[kictanet] The Death of Cybercafes?

[robert yawe]

Hi,

I disagree with your assertion that cybercafes are closing down if anything they 
are mushrooming and in more seats that before, in the building where our offices 
are we used to have a single cyber on the 2nd floor in the past 12 months 2 have 
opened on the ground floor replacing a bookshop and a pharmacy each with over 30 
stations.

The availability of mobile on the phone is actually a plus for the cyber 
business as it creates a more aware market who end up spending more time and 
money as they need to download staff, print, cd burn etc.

Unless you have an iPad the experience of browsing on your phone is still not as 
good as on a large 17" screen.

Finally, many of thus opening cybers today have a better understanding of the 
business than the me too crowd that used to run them before.  Any cyber cafe 
that does not charge automatically for  printing is doomed to close soon.

As more knowledgeable investors come into the cyber cafe business expect to see 
more of them coming up and with the right tools for monitoring and generating 
revenue such as protocol based billing.  I visited a cyber in Rongai where 
billing was bandwidth based as they where using a Safaricom 3G connection.

Regards
 Robert Yawe
KAY System Technologies Ltd
Phoenix House, 6th Floor
P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
Kenya


Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696




________________________________
From: Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.or.ke>
To: robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Wed, 2 March, 2011 19:12:16
Subject: [kictanet] The Death of Cybercafes?

 
Listers
 
Just back from Ghana where I was impressed to see that cybercafes are still 
alive (e.g. BusyInternet)...as my experience in Kenya is that it's hard to find 
a functional cybercafe within easy reach with cutting edge  services and 
programs (PDF etc)....most are closing down with Internet available on the 
mobile (with aggressive competition). So outside the office set-up and with 
minimal home connections...one has almost no options for innovation.
 
Is it a good thing that cybers are dying in Kenya and broadband is yet to 
reach homes? what needs to be done differently to inform our efforts on digital 
villages etc?
 
Edith
 
________________                                    
Edith  Ofwona Adera 
Senior Program Specialist 
ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program
International  Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le 
développement international
Regional Office for Eastern  and Southern Africa
Tel:  +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera
eadera at idrc.or.ke | www.idrc.ca| www.crdi.ca


      
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