund (USAF) in the continent of Africa. In his response, Dr. Spio-Garbrah stated that “money is not the issue when it comes to extending broadband Internet to remote communities across the world for rural people to be able to participate in the information society”. In other words, there might be enough funds to support the deployment of broadband Internet to most rural communities that are currently not connected. So what does this mean to the ‘unconnected communities’? To know that there could be enough funds somewhere but due to the poor administration of the funds, poor management of the funds, or non-utilization of the funds, they are still being left out in the global Internet revolution.

I find the statement made by the moderator very interesting. I wonder if some of the key stakeholders on the panel such as the World Bank, Microsoft, and SEACOM really understood the implications of the statement. In other words, where do we put the blame? On the national governments; on the regulatory and policy environments; or on the telecommunication operating companies? I am wondering if these organizations or corporations are aware of the existence of USAF in some of the countries they are operating in Africa but have not exploited these funds in anyway to support their Puplic-Private-Partnership (PPP) activities. While almost all the panelists have argued that there is so much investment going into infrastructure, policies, applications/services, funding, and regulatory mechanisms to support African countries (in this context), why is it that the administration and management of USAF is still a challenge in most of these countries – at least the countries that have established the fund? What of other countries that have not even initiated USAF due to the poor telecommunication regulatory environment that exist in those countries?

In responding to my question (which was virtually avoided by the panelists), Dr. Spio-Garbrah gave a background to USAF by stating that most countries, through their regulatory bodies have applied a levy of between 1-5% of the total gross income of the operating telecommunication and mobile phone companies to establish USAF. This has resulted in the generation of a large volume of such funds all over the world, which has to be used to ensure access to broadband by all. He cited the World Bank’s estimate some years back about 10 billion dollars that was generated as a result of USAF. But unfortunately, this fund has not been adequately utilized, and in some countries lying down dormant. He stated that this fund is available and can be blended with World Bank funding, USAID funding, and private sector funding to be able to get the broadband to the rural people – the last mile. To get broadband to those who needed the Internet more to be able to perform their basic e-businesses and reduce traveling hundreds of miles to the nearby city once they have access to a simple $30 tablet.

So if it is true that ‘money is not the issue’, then why this picture – I mean the global picture. The under 40% global penetration of Internet – 30.2% to be specific based on the Internet World Statistics for March 2011? But of more interest to me, are the figures from the developing world – Africa, Asia, etc. Looking at the statistics from the figure below, there is no doubt that policy makers, regulators, governments, and donors need to work together to leverage their investments in the ICTs sector in order to benefit the ordinary citizen.

Credit: Internet World Statistics

This also reminds me of a European Union document that argues that despite the numerous success stories about the administration and use of USAF, there are equally a number of horrible stories. The document cited reasons such as funds that have been established in law but have not been operational as many as 5 years later. Others have determined levies, over-collected and under-spent. Still other funds are over spent by providing subsidies for unsuccessful projects, or for inefficient use in projects. Some have initiated projects but have not been able to coordinate them amongst different levels of government and different affected government departments. Some of the funds also have not made their collections and disbursements public on a periodic basis and have not held regular Board or Trustee meetings in order to facilitate project design, development and implementation. All these reasons boil down to the management and administration of the funds.

National governments in the developing nations have the opportunity to better utilize this fund through the GBI’s Universal Service & Access Funds Project which expands awareness/best practices, and provides technical assistance for both new and existing Funds. The GBI Program builds off of earlier successes in supporting USAFs in Asia and Africa through the Last Mile Initiative (LMI).

This blog is my reflection on a session titled “Talking to the Future: Bringing Global Broadband to the Doorsteps”, during the 8th Biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit that was held between October 5-7, 2011 in Washington, DC, organized by the Corporate Council on Africa’s (CCA). Participants came from across the world – Africa, Europe, Asia and US.

