[kictanet] Satement by Brian Longwe from Panel on Access in Main Session of Internet Governance Forum, Hyderabad, India 3rd Dec 2008

[Wainaina Mungai]

FYI John et al.

Brian may as well be called "Mblayo"...He's a Mkamba if that helps
qualify him as a real Kenyan...Munyao to be exact. As for mixed
heritage, you may give him the same positive recognition as
OBAMA...except that he's worked tirelessly for years now building our
ICT standing on the planet.

Have an informed day ;-)



On 12/3/08, John Maina <j.maina at ymail.com> wrote:
> KICTANET
>
> Why is a Malawian representing Kenya at the IGF? Do we lack enough Kenyans
> to sit on Kenyan boards and also represent Kenya abroad? This is disgusting
> and the earlier the masqueraders like Brian Longwe and the bunch of foreign
> attack dogs are told off the better.
>
> JM
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Brian Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>
> To: j.maina at ymail.com
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 3:15:20 PM
> Subject: [kictanet] Satement by Brian Longwe from Panel on Access in Main
> Session of Internet Governance Forum, Hyderabad, India 3rd Dec 2008
>
>
> Brian Munyao Longwe – Main Session on Access (Development Perspective)
>
> Traditionally teledensity has been used as a measure of access or the extent
> to which communication technologies have pervaded a community.
>
> In the past Africa as a region has recorded extremely low fixed-line
> teledensity of below 1% that is less than 1 line per 100 people. Believe it
> or not this is still the case!
>
> However, when one incorporates mobile lines in a teledensity analysis - the
> results are not only incredible, they are amazing. as of 2007, Africa's
> mobile teledensity stood at an impressive 23% or 23 lines per 100 people.
> There was a recorded growth in mobile users from 128 million in 2006 to over
> 215 million subscribers by 2007. This represents an annual growth of over
> 46%. We have just heard that India's mobile network is growing at an
> incredible rate of over 10 million new connections per month!
>
> Given the fact that most operators around Africa have rolled out GPRS/EDGE
> coverage across most of their networks as well as deployment of 3G access
> across their larger markets it is entirely feasible that mobile, not
> broadband may present the opportunity for increased access for developing
> countries. MOBILE and not BROADBAND is the silver bullet.
>
> Another key element crucial to the growth of access in developing countries
> is a suitable environment for the dispersion of relevant content and
> applications that meet the day to day needs of the populace. Internet
> Exchange Points are the primary critical ingredient needed to create these
> conditions. By keeping all locally originated and requested traffic local,
> Internet exchange points serve a crucial role in enhancing the user
> experience, lowering operational costs and providing a suitable framework
> for the growth and development of the Internet in general.
>
> While many developing countries have adopted policies and regulations that
> encourage and promote competition in the mobile sectors, which has resulted
> in continued growth in the numbers of users, the establishment of IXPs has
> received a relatively low priority - despite the significant impact that
> such simple infrastructure presents to the community.
>
> Access enhances the interface between government and the citizen at a
> transactional level. The Kenya Revenue Authority last year suggested that
> the Kenya Internet Exchange Point receive "critical infrastructure" status
> with 24-hour armed guard due to the fact that 100% of all import/export
> declarations and documentation transit the IXP via the revenue authority's
> web-based platform.
>
> Going back to mobile, Safaricom, a Kenyan mobile operator introduced a money
> transfer service called M-Pesa less than two years ago. M-Pesa now has over
> 4 million subscribers (within 1 year - the service signed up more users than
> Kenya's entire banking industry signed up within a century!) Safaricom
> reported that over half a Billion US dollar had been transacted over the
> platform within less than 18 months.
>
> Key policy lesson? The financial services and communications regulator in
> Kenya decided not to subject m-pesa to punitive obligations through
> treatment as a bank but rather chose to perceive m-pesa a non-bank payment
> service. That decision has today affected and continues to affect millions
> of lives.. Regulators can either promote innovation, access & development or
> hinder it.
>
> In East Africa communications regulators have completely opened up the
> communications sector; fully liberalizing every area, but providing
> structure through unified licensing regime that separates facilities,
> services and content In Kenya this has spurred investments of over half a
> Billion USD over the past 2 years.
>
> Key stakeholder lesson: relevant content drives demand - Safaricom's m-pesa
> met a basic and everyday need, this has driven the increased use of their
> mobile platform by touching the lives & livelihoods of both urban & rural
> citizens.
>
>
> --
> Brian Munyao Longwe
> e-mail: blongwe at gmail.com
> cell:  + 254 722 518 744
> blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com
> meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
>
>
>
>

-- 
Sent from my mobile device