[kictanet] Draft National ICT Policy Discussions Day 4 of 10: How to enhance Universal Service & Access

[Ali Hussein]

Barrack and all

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 in my humble opinion are a major stumbling block to achieving Universal Access. Some counties think that this is a major income earner. We need to dissuade them from this myopic thinking. 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 28 Jun 2016, at 7:43 AM, Barrack Otieno via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> 
> Listers,
> 
> We inadvertently skipped the day 4 discussion since it was to be done
> over the weekend (Saturday 25 June 2016). As such we will back track
> so that we can tackle the topics which are very important.
> 
> Today we focus on the following topics
> 
> *Universal Access (Infrastructure)
> 
> *Universal Service (PWD)
> 
> *Affordable Internet broadband Services
> 
> *Affordable User Devices
> 
> *Public e-Literacy
> 
> The Background
> Universal service principles are based on the fact that all citizens
> are entitled to basic communication rights.  In other words, the
> government is obliged to ensure that communication signals reach all
> Kenyans, irrespective of their income levels, remote localities, lack
> of (e)literacy and/or disabilities (e.g. the blind/deaf/etc).
> 
> There was recent access-gap study commissioned by the regulator which
> confirmed that a large number of Kenyan localities are underserved
> http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/-/2274560/3155384/-/l3vdw8z/-/index.html.
> 
> How can we change the situation?
> 
> Thank you
> 
> 
> -- 
> Barrack O. Otieno
> +254721325277
> +254733206359
> Skype: barrack.otieno
> PGP ID: 0x2611D86A
> 
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
> 
> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com
> 
> 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.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20160628/78490742/attachment.htm>