October 26, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

3G available in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville)

The title of this video from ABN is misleading – 3G service has been launched for the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and not for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last month, we mentioned that Bharti Airtel had plans to roll-out 3G services in seven African nations. Well, that day has come for Congo-Brazzaville. On paper, October 25, 2011 marks a historic day in the telecommunication chronicles of Central Africa.

Let it sink in. 3G mobile service (HSPA+, 21Mbps) is available in Brazzaville. Press releases and media stories tout the promise of enhanced multimedia functionality for subscribers in the region. Youth will supposedly have faster access to mobile social media. Businesses will be able to perform video calls on-the-go. Indeed, 3G is theoretically supposed to close the “digital divide,” but will it instead worsen the gap with the wealthy using the service and the poor still relying on 2G, cafes, or no access at all?

ABNDigital’s interview with Tiemoko Coulibaly, CEO Airtel Africa, Francophone leaves many answers on the table:

When asked why it took so long to get 3G to central Africa, he replied that governments take time to issues licenses.
Infrastructure? Something along the lines of 2G systems serving as a basis.
Demand? …is important. Youth are especially interested and “the demand is there.”
Local ecosystem? IBM is taking care of IT needs and will help build local ecosystem.

Either way, the Republic of Congo’s Internet situation has come a long way since 2009 when one hour of unreliable Internet access could cost upwards of CDF 1,000 (nearly 2 USD). Progress takes time. 3G access from Airtel will encourage competitors to also offer 3G (or 4G, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves) – a move that will eventually lower prices and increase the quality of service. For now, though, we should applaud the government of Congo-Brazzaville for awarding a 3G license and hope they give the technology the support it needs to benefit the people.

October 26, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Connectivity, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

What a Crowd! Sourcing through Stories, Ideas and Questions @ ITU Telecom World 2011

Photo Credit: ITU

ITU Telecom World 2011 takes off in Geneva today with live webcasts of key events from the Opening Ceremony at 12.00-13.00 CET to the Closing Address at 16.00-17.00 CET on Thursday 27th. The forum brings together industry CEOs and world leaders, digital experts, technology gurus, and grassroots technology pioneers to tackle core issues shaping the global ICT landscape in the age of broadband technology through knowledge sharing, networking, deal making, and consensus building.

An interesting feature of this years’ forum in which Telecentre.org is collaborating with ITU to bring to bare is the opportunity for the whole world to get involved through a new model of ‘crowdsourcing.’ Crowdsourcing enables firms, organizations, foundations etc. to open up an “issue” to the public (away from a small pool of experts) and seek solution from as many ‘crowd’ as possible. Allows companies or institutions to take functions once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undeﬁned (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call. It is gradually being seen as a web-based business model that harnesses the creative solutions through distributed network of individuals.

Several months prior to the forum, the power of crowdsourcing was used to gather rich contributions from the general public through stories created through videos, ideas, and questions.

Over 30 stories presented through videos have been uploaded at the site. Stories cover issues such as making affordable broadband access to thousands of SMBs in the tourism industry in Vietnam; using mobile phones and TRACnet in Rwanda to help with the treatment and prevention of AIDS; deploying mobile and web tools to enable citizen reporters to give early warning about human rights violation, among others.

There are over 100 ideas brought up by people across the world from using “Justxt.org” mobile platform to empower victims of corruption by giving them the ability to anonymously report demands for bribes via cell phone using a simple SMS (UK); QUICKSMSs that will allow secondary schools to communicate with student and parents instantly (Rwanda); integration of a VoIP service on GSM mobile to allow two or more people with the Internet service on their mobile phones to communicate for free (Benin); real time validation of mobile phone “Sim Cards” for authenticity of the user to prevent cheating and fraud (India) and a host of other ideas.

The number of questions posed was rather small but covering issues such as standards in place to promote universal experience on the Internet for people with disabilities; regulatory bodies or authorities to ensure full access to the Internet by people with disabilities (USA); the challenge of achieving a digital economy whilst the digital divide is alive and well; the need for telecommunication companies, governments, and ISPs to work together to cement freedom of the internet for everyone (USA); how are governments measuring the impact of their policies for stimulating growth, GDP and employment, from the use of ICT (UK); and what or how much would it take to completely bridge the digital divide gap in our world (Lesotho).

