Thursday the 23rd of July 2009 will go down in history as the day Kenya got to commence the enjoyment of highspeed broadband internet. After years of waiting in anticipation and theorizing on the benefits of highspeed internet it is finally here. In a highly publicized and coordinated event SEACOM turned on the switch which instantaneously beamed Terabytes of bandwidth at the speed of light through highly polished and engineered strands of glass.
This was the moment that the countries on the eastern seaboard of Africa have been preparing for in more than a decade. In a single day the telecommunications paradigm has shifted dramatically. Whereas just yesterday a telephone call from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam would have first travelled to a satellite in outer space before bouncing back to Tanzania, now it will simply travel a few kilometres under the sea and arrive in a fraction of the time it took to do so before. Whereas to watch a 5minute youtube video took almost 10minutes to download now it should take just under 6seconds. Opening an internet page will be instantaneous as opposed to before when to open an e-mail account took you almost 10 minutes to access your first mail if not longer.
Beyond this however is the fact that with all this improvement in service the costs will actually go down instead of up. We are normally made to believe that when you want higher quality you should be prepared to pay more. In this case however the opposite is the reality. There is alot of debate as to whether the costs will drop by 90% or 20% – 30%. What is not in doubt is a price increase is not even considered despite the massive investment the various players and SEACOM have put into the project. Some are now wondering how will the players recoup investment?
The answer is actually to do with the concept of less price attracts greater demand. So less is more in the new economics of telecommunications. If internet access is made more affordable then many citizens will naturally want to enjoy the benefits. The more subscibers join the internet also known as uptake in technical jargon the more the firms stand to benefit. Why is this considered workable?
The answer lies in a study done by the World bank on an actual cable called SAT3 which is a fibre-optic cable along the western seaboard of Africa. This cable was a closed access system which eventhough it provided some bandwidth to the west Africans ended up being as expensive as satellite so that some countries such as Nigeria actually opted to use satellite. This is why internet speeds in Nigeria were almost as pathetic as the ones in Nairobi despite the presence of a fibre-optic cable. It has to be said though that SAT3 has only a tenth of the bandwidth that SEACOM is offering to us now i.e. SAT3 had about 120Gb/s as opposed to 1.28Tb/s for SEACOM.
Fibre-optic cables have a lifespan of between 20 – 25yrs. During that time they have to recover their investment costs and generate profit. Now if you keep prices high and no one uses your cable the bandwidth you have will be useless. Your cable will not generate any sales and return on investment will be minimal. This is why it is better to keep prices as low as possible to encourage heavy use which will then generate revenue and also hopefully create an addiction for the internet which will mean people cant do without it.
SAT3 demonstrated that artificially high price amounts to a denial of service to consumers and therefore it is like there is no cable. Hence it is in SEACOM’s interest to keep prices low. That will also have major implications for other facets of life in Africa. This will lead to monumentous change in the way Africans view information.
From a purely commercial angle m-commerce & e-commerce will take on added significance. Small and medium sized business will want to take advantage of the internet to sell their goods to the world. With cheaper access and more bandwidth they will be able to invest in content rich websites which will hopefully attract customers. Gamers will be able to upload and design games using open source software. Companies will be able to take advantage of new internet phenomena like cloud computing which could save them millions in expensive databases.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes will come when the government fully digitizes it’s services which will improve service delivery and reduce incidences of corruption. Most notable of this will be for example the ministries of justice, health, lands, education, agriculture and government procurement. It has been said 90% of the governments corruption occurs in procurement. If this aspect becomes automated and removes personal negotiations and manipulations it will be virtually impossible for corruption to occur undetected. Think of it if tenders are submitted online and payment done online and the selection is done based on mathematical scientific models it will not be possible for government officials to influence the system.
In addition our universities and institutes of higher learning will benefit tremendously from the enormous bandwidth and the greater possibilities to share and acquire access to massive amounts of information. This will mean that our academic institutions will not only be consumers but will also be able to upload valuable information into the global superhighway and therefore introduce a potentially valuable source of revenue. Searching the internet today you notice the lack of African content whether in business or cultural or literal works. This is set to change with digitization and easier access to the internet.
There are also numerous opportunities for our academics and students to participate in global projects aimed at enhancing or finding solutions to humanity’s problems through global participation on scientific projects such as wolfram alpha or medical, agricultural, meteorological, biotechnical and engineering projects.
There is also the potentially promising field of BPO [Business Process Outsourcing] which is a potential generator of employment for our youth. It may also be the conduit on which Kenya will develope other competitive and potentially more valuable IT skills. India has shown what is possible to achieve in this sector and where the future is headed. Kenya which has a relatively well educated youth has the potential to excel in this new sectors which could revolutionize Kenya’s economy.
