Alex, Did Santa leave you coal for Christmas? 1. Yes, dear Alex, we are talking predominately about rural areas were 80% of the poor live. The other 20% are in the informal settlements. If they don't know how to use the internet no matter how the telcos pitch it they will have limited access. 2. Yes. The prices of modems are dropping but what rural villagers is going to drop at least 2,000 Ksh for something if they don't know what it is used for? 3. The same service going to the kiosks will be available through Intersat Africa beginning in January. It is an awesome deal. The one downside is the cost of the dish which runs about $600... In the case of the kiosk it is included. 4. The project is not donor sustained... it is donor started... the difference is that once we have the kiosks in place we no longer need donor support. It is a one time investment cost. That is MUCH better than models who are consistently in need of funds. a) What do you mean the urban and peri-urban areas are hurting the most? I would think that the urban and peri-urban areas with access to electricity and internet would be in a better position that those in the rural areas to gain access to ICTs. My field experience has taught me that the need for information in rural areas is huge and is one of the key factors holding back development in Kenya in general. 5. The bigger problems that need addressing are poverty, unemployment, lack of education, lack of infrastructure, and a lack of opportunity which causes high levels of rural to urban migration. The list of "bigger problems" goes on and on, but the bottom line is that without information and communications our progress on those fronts will be limited. 6. Again, this is an icebreaker technology to provide services where there are currently none available at an affordable cost. I would love for the Wifi option on the kiosks to be used and for rural village entrepreneurs to become bandwidth resellers in their communities. As long as the money is made locally and spent locally it will increase the profits of those who are in need of wealth creation. Many blessings, Crystal On Mon, Dec 28, 2009 at 2:30 PM, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com>wrote:
Here's my not-so-ideal gift to you, Kenya, and Africa...
1. Since the large wireless mobicos/telcos have this new-found per MB charging fantasy / fixation, your wireless time-based model is a ++plus
2. CPEs Costs (e.g. modems) are negligible these days with the "no-taxes" policy)
The "bad news":
3. Forget rural for a minute... Start right at Nairobi and other cities, their environs then expand outwards. I am willing to consider your satellite 128/512 service at 7,500 bob pm since I still pay shillings 6,000/= for a turned crappy slow connection speed (attached image). So what's the harm in adding 1,500 for a guaranteed 512+ :-)
4. Never too eager to support "donor-sustained" types of internet diffusion initiatives. Change your "rural connectivity evangelism" angle:-( whereas noble...
a) start by solving the problem where its hurting the most.. urban and peri-urban areas b) you will save on large part of the additional 300K - an initial roll out impediment
5. What "bigger" problem will you be solving? Despite 2 undersea cables' passing under our feet (soils) Uganda is enjoying better average connectivity than we are ( see Kenya trails from www.speedtest.net )
6.) Once affordable connectivity is offered, trust all - urban and rural - people to be intelligent enough to setup their own services / outlets that incentivise them sufficiently...
regards,
a.
On Mon, Dec 28, 2009 at 1:22 PM, Crystal Watley Kigoni <crystal@voicesofafrica.org> wrote:
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