Highlights of the 3-day program include “Pathway to a Connected World” on Tuesday that will feature ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré; Igor Shchegolev, Minister of Communications and Mass Media, Russian Federation; Jianzhou Wang, Chairman & CEO, China Mobile; and Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy, Australia and will be moderated by BBC World presenter Nik Gowing. The discussion will continue on Wednesday on “Digital Cities”, an issue centred around the challenges of urbanization, the Digital Cities stream features leading stakeholders in city development, including mayors of the world’s major cities, digital innovators, utility experts, industry CEOs and city planning and transport specialists. The Thursday session titled “Heads in the Cloud” will examine the rapid spread of cloud computing, and taking a look at questions around how people, organizations, and governments will handle information and interactions in the cloud environment.

Live sessions will be streamed and for full coverage visit the ITU Telecom World 2011 site and also follow events on Facebook and through the @ITU_News twitter account #ITUworld11.

October 25, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Bringing Global Broadband to the Doorsteps: Who is Doing What in Africa?

US-Africa Summit

Since the field of information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) has been cautioned not be a standalone sector but rather integrated into the existing areas of development, successful projects have seen a number of collaborations among development partners. The recently ended 8th Biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit organized by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in Washington, DC epitomized such collaborations.

One of the workshops at the summit on “Talking to the Future: Bringing Global Broadband to the Doorsteps”, brought together panelists from the World Bank, Microsoft, SEACOM, the Island of Tenerife, and the Nigerian Identity Management Commission to discuss efforts that are being put in place to deliver broadband Internet to remote communities. Areas covered include infrastructure development such as data centers, fiber optic cables and Internet exchange points; regulatory environment; identity management to ensure safe use of the Internet; innovative technologies and their applications in education, health, agriculture, and other sectors; and local content development that includes Africans themselves.

Image Credit: GBI

The discussion took off with an intellectual introduction from the moderator – the immediate past CEO of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO), Dr. Ekwow-Spio Garbrah using the acronym “PROFIT” to describe the broadband Internet environment. A sound Policy environment to ensure availability and accessibility to the net; the Regulatory environment by national countries to allow for free and fair competitive market; a smooth Operating environment by the companies; the Funding or Financing of broadband to accelerate infrastructure development; development of the physical Infrastructure itself; and the Technologies associated with the infrastructure for effective functioning. This opened the ground for each panelist to fit their areas of operation into one or more of these “PROFIT” areas.

The World Bank

The presentation by Mr. Doyle Gallegos from the World Bank seems to cover almost all the areas of broadband deployment under the ‘PROFIT’ acronym. According to the Bank, ICTs are the most significant tools that can be used to fight poverty right now and the bank is doing everything possible to deliver low-cost value added service to the population. The bank’s primary role is to provide finances for infrastructure but at the same time, it gives technical assistance to governments to promote right enabling environment, assists its clients to create legislation, right national ICTs policies, and right regulations in order to promote private sector development. Over the last 5 years, the World Bank has invested an amount of USD 700 billion into the ICT sector through private investment guarantees and ICT is one of the best performing sectors in the World Bank Group’s portfolio, both in terms of returns and development impact

The bank is also ensuring that people learn how to use the ICTs, and how to use digital computers. Also in the area of infrastructure sharing through open access, lowering the cost of use of these technologies to ensure the access to broadband, open access legislation, and pricing mechanisms. The World Bank is also concern with the issues of spectrum management and considers it as a biggest potential problem in the growing area of data communications, and data traffic in the future. It is therefore doing everything possible to ensure that spectrum become available to entrepreneurs, mobile operators, new emerging operations that we haven’t seen through simple sharing blocks. It is also involved in innovative Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) to invest in regional networks in Africa – East, West, Central Africa, etc.

Mr Gallegos stated that national governments in Africa have to open up and partner with private businesses. Other areas touched by the speaker include data centers, IXP, e-legislation, – e-commerce, e-documents, m-banking, etc. It concluded that a lot have been done but the bank still need to put in more.