Finally before I let you guys living in Kenya go I would like to suggest you do a historical experiment to test your current internet speed before switching to the fibre-optic cable. To do this go to speedtest.net and choose a city of the world say Washington DC or Amsterdam and test your current speed before switching to SEACOM or TEAMS. Do the test 3 times and divide the result by 3 to get an average speed. Keep those results in safe place and then when you effect the change do the test again and see the difference. You will also be able to compare your speed with other places in the world. The site tests your download, upload and ping speeds. So you should have 3 different speeds to test for. If you have already switched, it will be interesting to see how you compare to Europe which currently has the highest speeds eventhough South Korea enjoys some of the highest as a country.
In conclusion the completion of this project is the first among almost a dozen initiatives to build fibre around Africa. In Kenya which is a mobile technology phenomenon technologies such as WiMAX and the deployment of 3G & 4G networks will lead to a richer mobile experience. Africa is truly transforming as the number of undersea cables under construction means that West Africa may end up with almost 7 cables the largest of which is the proposed WACS with a whopping 3.84Tb/s while East Africa may see upto 4 cables. This may truly turn out to be the beginning of the age of Africa. Africa, Kenya Yes We can.
Now that the submarine fibre-optic cables SEACOM & TEAMS have arrived on Kenya’s shores the focus has shifted to terrestrial networks and infrastructure that will finally deliver last mile broadband to the bandwidth hungry African consumers. To do this various technologies are being implemented. One of the technologies that offers great promise is WiMAX.
What is WiMAX?
WiMAX is an acronym that comes from the initials of Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access. WiMAX is an IP based telecommunications technology that provides wireless transmission of data using a variety of transmission modes from fixed point to multi point links to portable to fully mobile internet access.
At its heart, however, WiMAX is a standards initiative. Its purpose is to ensure that the broadband wireless radios manufactured for customer use interoperate from vendor to vendor. The primary advantages of the WiMAX standard are to enable the adoption of advanced radio features in a uniform fashion and reduce costs for all of the radios made by companies, who are part of the WiMAX Forum™ – a standards body formed to ensure interoperability via testing.
Definitions
WiMAX is divided into two standards known as fixed WiMAX & mobile WiMAX. They have their technical names known as
802.16 – 2004 is often called 802.16d, since that was the working party that developed the standard. It is also frequently referred to as “fixed WiMAX” since it has no support for mobility.
802.16e – 2005 is an amendment to 802.16 – 2004 and is often referred to in shortened form as 802.16e. It introduced support for mobility, amongst other things and is therefore also known as “mobile WiMAX”.
Will WiMAX be a Global Standard?
Yes. WiMAX is a Global Standard that has certified products shipping worldwide and interoperate with gear in the same frequency range and power range. It is important to note that different countries utilize different spectrum frequencies for broadband delivery. For instance, the licensed band 2.5 GHz range in the US is also widely used around the world. However, the widely used international broadband spectrum range in the 3.5 GHz channels is not available in the US, although the FCC has recently opened a small slice of lightly regulated spectrum in the US at 3.65 GHz that uses the same WiMAX radios. The early waves of WiMAX products are not intended to function in multiple WiMAX spectrum ranges simultaneously. However, some of the early WiMAX radio sets may incorporate WiMAX/GSM or Wi-Fi dual connectivity from the beginning as several vendors appear to be engineering this capability into some Mobile WiMAX radios. A dual WiMAX/GSM handset is already on the market in Russia.
Uses of WiMAX.
The greatest advantage of WiMAX in Africa and especially in Kenya’s case is the fact that WiMAX could make broadband internet access ubiquitous at a much lower cost in terms of infrastructure rollout. Some of you may have heard of the almost mad rush to lay fibre-optic cables in Kenya. It is said that Kenyan firms have already laid approximately 20,000km of cable in Kenya. KDN, Access Kenya, Jamii, UUNET, Telkom Kenya and the govt NOFBI/FONN are busy digging up Kenya to lay fibre-optic cables. Now the greatest cost of laying fibre is in the rural areas where the population is widely distributed and taking fibre to each home would be practically impossible in a geographically huge Kenya.
So it follows that to deliver the last mile broadband access in a country already in love with cellular telephony it would be better and cheaper to roll out WiMAX technology. However, though this is the preferred option another problem is being encountered allthough a ready solution is also in the offing. That problem is spectrum availability.
The Spectrum Wars.
