[kictanet] [Fwd: [DigAfrica] High Phone Charges Hamper Region's Growth, Says W Bank]

Tue Apr 10 22:42:34 EAT 2007

Our never ending connectivity problems and the prices we pay.....

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
NEWS
April 10, 2007
Posted to the web April 10, 2007

By Benson Kathuri and Robert Nyasato
Nairobi

International phone call and high-speed Internet connection charges
are beyond the reach of average classes in 25 East and Southern
African countries.

A report by the World Bank says the region is the only one not
connected to the global optical fibre broadband infrastructure.

"The 'missing link' explains why the region accounts for less than
one per cent of the world's international bandwidth capacity," says
the report released in Washington last week.

These countries lack direct terrestrial access to global information
and communications infrastructure, relying on expensive satellite
connectivity to link up with the rest of the world.

As a result, telecommunication users face some of the highest costs
in the world, says the study: African Region Communications
Infrastructure Programme Report.

The countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya.

The rest are Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

"International wholesale bandwidth prices are 20 to 40 times higher
than in the United States, and international calls are on average 10
to 20 times more than in other developing countries," says the
report.

This, according to the report, has limited regional and international
trade, job creation, use of information and communication technology
in learning, good governance, and transparency.

"The region's growth and development is being held back by this lack
of access to low price and high quality telecommunications services."

However, the World Bank has initiated a multi-billion shilling
project, the Africa Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme
(RCIP) to address the 'missing link'.

By the end of the programme, it is expected that all capitals and
major cities in East and Southern Africa would be linked to
competitively priced high-bandwidth connectivity.

"To put 25 agents on the phone, it will cost us close to US$17,000
(Sh1.2 million) a month while elsewhere, it will only cost US$600-900
(Sh42, 000 -Sh56, 000) a month," said Nicholas Nesbitt, CEO of
KenCall.

Meanwhile, in Kisii town, Internet service charges have doubled in
the past two months due to power failure.

Many cyber cafes now charge Sh2 a minute up from one
shilling. "Whenever there is a power outage, we have to increase the
cost of browsing because we use a generator, which is more
expensive," said Ms Josephine Kerubo, a worker at one of the Internet
shops in the town. Other sops have closed down due to the unreliable
supply.

Posta withdrew its Internet services earlier this year in unclear
circumstances.

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