SEACOM

Mr Brian Herlihy from SEACOM – a privately owned and operated pan-African ICT enabled company that is driving the development of the African Internet also emphasized the company’s efforts in infrastructure development projects in East Africa that is being replicated in West Africa through the development of the fiber optic cables. The company is also involved in a number of innovative commercial solutions to exploit other commercial relationships. SEACOM is known to have financed and developed the first broadband submarine cable system along the eastern and southern African coastlines, bringing with it a vast supply of high quality and affordable Internet.

The Island of Tenerife

Mr. Carlos Alonso Rodríguez, the Vice President of the Island of Tenerife – the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, agreed with the previous speakers about the fact that mobile Internet services may not be the answer to Africa and other developing nations even though it is having significant impact across. As a result, the government of Tenerife is investing in infrastructure development through fiber optic cables and data centers.

The Island is also using a publicly funded approach to developing the state of the art data centers across the country, a model that the representative argued, could be used in the continent of Africa and the Latin American countries. This approach brings the issue about the pros and cons of publicly funded infrastructure projects in the ICT sector in the developing nation. In order to benefit from these investments, the Island is also investing in the services sector through the use of e-education, e-governance, among others to benefit the ordinary people and to be able to generate revenue from the investment.

Through the ALiX Project, Tenerife is expected to enhance its competitiveness in the global telecommunications market. The project will become a Neutral Access Point for West Africa and the Canary Islands, developing cable connectivity between new and existing African and Latin American submarine cables and creating the southern gateway to Europe for telecommunications.

Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC)

Mr Chris E. Onyemenam, the Director General of Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC) narrated the country’s experience in terms of the application of ICTs – that is the content for development. He recounted the weak experience of Nigeria in the ICTs sector for some years back but through the leadership of the former military leader, General Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria has made remarkable progress through the development of national telecommunication policies and the focus on ICTs. He argues that the Internet communication is till low in Nigeria with the mobile sector moving very fast and efforts are in place to “leapfrog”.

In order to leverage on the mobile and broadband Internet penetration in the country for positive impact on the various sectors, the national identification efforts was introduced in 2007 across government agencies to optimize the use of the scarce resources. Prior to NIMC, the various identification schemes, including the database and issuance of identification cards both in private and public sectors, resided with the respective organizations. There has been no unique set of principles, practices, policies, processes and procedures that are used to realize the desired outcomes related to identity.

The NIMC program started with the registration of all citizens of Nigeria who at the commencement of the Act have attained or who thereafter attain the age of 18, and issuance of a National Identity Card (NIC). This was aimed at controlling illegal immigrations to the country, validation of other civic documents like passports, setting up a reliable personal identification system for the purpose of secure commercial transactions with financial institutions, etc.

Instead of waiting till 18 years, the NIMC is in the process of registering Nigerian at birth to address issues such as fraud and multiple identities. At the moment, the national identification database is being established and will be maintained and managed by Nigerians. Other steps that are being taken include, assignment and issuance of a unique National Identification Number to individuals who have been registered, introduction and issuance of General Multipurpose Cards, undertaking of data harmonization, administration and provision of secure connectivity to existing systems, and provision of card acceptance devices and other identity services alone or in partnership with third parties.

With the issues of ‘419’ in Nigeria i.e. identity fraud, theft issues, and misrepresentations, the system is designed and based on the assumption that ‘if you cannot stop them from illegally acquiring the passport, then you can manage the process”. And this is being done through the registration and issuing of ID for legal residents and at birth. This will make it difficult for individuals to engage in future fraud activities.

Microsoft

Dorothy Dwoskin, Senior Trade Policy Director from Microsoft stated that, as a technology developing company – hardware and software, the company believes that technology could act as an engine of growth and development. The company believes that access to market is great but we also need the goods and services to be able to get to the market. As a result, the company has a priority to make the good and services get to the final consumer across the finished line. Microsoft works with local entrepreneurs to ensure market through business information centers, and digital literacy.

