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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=1 color="#000066" face=Georgia><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Georgia;color:#000066;font-weight:
bold'>Villagers to host digital world in <st1:place w:st="on">East Africa</st1:place></span></font></b><b><font
size=1 color=navy face=Georgia><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:Georgia;color:navy;font-weight:bold'> (<a
href="http://www.dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=2530&cat=home">http://www.dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=2530&cat=home</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=kazibody1><font size=2 face=Georgia><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'>JAMES MPINGA in Lugoba, Coast Region, 14th
June 2009 </span></font></span><font size=2 face=Georgia><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Georgia'><br>
<br>
The dateline is an unlikely sleepy village called Lugoba now sitting on a super
global ‘knowledge highway’ - whose residents did not know they have
a high-level delegation of scientists and policy-makers from five East African
Community (EAC) member states in their midst to prove just that. <br>
<br>
The EAC citizens – and technical partners from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Sweden</st1:country-region></st1:place> – were out here to
demonstrate that villages could soon be playing host to the most advanced
technological networks across the world. The delegates from Burundi, Kenya,
Rwanda, Uganda and hosts Tanzania were attending a regional
‘hands-on’ <st1:PersonName w:st="on">training</st1:PersonName>
workshop on community fibre networks at the Peacock Millennium Hotel in
suburban Msasani in Dar es Salaam (June 9-12, 2009). <br>
<br>
At the end of the workshop, they declared in a joint communiqu�:
“Community fibre networks are not only within reach to serve and empower
our communities in the region but also, the cost of implementation is now
cheaper and affordable. <br>
<br>
“With emerging national fibre infrastructure now under implementation and
the launching of submarine cable to link east Africa with the rest of the world
for the first time on fibre, it is necessary for the communities to prepare to
take advantage of this fibre infrastructure to stimulate socio-economic
development,” <br>
<br>
The regional workshop convened and organised by the Tanzania Commission of
Science and Technology (COSTECH) and sponsored by Canada’s International
Development Research Centre (IDRC) was inspired by the availability of emerging
national fibre networks in the region built by governments, national operators,
power and energy utilities, rail companies as well as water organizations among
others. <br>
<br>
However, there weren’t any illusions that all this will happen tomorrow.
“Services may take a long time to reach the ‘last mile’ in
each country and therefore it is important for the community to be sensitized
on other possibilities of building their own networks bottom-up,” they
cautioned, adding that the ‘first mile’ was the greatest challenge
in creating awareness about the benefit of community fibre networks among them.
<br>
<br>
The events in rural <st1:country-region w:st="on">Tanzania</st1:country-region>
provided a fitting backdrop to neighbouring <st1:country-region w:st="on">Kenya</st1:country-region>
which celebrated its ascent to a major technological take-off after the
much-awaited East African Marine System (Teams) fibre optic cable landed in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Mombasa</st1:City></st1:place>. The cable,
launched by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki yesterday at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Fort</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Jesus</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>
in the seaside city, the country’s second biggest, connects the East
African nation to worldwide cable networks. <br>
<br>
On June 27, 2009 <st1:country-region w:st="on">Tanzania</st1:country-region>
will be connected to another artery on the global highway – the Seacom
– linking it to its SADC neighbours in <st1:country-region w:st="on">South
Africa</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Mozambique</st1:country-region></st1:place>. In both <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Kenya</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Tanzania</st1:country-region></st1:place>, the cable will improve
Internet connectivity and reduce the cost of data transmission — and
create thousands of jobs, especially in the telecommunications sector. <br>
<br>
Tanzania alone has more than 7,000km of fibre ‘jealously’ guarded
by public utilities unaware of the immense opportunities that ICT now provides
due to outdated legislative frameworks - or simply unwilling to share it out.
The delegates therefore called on governments to live up to the “important
role of creating an enabling environment for community networks to
thrive.” <br>
<br>
“Here in Lugoba village… not even the president knew that his own
village had gone ‘digital’ until someone sent him an e-mail message
from his own place of birth (Lugoba) … the president was then in
Washington, DC,” narrated Theophilus Mlaki, who took some of the
delegation on a field trip to Chalinze and Wami last week – where ICT is
changing lives among the villagers. <br>
<br>
The regional workshop also recommended that all stakeholders should take
advantage of emerging national fibre networks now under implementation to work
with rural communities yet to be covered with communication services.
Unfortunately, the emerging projects are often not interconnected and hence
fell short of appropriate synergy. However, where the networks traversed, they
provided an opportunity to serve the rural communities. <br>
<br>
The objective of the event was therefore to: . Build awareness on the potential
for customer/ community fibre deployment in helping to meet connectivity needs;
.Lay grounds to effect policy changes that may be required to allow for
community owned fibre infrastructure developments, and Encourage the use of
fibre for improving connectivity. <br>
<br>
The regional workshop brought together 28 participants who included ICT
regulators, ICT ministries, Chair ICT Parliamentary Committee <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Kenya</st1:country-region></st1:place>, managers of community owned
networks and members of academia. The Royal Institute of Technology of <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Sweden</st1:country-region></st1:place>
facilitated the workshop.</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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