[kictanet] Internet Should Be A Public Utility Service

[Beryl Aidi]

Hi
Quite a timely and very difficult conversation indeed. To date, I still
think that ICT is treated as luxury as there are many arguments that the
low income communities first need basic needs (water, food and adequate
shelter) met before we can think of the internet, yet we are talking of
e-learning, e-commerce, e-government etc. This is indicative of the
continuing growing inequality gap and has a lot to do with government and
also to a large extend, private sector, priority.
Several years ago when ICT4D and M4D were becoming a thing, an attempt to
bridge the digital divide through a project that aimed at enabling
community-based human rights networks harness the power of the internet to
do engage better through an ICT4D initiative. Most of the networks were
rural and totally out of the grid, apart from having no computer literacy.
Once the literacy issue was overcome, still access was the greatest barrier
as powering computers and laptops need adequate supply of electricity.
Well, an idea to use generators attempted, but access was still out of
reach as the signals from mobile modems, regardless of the ISP was too
weak. Actually, to date, when I go to the village, mobile internet is still
very problematic. Not to mention how expensive it is to use bundles as
opposed to using wifi. Again, the cost of bundles is still out of reach for
the low income households.
In short, infrastructure as the backbone is absolutely necessary. What is
the point of Safaricom, Zuku, Airtel, Telcom and Jamii Telcom, to name the
big players, to continue fighting over the pie in Kileleshwa, Kilimani,
Karen, Runda etc urging us to migrate, when there are myriads of households
elsewhere near and far inadequately served?
We need better policies to ensure access, and not one service provider or
another running to Communications Community to get advantage over others.
These are long term issues and both government and the private sector
should prioritize these. The internet is no longer luxury, has never been.
And as such should be a public good, easily accessible and affordable.
In the meantime, what can be done even as Coronavirus threatens to grind
life as we know it to halt?

Regards
Beryl

On Sun, Apr 5, 2020 at 7:25 PM John Kariuki via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Hi.
> As we discuss the matter of public utility we shall need it does not
> necessarily mean Universal Service. It could start with more policy,
> regulatory and legal intervention and even classified as critical
> infrastructure. FYI, in Kenya until late 70's telecommunications was
> considered a luxury and the debate of food versus telecommunications was
> quite common in the Minitstry of Finance. In the 1990's use of Internet in
> Government was banned. Even in early 2000 PC's were not considered a
> priority. Regarding power, Kenya is lucky at the moment because we have
> surplus generating capacity.
> We are quite fortunate that we have demand
> . The GOK has so many services on line. It means that Wanjiku has a good
> reason to be computer literate in order to access services. Private sector
> is following closely. In the past demand forecast was hell if one was to
> avoid over investment and under utilization.
>
> The journey needs to start.
>
> John Kariuki
> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
> <https://go.onelink.me/107872968?pid=InProduct&c=Global_Internal_YGrowth_AndroidEmailSig__AndroidUsers&af_wl=ym&af_sub1=Internal&af_sub2=Global_YGrowth&af_sub3=EmailSignature>
>
> On Sun, Apr 5, 2020 at 14:15, kanini mutemi via kictanet
> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet
> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kariuki_jn%40yahoo.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.
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet
> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bee.aidi%40gmail.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.
>


-- 
Beryl
***********************************************
 Darkness cannot put out the Light. It can only make God brighter. —Author
Unknown.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20200406/53b1109c/attachment.htm>