[kictanet] OFC final report

[Rebecca Wanjiku]

here is the OFC final report.
i have attached a copy and given the executive summary below,
hope it will make good reading and background info....




Executive Summary

The East African Coast remains the only seabed
that is yet to be covered by International Submarine Optical Fiber Cable (OFC)
Connectivity.  With over three
prospective Submarine Optical Cables in the offing, East Africans are standing
at the threshold of new opportunities and are expecting better and more
affordable communication services that OFCs have provided in other parts of the
globe.  But the question remains – which
model of OFC provisioning, will bring about meaningful and sustainable
Socio-economic gains for the majority of citizens in East Africa and its
environs? 


 


The Online Discussion explored this question by
investigating the existing models for providing OFC and evaluating how each
model would impact on the Key Stakeholders. 
The Key Stakeholders identified included the Regulator, the Consumers,
the Government, the Development Financial Institutions (DFIs), the Private
Operators and Investors. Efforts were made to understand each Stakeholder’s
objectives with a view to ensuring that a model that can closely balanced out
most of the conflicting interests could be arrived at. 


 


The generic models of Consortium, Open-Access
and Privately provisioned OFC were discussed and their requirements and the impacts
they (would) have on the various stakeholders were elicited. The role of the
Regulator with regard to protecting Consumer interests in whichever of the
above models were particularly emphasised and considered fundamental.  The Open-Access principles were preferred
irrespective of the OFC provisioning methods adopted– especially with respect
to allowing market-rate access both to existing and future Data Operators.


 


With regard to ownership and financing of the
OFC, it was felt that a mixture of Public, Private and DFI’s sources of capital
maybe the most efficient.  In such a
case, the owners would then constitute a body (Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV) to
operate and maintain the OFC in the interest of the stakeholders.     On the other hand, there was also the other
alternative that placed less or no emphasis on the construction and ownership
of the International OFC.  Instead, it
suggested that more emphasis should be placed towards developing a
comprehensive and national (domestic) OFC. 



 


A comprehensive and active domestic
infrastructure, coupled with local content would be expected attract Internet
Backbone Providers (IBPs) wishing to tap into this new source of domestic traffic.
Such Operators would therefore construct and extend their own OFC into the
region at their own cost - as long as the local (domestic) Operators can
guarantee to purchase an economic capacity of International bandwidth from the IBPs
at market rates.


 


Both the Online discussions as well as the
Face-to-Face workshop provided a rich source of information that is hoped will
provide valuable input in shaping the Policy and Regulatory direction regarding
the provisioning of this critical submarine cable that would finally conquer
the last frontier – the East African Coast.




 
Rebecca Wanjiku,
journalist,
p.o box 33515, 
Nairobi.00600
Kenya.

Tel. 254 720 318 925

blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/




 
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