[kictanet] National Broadband Strategy

Fri Sep 20 17:43:53 EAT 2013

@Bobby,

True if content was local, we would avoid "expensive" international links. Unfortunately, this was only true during the days of Satellite communications. Today you can get 1MBs international bandwidth at 200USD - compared to 5000USD we used to pay over satellite international links. 

Clearly, the this confirms that the bigger costs for internet are no longer the "international" link but "domestic" links.  It does costs more to move 1MB of data from Mombasa to Nairobi than it does to move it from USA to Mombasa. So yes, abundant local content may help, but not quite sure by how much. My guesstimate is that our internet cost structure is split 20/80 with 20% being what we spend on international links and 80% on domestic/local links.

The National Broadband Strategy aims to reduce cost on domestic links through:
1. Shared resources:-no need for each Operator to bury their own fiber; eventually it is you and I who will pay for something which could be shared through ONE duct provided by the local counties.
2. Better Spectrum Managment:-need to free up some spectrum to the operators and look into the punitive licensing regime for spectrum
3. Supportive Infrastructure:- Did you know 100% of  the Operators Base Stations must be supported by disel generators because Kenya Power is not in the rural areas and where it is in the urban areas, it often asleep3-5 times a day..
4. etc, etc.

I think I have done enough marketing for the National Broadband Strategy. I hope CS Matiangi and DG Wangusi can prepare some cheque for me.

walu.
nb: yes, I conceed the Strategy was prepared in exclusive resort, but what I meant is that the PROCESS was NOT EXCLUSIVE. Indeed the draft was online and open for comment for almost 3mnths.

________________________________
 From: robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk>
To: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com> 
Cc: "kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2013 1:11 PM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] National Broadband Strategy

@Walu,

Here is a fact that not even you can dispute, the reason Internet bandwidth is cheaper in America is because for all intents and purposes the Internet is physically located in the US of A, for you and I Internet is an imported resource.

So, what we need is local content generation and hosting not what we have with companies like the Nation Media Group who host there servers in the USA yet 60% of the traffic originates in Kenya.

On the University issue when will KENET start offering local content for access by the universities and other tertiary institutions instead of spending millions importing content.  In addition when will the Multimedia University of Kenya start generating and sharing content which is right up whose alley?

We can achieve 10 Mbps connectivity to all homes for local
 traffic and 256 for imported traffic, why is it assumed that to be on the Internet I must be accessing a server hosted in the USA.

The answers and right here with is but unfortunately we let politicians, bureaucrats and academics to decide direction and policy.

Regards

PS.  and I can assure you it was done in some isolated nut exclusive dark room :-)

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

Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

________________________________
 From: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com>
To: robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk 
Cc: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke 
Sent: Friday, 20 September 2013, 8:38
Subject: Re: [kictanet] National Broadband Strategy

Bobby, Eng. Kariuki,

I happen to know the team of bright chaps who facilitated the production of the Natinal Broadband Strategy - and I can assure it was not done in some isolated nad exclusive dark room :-)

They tell me that in setting targets, on must be appreciate where we are today in order to project where you expect to b in nxt 5yrs. 5MB per USER by 2017 may look poor compared to the US but did you know that some of our newer Universities can only afford 10MB for their 3000+ students?

You must also differentiate between capacity (of
 technology/bandwidth)  vis a viz actual bandwidth projected to be USED. Right now in Kenya, our Operators have the technologies and capacities  to deliver even 10MB per USER for each of the 16m Internet users in Kenya. But do they? 

The answer is big NO. The average Kenyan uses cannot afford a fiber or wireless link of 10MB per month. In the broadband strategy we need to work on the dynamics that would make this average Kenyan afford and USE at least 5MBs per month.

Now u might be begin to see that even that 5MB per user per month by 2017 is not an easy target.

walu.

------------------------------
On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 8:03 PM AST (Arabian) John Kariuki wrote:

>Robert, Listers
>
>I would agree with Robert that 40 mbps in 5 years is a rather low target for urban areas and we should  achieve higher speeds in the next 2 to 3 years. 5 years in ICT is a very very long
 time!
>
>
>John Kariuki.
>
>
>________________________________
> From: robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk>
>To: ngethe.kariuki2007 at yahoo.co.uk 
>Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
>Sent: Thursday, 19 September 2013, 15:12
>Subject: [kictanet] National Broadband Strategy
> 
>
>
>Hi,
>
>I recently went through the National Broad Band Strategy documents where it was indicated that we intend to achieve a connectivity speed of 40 mbps in urban areas in the next 5 years.
>
>This might seem like quite an achievement but
 starting today some of the Internet users inChattanooga, Tennessee in the USA will be experiencing 1 Gbps speeds to their homes, it seems either we are aiming very low or the strategy is a cut and paste from an era long gone which is a clear indication of what happens when you sit in a dark room and write a strategy but with no organised group to turn to for assistance what was the other choice?
>
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/09/17/how-chattanooga-beat-google-fiber-by-half-a-decade/#!
>
>
>Regards
>
>About Chattanooga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga,_Tennessee
>
> 
>Robert Yawe
>KAY System Technologies Ltd
>Phoenix House, 6th Floor
>P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
>Kenya
>
>
>Tel: +254722511225,
 +254202010696
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
 for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.

KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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