Microsoft is also working with AECOM on a USAID program to help find some very important solution to simple problems that ultimately facilitate trade. AECOM has been implementing the Trade Facilitation and Capacity Building Project in a number of African countries including Malawi, Namibia, and South Africa to effectively manage the Southern Africa Trade Hub that was established to assist Southern African businesses to take greater advantage of the global trade initiatives. The Hub is designed to function as a central point where local enterprises can gain access to US markets through business linkages, capacity building services, and problem-solving trade facilitation.

At the moment custom information and data has to be entered manually at each post or each country thereby giving chances for fraud and delay in the clearance process as good and services are traded between countries. It is believed that a days’ delay in goods and services from one country to another has a negative impact on the overall GDP of the country. But at the moment with the manual custom clearance activities, Botswana has about 28 days of delay, Namibia has around 29 days delay, and South Africa has 30 days for clearing goods and services at the customs.

“So if we can automate the activities of custom and clearing agencies, it will be good for business and trade for governments by increasing competitiveness and revenue stream of companies and governments,” Said Ms Dwoskin. Automating information to reduce these long days of clearing goods and services at these ports will facilitate trade. Microsoft is therefore helping to create a single unified approach so that transactions between these countries is automated so that by the time the good moves from one country to another, the information/data entered at one points is already available at the other end. Connecting all computers so that once the data is entered at one point, information is shared among all others on the network.

According to Ms. Dwoskin, Microsoft is also concern with local content and therefore ensuring local software development in wherever it goes, and in Africa the company has strong base by using the local people to develop local content or local software that are relevant to Africa’s economy.

Other questions and responses led to the “5As” acronym of broadband Internet namely Access; Affordability; Availability; Adoptability; and Adaptability. Also in terms of relevant content with broadband utilization, instead of ‘3G’ which some refer to as ‘Girls, Games and Gambling’, Africa needs ‘4Es’ – Employment; Empowerment; Education; and Enterprise.

In all, the discussion centered around various ways of innovating upon traditional broadband capabilities in order to aid in the development of growing markets, the possibility of introducing e-commerce solutions for micro-financed businesses, and the feasibility of streamlining/optimizing regulatory frameworks to work in favor of spectrum coordination in times when rapid deployment and cross-border mobile and wireless communication may be needed to deal with emergency situations.

Broadband in itself is not a business, and therefore investing in broadband requires that services and applications are implemented after building the infrastructure.

October 20, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Providing Connectivity doesn’t Guarantee Women Have Access

Despite efforts over the past several years, to bring ICTs to rural areas of Uganda, assessments show most of these initiatives have been dominated by men. In the Rwenzori Region of Western Uganda, Toro Development Network (ToroDev) works to make sure women have access to this connectivity as well. More gender sensitive intervention is needed to enable the local population generate and exchange reliable information in a relevant local content on their own, enhance gender advocacy and sensitization programmes that target to improve the status of women and share knowledge by building an electronic community and networks, especially in the agricultural and agro-business sector. Over 80% rural women depend on small-scale agriculture and agro-business sector in the region.

Many gender, social, cultural beliefs marginalize women in all aspects of positive livelihoods in this region including access and use of quality information. ICTs cannot sustainably impact the Rwenzori rural community of Western Uganda (Kabarole and Kyenjojo districts) unless the women, who make up 63% of the total population, are given special attention. Customized ICT-enabled production, capacity/skills building and marketing tools that empower women in the agricultural sector are therefore imperative in this case.

What Toro Development Network (ToroDev) does to address this issue:

ToroDev is a community based NGO established in 2005 to promote the use of appropriate ICTs for sustainable and gender sensitive socio-economic community development of both men and women in the rural Rwenzori region of western Uganda. Its current operations cover the districts of Kabarole and Kyenjojo. For the past two years, ToroDev has been involved in community ICT4D awareness programmes using two community radios, holding sensitization workshops and writing ICT4D articles in local newspapers and bulletins with special attention on building the lobbying capacity of the marginalized youth and women to access and use relevant community information on their own[4] and communicate their development needs to local leaders – Local government and eventually influence ICT policy formulation at central government level.

