[kictanet] Fwd: [Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: New Study from Internet Society and Analysys Mason Examines Factors Hindering Development of Internet Access in Africa

[Barrack Otieno]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <cover at isoc.org>
Date: Wed, May 8, 2013 at 6:23 PM
Subject: [Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: New Study from Internet Society
and Analysys Mason Examines Factors Hindering Development of Internet
Access in Africa
To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org


New Study from Internet Society and Analysys Mason Examines Factors
Hindering Development of Internet Access in Africa

Research explores impact of telecom infrastructure investments and
corresponding improvements to Internet access and service

[Washington, D.C. and Geneva, Switzerland – 08 May 2013] – The Internet
Society today published a new study, ‘Lifting barriers to Internet
development in Africa: suggestions for improving connectivity,’ which
examines the factors hindering Internet development in Africa and explores
possible remedies.

The research, conducted by Analysys Mason and commissioned by the Internet
Society, found that despite investments resulting in significant
improvements to Africa’s telecom infrastructure in the past five years,
these investments have in some cases not translated into lowered prices or
increased quality of services for Internet users. These investments have
focused on undersea cable to improve international connectivity, and
terrestrial fibre networks between countries.

The study shows that in many countries the development of Internet access
is hampered by constraints on terrestrial connectivity between the
submarine cables, the Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), last mile access
infrastructures, and Internet Service Providers that deliver access to
end-users in Africa.  The report sets forth an Internet development
approach focused on removing regulatory roadblocks and promoting
Internet-specific investments, supported by a high-level policy environment
to result in greater Internet availability and empowerment in Africa.

"This study is significant as it identifies some of the last barriers for
the development of Internet infrastructure in Africa,” noted Dawit Bekele,
Regional Bureau Director for Africa, Internet Society.  “It pinpoints the
issues that all stakeholders and more particularly African governments and
telecommunication regulators need to address to ensure that the massive
infrastructural development that we have seen in Africa in the last few
years results in bringing Internet to all Africans at an affordable price."

Jane Coffin, Director for Development Strategy at the Internet Society,
added, “We hope that this study will spark a national and regional debate
in Africa that impacts future Internet development.  There is so much that
stakeholders can do to close infrastructure gaps by working together
through creative public-private partnerships and by taking bold steps to
allow change to happen by breaking down traditional barriers and allowing
market entrants greater ease in network deployment.”

“For us, the variation between regions in retail price of Internet traffic
was revealing, with some ISPs offering access at USD 10 per gigabyte of
traffic, and others charging up to ten times more than that. East Africa
appears to offer best value, particularly for low-volume users who tend to
have lower incomes,” commented one of the report’s authors, Robert Schumann.

Michael Kende, Partner at Analysys Mason, noted that in many countries, the
regulatory reform of the telecoms sector is not yet complete. “African
Internet ecosystems grow strongest when a wide range of operators can offer
service and exchange traffic, but in many countries regulatory and
practical barriers remain to private investment.”

This new report follows an Analysys Mason study commissioned by the
Internet Society on the impact of IXPs in Kenya and Nigeria, which found
that IXPs improve the quality of Internet services and save African
operators millions of dollars annually in connectivity fees.  The IXP study
shows that a key factor in the success of IXPs is the availability of
low-cost, widely-accessible connectivity, both domestically and across
borders and oceans, and the study was commissioned to help address those
gaps.

The study is available for download: www.internetsociety.org/liftingbarriers

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-- 
Barrack O. Otieno
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Skype: barrack.otieno
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