Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dean Mulozi on May 11, 2009 at 5:49pm

HI Isutsa,
Very interesting issue for Africa. The cost of connectivity tend very high epecially to most of Agrica Countires such as Zambia. We have just completed the the two fibre optic cables with a potential of linking Zambia through Northen and and Southern Coridors.

I presume the completion is poised to easy and improve broadband acces to rural villages. But the challenges still remain, what will be the cost of access to the service.

Permalink Reply by Francis Mwathi on May 11, 2009 at 7:39pm

I think that broadband is going to be an incredibly powerful addition to just about every aspect of life .Certainly in business it's vital for linkages with customers, suppliers, with reducing transaction costs, with breaking monopolies, providing market information.

It will enable schools and universities throughout Africa that have almost no books or libraries right now to have access to global libraries online. And this will, change education significantly from the primary school level up through universities and in research communities as well, which up until now have been tremendously hindered with a lack of timely access to cutting edge scientific information.

It's going to change healthcare. We already know of the expansion of ambulance and other emergency medical services increasingly being carried on mobile networks. Broadband will enable a deeper integration of these emergency networks with the primary health system. Telemedicine will really play a role and there are some very good models in India for large-scale telemedicine based on broadband that will be transferred to Africa.
Financial services are supported both by mobile phones and by computers and so broadband will quickly bring financial services into communities that did not have them before. I actually think that we've turned the corner on the digital divide -- not that it's closed but that a gap that seemed to be widening pretty relentlessly is now going to be narrowing in the coming years and I think narrowing quite quickly. We'll find that it's in business, it's in emergency services, it's in public education, it's in primary healthcare, banking, distance learning, scientific communications, entertainment and all the rest, and this will make a very big difference.

Permalink Reply by Wandila Simon on May 14, 2009 at 6:24pm

We hope this development will be the race to promoting the use of ICTs in africa.I think similar initiatives to increase the availability of personal computers to schools, NGOs working in different areas , government institutions e.t.c. so that they can be cheaply accessed . An example of this is the use of refurbished computers. There are organisations like computer aid international of UK and Interconnection.org of America that does that yet shipping costs are still not affordable by most people and or organisations. So the efforts of easy Internet access coupled with the supply of personal computers at a low cost , with government policies favouring the implementation of ICTs will revamp the internet connectivity to villages in Africa.

Permalink Reply by Alan Foo on May 27, 2009 at 11:24am

Dear Isutsa Shileche Moses,

Broadband is one of the ways to reach out to the rural people. However for education, it may not be an ideal solution.

One thing broadband is very expensive to layout nationally to reach all. it is okay for cities where the economy of scale is there. Even in many cities real broadband coverage are not there .

It is one thing to be able to provide broadband services, it is another to get the end users able to afford to pay for the services besides the high ended computers, monthly payments and modems.

As for education, using flash/php contents, if the entire country is to log in at say 8 am, can the server handle it? The server would be like under DDOS attack. So take note of this, be prepared and do take note of this possibility.

Broadband however should continue to be laid out if the country can afford it because besides education it can be useful for other purposes too ... like VOIP, Internet access etc.

If you are in the area of closing divdies through education, perhaps we can communicate on how to help your country? We can even monitor the students' performance for the entire country (rural and urban) without broadband !

Alan
CTO
www.paperlesshomework.com
Specialist in closing the digital divides.

Permalink Reply by Alan Foo on June 25, 2009 at 8:35pm

deleted by Alan

Permalink Reply by Francis Mwathi on August 10, 2009 at 6:25pm

In case this is discussion is going on, I thought this would of interest: Looks like the reality of high and affordable broadband connectivity is finally here with us.

Kenya Data Networks (KDN) Dials Up Rates Slash as Internet Pricing Wars Intensify in Kenya
Pressure to reduce the price of communication intensified on Tuesday after national data solutions provider, Kenya Data Networks (KDN), lowered its connectivity rates by 90 per cent.

But consumers will still have to await cheaper rates following a corresponding action from their data suppliers.

Even as the company became the first to lower its connectivity rates from the current industry average of $5,000 per megabytes to $400 per megabytes following the highly anticipated arrival of fibre optic connectivity last month, it emerged that KDN’s move will primarily benefit Internet Service Providers and large companies who buy directly from the firm.
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