At the beginning of 2006, after a community Information Needs Assessment survey, ToroDev embarked on a campaign of establishing of an ICT4D Research and Resource Centre in the Toro community (Kabarole and Kyenjojo districts) of the Rwenzori Region. The centre would later support its research, documentation, lobbying and advocacy, train rural men and women and facilitate knowledge sharing for best production practices among small-scale farmers and help them to access quality marketing opportunities at local, regional and international levels. This project was nominated and selected finalist in the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award 2008. The project has so far brought together ten (10) main community based NGOs in the region to contribute resources and establish a bigger community owned telecentre facility “Kabarole Information Centre” whose one aim, among many others, is to train 700 women community development workers by 2011.

ToroDev approaches the improvement of small-scale agricultural production in the region using customized, affordable and relevant Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). These are tools that efficiently facilitate cheap and instant access to information from community, regional, national and international level streams. Through the partnership with instititutions like SATNET (Sustainable Agricultural Trainers Network) IMARK (Information Management Resource Kit) group in collaboration with FAO, CTA and APC, ToroDev is piloting the strategy of “Building Electronic Communities and Networks” through training community workers how to use simple modern Web 2.0 Tools[5] to produce and manage agricultural information in the two districts of Kabarole and Kyenjojo. This information is needed by local small scale farmers to improve their production practices, add value to their products and have opportunities to access regional, national and international markets. Over 80% women living in these two rural districts make their livelihood out of small scale farming. Effective use of simple ICT4D (Web 2.0) tools reduces production and post harvest costs like transportation of agricultural produce to nearest market places, increase rural women farmers total revenues and therefore, improve their livelihoods and those of their community members.

Johnstone Baguma-Kumaraki, the Author is Executive Director, Toro Development Network (ToroDev)

October 14, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

South Sudan joins ITU, dialing code goes live!

The International Telecommunication Union is proud to announce that the world’s newest country, South Sudan, has joined ITU to become the Union’s 193rd Member State, effective from 3 October 2011.

The country, which gained its independence on 9 July, 2011 has already been allocated the international dialling code +211 by ITU, following the country’s recognition by the UN General Assembly. The dialling code became active on 28 September 2011.

“We are delighted to be able to welcome South Sudan as an ITU member state so soon after attaining full nationhood. The government of South Sudan clearly recognizes the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) as an engine of social and economic development. We will work alongside the national authorities to leverage the power of technology, to help lift the country to new levels and fulfill the national motto of ‘Justice, Liberty, Prosperity’,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.

The accession of South Sudan as an ITU Member State implies its adhesion to the Radio Regulations, the international treaty which governs the use of radiocommunications among the world’s nations, giving it full access rights to the frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources managed by ITU.

A high-level ITU delegation led by Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, recently met with government ministers in South Sudan with the aim of acquiring first-hand information on the country’s needs and challenges in the area of ICT development. The first such visit by ITU, the mission paves the way for the delivery of focused assistance to the country as it embarks on its development path.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Notes from ITU’s ‘Measuring the Information Society 2011′

A couple of weeks ago, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), regarded as the source for Internet statistics, released a report on Internet usage habits in 152 countries around the world. The title: “Measuring the Information Society 2011.” Of interest to many is the ICT Development Index which ranks nations by number of subscriptions, type of subscription, broadband availability, cost of access, and level of education. This ranking only goes so far, however, and the value of comparing African ICT benchmarks with global stats is marginal.

