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

Wed Dec 3 22:19:25 EAT 2008

Great point Eric,....

...would 'broadband' via 'mobile' be a compromise approach for you? We
need both but the latter is a means to the former.

2 cents! ;-)

On 12/3/08, emko at internetresearch.com.gh <emko at internetresearch.com.gh> wrote:
> Dear Brian and all,
>
> While i totally agree with you on the mobile success and how it propels
> Africa to the forefront, i would caution that we need to move beyond that
> and see the need for broadband in African homes and offices as a basic
> utility in the knowledge economy.
>
> Sometimes the temptation to be caught in your success can blind you from
> engaging new frontiers. Lets not get caught in semantics because MOBILE is
> mobile and BROADBAND is broadband, if the later gets delivered through
> mobile platforms then fine but the elements are different. It is important
> to keep in mind also that broadband can come in many forms and we should
> be open to exploring the whole grail.
>
> You are right on spot with content and the need for local, national,
> regional and Africa wide interconnectedness.
>
> Eric here
>
>
>
>> 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
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