[kictanet] Day 1:-How to Develop ICT infrastructure

Ali Hussein ali at hussein.me.ke
Wed Jun 22 15:22:29 EAT 2016


Walu

Excerpts from my 'thesis' to cover this topic:-

1. The performance or utilization of the National Optic Fibre Backbone (NOFBI) must be brought into review. According to the ICT Authority website:-

The ICT Authority is implementing Phase 11 of the National Fibre Optic cable. The construction begun in September 2014 and is expected to be complete by June 2016. The second phase will build 1,600KM of fiber linking all the 47 county headquarters and an additional 500KM dedicated for military use. This is in addition to the existing 4,300KM of NOFBI I completed in 2009. NOFBI phase1passes 58 towns in 35 counties
To date:

1200Km out of the 1600KM civil works are completed.
900Km of fibre has been laid in the backbone section.
The backbone section is now complete and fibre installed in all the 47 counties (Kajiado County fibre in NOFBI I was damaged by road construction) and capacity to connect Kajiado County HQ will be sourced from other operators whose fibre is along the power line to Namanga
Metropolitan fibre civil works has been completed in 35 of 47 counties.
NOFBI Phase 1 is already in use in the national government, Telkom, Safaricom, Jamii Telecom and KENET utilizing more than 3,000KM of the cable. The operations and maintenance of NOFBI Phase 1 is being handled by Telkom.

Read more:-

http://www.icta.go.ke/national-optic-fibre-backbone-nofbi/

This is absolutely commendable. We must now move to the next stage of critical evaluation of this Critical Infrastructure.  

a) What are the learnings? 

b) What could we have done better? 

c) What are the bottlenecks to last mile connectivity? 

d) Why haven't our connectivity costs reduced considering that most of the telcos are using this backbone which is a national resource? 

We are stepping on the shoulders of giants who envisioned this resource for the country. We must make absolutely sure that we squeeze every ounce of the advantage it has given us.

e) Why are we not in the top 50 global internet penetration rankings? Make no mistake about it. Our competition is not Africa. It is global.

2. The Universal Service Access Fund is a commendable initiative but too often there hasn't been much information on the impact the critical resource is having. My suggestion would be to have an interactive real time map showing its impact and why certain regions are chosen to receive its largess and not others. This should be linked with Infrastructure sharing and last mile strategies to provide connectivity from the NOFBI. 

WayLeaves. There has to be robust engagement with counties to ensure that ISPs and Telcos are not held to ransom by short term county revenue hunting at the expense of spreading ubiquitous broadband connectivity. This is so critical that a clear strategy paper needs to be put together by all stakeholders to guarantee its implementation.

What are the roadblocks that hinder us from achieving universal broadband connectivity?