In addition to the tables of global rankings, however, are pages of analysis and notes. Recent data hails mostly from 2010 with 2008 used as a reference. Below are some of the nuggets we found useful for painting a picture of how African nations are progressing in terms of Internet adoption:

The ITU revised the definition of wireless-broadband subscriptions in 2010 and group it into three indicators: satellite broadband, terrestrial fixed wireless-broadband, and terrestrial mobile wireless. Terrestrial mobile wireless subscriptions include (a) standard mobile subscriptions with use of data communications at broadband speeds (i.e. mobile-cellular subscriptions with advertised data speeds of 256 kbit/s or greater and which have been used to set up an Internet data connection) and (b) dedicated mobile data subscriptions at broadband speeds. (9)
Approximately 63% of the ICT Development Index is based on 6 factors: International Internet bandwidth per Internet user, Percentage of households with a computer, percentage of households with Internet access, Percentage of individuals using the Internet, fixed-broadband Internet subscriptions per inhabitant, and active mobile-broadband subscriptions per inhabitant. (10)
Kenya has seen a 28% change in IDI value since 2008, making it one of the fastest growing Internet markets. The reason: large cellular subscription growth and an increase in Internet bandwidth capacity (especially from 2009-2010). As of December 2010, Kenya had 10.2 million Internet users, or 26% of the population. (17)
Morocco has witnessed nearly a 300% increase in international bandwidth since 2008. Internet penetration rates are up nearly 50% in thanks to the adoption of mobile broadband, which has gone from 2.3% to 10% penetration over the past two years. Fixed broadband growth is flat, however, in part due to Maroc Telecom’s monopoly. (18)
Comoros saw bandwidth increase 1000% after connecting to a submarine cable in 2010. Madagascar now has over 10x the International capacity it did in 2008. (30)
Mobile broadband subscriptions have doubled globally between 2008-2010. At least 150 nations have 3G mobile broadband networks as of 2010. Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Togo, and Zimbabwe did not have 3G as of 2010. (35,42)
The number of fixed broadband subscriptions decreased in Kenya from 2009 to 2010. Kenya’s Internet penetration rate, as reported by CCK, was 9% in 2008. (37)
All African nations apart from Angola, Gabon, Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, and South Africa have less than 5% of households connected to the Internet. Only Cape Verde, Mauritius, Seychelles, and South Africa have a broadband penetration rate greater than 1%. (41)
Djibouti and Mauritania saw little progress in terms of international connectivity. Djibouti is one of the few nations with under 20% mobile penetration. (43)
Broadband Internet costs 112% of gross national income in developing countries as opposed to 1.5% in developed countries. The monthly cost for Internet in Guinea, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia is >10x the average monthly income. (71)
Broadband prices dropped by 96% in Burkina Faso, 51% in Malawi, 61% in Ethiopia, 92% in Nigeria, 47% in Swaziland, 90% in Uganda, 81% in Mozambique, 77% in Kenya, but only 8% in Guinea. The African (non-Arab state) average is 55%. (74,76)
Kenya’s international bandwidth has grown from 829 Mbit/s in 2008 to 202,000 Mbit/s in 2010. (76)
Broadband definition now is 4 Mbps download, 1 Mbps upload. (86)
36% of Ghana’s population is covered by 3G. (87)
Terrestrial backbone networks’ length grew from 466,000km to 646,000km from July 2009 to Q1 2011. 4.4% of the population lived within 25km of a submarine cable landing point. 31% lived within the same distance of a backbone access point. Senegal has a high percentage, and Gabon soon will too. (100)
7% of African nations collect household data on Internet usage habits. (108)
Internet usage is strongly correlated with income. In Botswana (2008), 2% of people in the bottom 75% of income levels accessed the Internet. 19% of people in the upper 25% income bracket accessed the Internet. (113)
In Namibia, 81% of Internet users use a social network. 17% of mobile owners access social networks via mobile application. 23% of mobile owners used their phones to access the Internet. However, only 13% of the population actually uses the Internet. Most using it for the first time still do so on a computer or laptop. (125)
No broadband (fixed or mobile) as of 2010 in: Chad, Comoros, DRC, Guinea, Niger. 1-in-1000 broadband users in Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Togo, Zambia. (154-5)

Also, be sure to read TechZim’s summary of the ITU report’s findings on Zimbabwe. Ghana Business Review wrote an insightful article on how Ghana’s global ICT ranking has changed (actually dropped) since 2008.