Ali Hussein
Principal
Hussein & Associates
+254 0713 601113 / 0770906375

Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim


"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi

Sent from my iPad

> On 22 Jun 2016, at 10:47 AM, Walubengo J via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> 
> How to Develop ICT infrastructure (Day 1-Wed 22nd June 2016)
>  *telecoms, broadcast,  broadband internet, postal)
> *Investment incentives (FDI,Equity Shares)
> *Open Access
> *Infrastructure Sharing (Masts, Ducts, Wayleave etc)
> *Spectrum Management
> *Postal/National Addressing System
> *Data Centers, IXPs, CDN
> 
> ---
> So further to the welcome message below, today, we kick off the discussion with Infrastructure issues in mind. Basically think about what needs to be done to ensure a robust telco/internet, broadcast, postal environment from an infrastructure perspective.  The subtopics above being guidelines.
> 
> Contentious issues have been around foreign direct investments with respect to the policy requirement for local equity shareholding. Should this be mandatory and at what % - keeping in mind that equity share holding requires local investors who may not always be keen in keeping money in ICTs (preferring traditional destinations of Land/Real estate).
> 
> On Open Access, how far do we want this to go? In mombasa we have the submarine landing points implementing open access where SEACOM, TEAMS, LION, EASSy etc are open to any interested player and this has worked well. Do we want to see this principle practiced domestically in terms of infrastructure sharing (Masts, Fiber Ducts, and even Spectrum?)
> 
> Finally what role do we see Postal Kenya taking within the ICT ecosystem, particularly with regard to the lack of the National Addressing system - which analysts feel is holding back the ecommerce potential.
> 
> Lets hear your views today since tomorrow we move onto INFO-structure issues.
> 
> walu.   
> 
> 
> From: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com>
> To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
> Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2016 10:25 AM
> Subject: ICT Policy Discussions:-Overview, Thematic Topics (Day 1 to Day 10)
> 
> Greetings Listers,
> 
> As promised on monday, we kick off the discussions today and would like to share the general flow and how we shall move.   
> 
> Basically we have two platforms we shall use and listers are free to use one or both of them. The two plaftforms are KICTAnet platform and the Jadili Platform  (http://jadili.ictpolicy.org/docs/kenya-ict-policy#heading-1) courtesy of Strathmore University, Law School. 
> 
> The Jadili platform is hosting the Draft Policy in editable format and Listers are encouraged to login and post their specific proposal onto the platform. 
> 
> The  KICTAnet listserver plaftform is where we shall run guided discussions as per the plan below.  Contributions on both platforms shall be consolidated and validated at a later face-2-face function.  The overview of the discussion will be as shown below.
> 
> How to Develop ICT infrastructure (Day 1-Wed 22nd June 2016)
>  *telecoms, broadcast,  broadband internet, postal)
> *Investment incentives (FDI,Equity Shares)
> *Open Access
> *Infrastructure Sharing (Masts, Ducts, Wayleave etc)
> *Spectrum Management
> *Postal/National Addressing System
> *Data Centers, IXPs, CDN
>  
> How to Develop ICT Info-Structure (Day 2-Thrs 23rd June 2016)
> *Local Content, 
> *Broadcast Content, Diversity, Cultural Identity
> *Access to Information/OpenData
>  *Local Application Development
>  
> How to Develop Skilled Human Capital (Day 3-Fri 24th June 2016)
> *ICT integration in primary, secondary, tertiary levels,
> *Specialized Skills (Software /Engineering)
> *Research & Development Capacity
> *eLiteracy for citizens/public 
>  
> *How to enhance Universal Service & Access  (Day 4-Mon 27th June 2016) 
> *Universal Access (Infrastructure)
> *Universal Service (PWD) 
> *Affordable Internet broadband Services
> *Affordable User Devices
>  
> How to Develop local ICT Industry (Day 5- Tue 28th June 2016)
> *eCommerce, National Addressing System
> *Local eBusiness, 
> * BPOs
> *Investment incentives (Equity Shares)
> *ICTs in SME, (Small Medium Size Enterprises)
> *ICT regional export incentives
> *Local Device Manufacturing
>  
> How to Accelerate eGovt Services (Day 6- Wed 29th June 2016)
> *eHealth, eAgriculture, eTransport, eGovt, eLearning
> *ICT regional (county) incentives)
> *ICTs in Society, Culture
>  
> How to enhance Cybersecurity (Day 7) - Thrs 30th June 2016)
> *Online Citizen Safety, 
> *Child Protection
> *Privacy issues
> *Security business transactions (Info-Security)
> *Security & Reliability of Critical ICT infrastructure
>  
> Emerging Issues (Day 8 -Fri 1st July 2016)
> Internet of Things, M2M
> Net Neutrality & OTT
> Big Data 
> Virtual Money/BlockChains
>  
> Institutional, Legal & Regulatory Framework (Day 9-Mon 4th July 2016)
> Role of Regulator, USAC, CERTs, NCS, ICTA, PCK, CSO, Professional Bodies etc
> Needed Legislation, Data Protection, eTransaction, Intermediary Liability etc
>  
> DAY 10, Tue 5th July -Wrap UP Closure
> 
> I look forward to your active engagement.
> 
> J. Walubengo
> for KICTAnet.
> 
> From: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com>
> To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
> Sent: Monday, June 20, 2016 3:25 PM
> Subject: Fw: DRAFT ICT POLICY 2016 LINK-KICTAnet Stakeholder Input
> 
> Dear Listers,
> 
> 
> The Ministry of ICT (PS V. Kyalo) has asked KICTAnet to ran a two week moderated discussion on the Draft ICT Policy 2016, that will replace the current 2006 ICT Policy.
> 
> 
> Please download and go through in preparation of the online discussions scheduled to kick-off this wednesday 22nd June 2016.
> 
> You views will be consolidated and later on you will be invited to validated the same at a face-to-face session to be confirmed at a venue and date to be confirmed later.
> 
> Kazi kwenyu. Do not say you were not consulted :-)
> 
> Best rgds.
> 
> walu.
> 
> 
> 
> ----
> Dear All,
> 
> The Draft ICT Policy 2016 has been posted in the MoICT website for stakeholders comments.  Please use the link below to access the document.
> 
> http://www.information.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Draft-National-ICT-Policy-20June2016.pdf
>  
> Kind regards,
> Jane W. Migwi
> Administrative Secretary
> National Communications Secretariat
> P.O. Box 10756-00100, NBI
> Tel: +254-20-2719953 / +254-20-2713429
> Fax: +254-20-2716515
> Cell:  0721 850 561
>  
>  
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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