Note: Unfortunately, much of the African household survey data is from 2007/2008 when Research ICT Africa conducted extensive research. So, although most of the trends are probably still true, the exact numbers used in the later sections of the report have undoubtedly changed greatly.

September 29, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’: Implications for ICT4D

Credit: FTC

The 11^th annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) ended in Armenia City, Colombia on Friday September 23^rd with the adoption of innovative regulatory measures labeled as “smart regulation for a broadband world” to promote the roll out of Internet broadband globally.

In light of the enormous potential benefits of broadband, ‘access’ has become a determining factor for individuals, communities, nations and regions. But what makes the outcome of the Colombia symposium more interesting is the agreement on a range of policy issues that must be addressed as broadband expands. These are summarized in the ‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’ idea of the symposium, which brought up some best practice guidelines aimed at advancing the deployment of broadband connectivity worldwide. This includes:

a) M-banking services and the role of regulators

b) Wireless broadband spectrum pricing

c) Satellite regulation

d) Open access regulation

e) Setting national broadband policies, strategies and plans

f) Financing universal access/service

g) E-waste and recycling and the role of regulators

h) Protecting rights, such as intellectual property, of all stakeholders in a digital ecosystem

i) Regional initiatives to foster broadband connectivity

The successful implementation of each of the above nine policy issues in any country depends on the national telecommunication regulatory apparatus of the country. The symposium pointed out clearly how years of regulatory reforms play an essential role in creating an environment where new technologies can flourish. The ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Brahima Sanou stated “the development of robust and flexible regulatory frameworks can help developing countries leapfrog technologies and make the best use of new developments in ICTs”. The ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré also explained that, increased access to the Internet – and broadband in particular – will allow for more effective delivery of services to meet the Millennium Development Goals as e-applications such as e-health, e-education, and e-governance that are able to reach even the remotest corners of the world. The statement concluded that this would only change when broadband becomes more affordable and the GSR can facilitate this by advocating a combination of increased capacity and competition.

Broadband – high speed Internet continues to play a pivotal role as an enabler of change in the global economy by affecting virtually every sector, especially the services sector that rely on the provision of data and information. Countries participating in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have set the ambitious goal of connecting all villages of the world to ICTs by 2015, including establishing community access points, and connecting universities, schools, libraries, post offices, health centers, and local governments. Considered as the right of every citizen, Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen, beginning July 1^st 2010. Every Finn will have the right to access at least 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection and to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

Internet broadband has the potential to spur rapid economic growth and facilitate job creation. According to a recent UN report, broadband plays an essential role in the creation of ‘Knowledge Societies’, which are based on the principles of freedom of expression; universal access to information and knowledge; respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, and high quality education for all. Access to broadband ensures full participation of all in the Information Society, a major policy goal, and the implementation of which brings all the benefits and transformational opportunities of ICTs.

The Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) is an annual event held in different regions worldwide that is aimed at fostering constructive exchange of information among national regulatory authorities. It is a unique forum to share regulatory best practices at the global level. Held for the first time in Latin America, the eleventh GSR focused on innovative regulatory measures to promote the roll out of broadband globally. This years’ symposium saw as many as 504 participants attending, including 243 representatives from 72 countries and Palestine. In addition, 261 representatives from 42 public and private sector companies as well as regional and international organizations participated.

In a nutshell, Internet broadband in itself is not an end: it is an important means of meeting a wide variety of goals in highly diverse sectors. For the ICT4D dreams to be realized, governments must ensure sound development and implementation of national broadband plans or risk losing the benefits of the global high-speed digital communications. The potential for using high speed Internet technology to help expand access and quality of health care through telemedicine – the delivery of quality health care services through ICTs are valuable than ever. High speed Internet is enhancing every level of education from kindergarten through high school to college to graduate school. It is empowering people with disabilities to become more independent, and the utility of community and public libraries that serve the majority is increased. It has become a catalyst for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the UN.

September 27, 2011/by actualize

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