WiMAX is a wireless standard of transmitting data. To do so it requires a frequency to operate in. Unlike WiFi which relies on unlicensed spectrum WiMAX requires a specific frequency. To begin with lets first define some terms.
What is Spectrum?
A spectrum is a condition or value that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. In physics spectrum is divided into:
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Energy Spectrum
Frequency Spectrum
For this article we shall mainly concern ourselves with Frequency spectrum. Frequency spectrum may be defined as a plot of the distribution of the intensity of some type of electromagnetic or acoustic radiation as a function of frequency.
(systems engineering) In the analysis of a random function of time, such as the amplitude of noise in a system, the limit as T approaches infinity of 1/(2πT) times the ensemble average of the squared magnitude of the amplitude of the Fourier transform of the function from -T to T. Also known as power-density spectrum; power spectrum; spectral density.
In Kenya the body charged with spectrum allocation is the Communications Commission of Kenya [CCK]. Frequencies are a scarce national resource. Each country is awarded a number of frequencies by the ITU [International Telecommunications Union]. The country then has to allocate the issued frequencies to all the sectors of it’s economy that need them. To do so it must balance frequency allocation to it’s security agencies, financial services, radio & TV broadcasting, maritime & air travel, mobile & fixed telecommunications network and a host of other users of frequency. It follows therefore that frequencies are some of the most valuable assets of some stakeholders. With such valuable commodities there is fierce competition to acquire them hence the battle for frequencies that I have termed Spectrum Wars.
For WiMAX to work it requires a frequency. So what are the RF [Radio Frequency] frequencies needed to operate WiMAX? The most recent versions of both WiMAX standards in 802.16 cover spectrum ranges from at least the 2 GHz range through the 66 GHz range. This is an enormous spectrum range.
Digital TV Transition & White Spaces
On 12 June 2009 the United States officially switched to full digital TV broadcasting, but before you start praising the USA and condemning African inefficiency it is important to remember that the USA was not the first country to effect this change. The first country to switch to full over the air digital broadcasting was Luxembourg in 2006 followed the same year by the Netherlands. Then Sweden, Finland, Norway, Andorra & Switzerland followed in 2007 and Belgium & Germany followed in 2008. So why is this important in terms of WiMAX?
Television today uses quite alot of frequency spectrum. Before TV used analogue spectrum which was very inefficient use of spectrum. With the switch to digital all analogue spectrum is now free and can be used for technologies such as WiMAX. In the area of TV there is another phenomenon known as White Spaces.
In telecommunications white spaces refer to frequencies allocated to a broadcasting service but not used locally. In the United States, it has gained prominence after the FCC ruled that unlicensed devices that can guarantee that they will not interfere with assigned broadcasts can use the empty white spaces in spectrum.
The benefits of migrating from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting include: additional services, higher video and audio quality HD [High Definition], greater spectrum efficiency; and more programme channels in one frequency. Consumers will have more choices of enhanced broadcasting applications, multimedia data and entertainment services. In addition, competition is expected to increase due to new entrants in the broadcasting market.
This is a potential game changing event because it frees up more frequency spectrum which allows telecomms providers to provide cheaper services to the rest of us and therefore revolutionize life as we know it in countries such as Kenya and much of Africa. To end on a positive note Kenya is well on the way to switching to digital broadcasting by 1 July 2012 which will be well before China and at the same time with the United Kingdom. Nevertheless Kenya should seek to emulate Mauritius which was the first country in the world to be fully covered by WiMAX. Africa, Kenya Yes We Can.
In recent times Kenya has not had it easy in regard to matters economic or for that matter in any other areas. We have seen a good reputation of peace and harmony disappear overnight during the post election violence. In addition the global financial crisis has further exacerbated the economic decline we continue to experience.
Having said that it is important to point out some very salient indicators about our economy and the efforts that the government has taken to ensure that we mitigate and even recover from the decline. Some of you may be aware that Kenya has been experiencing a famine due to the failure of rains and the displacement of farming communities within the Rift Valley. Our tourism industry also suffered as a result of shocking television images of the post election violence and the global financial meltdown which affected our main source markets for tourism namely Europe and North America. Finally remittances from the Kenyan diaspora also declined as they also suffered loss of jobs. Furthermore revenue from our main exports declined even as oil was sustaining high prices.
If you take all those factors into consideration it is actually amazing that our economy has not done much worse. One would have thought that the economy would have totally collapsed. However before all this factors ganged up on us, Kenya had seen 5 years of some of the most robust economic growth in recent decades. To understand this developments let us take stock of some recent history.
In early January 2002 the NARC government led by President Mwai Kibaki took power from former President Daniel Arap Moi [KANU] who had led Kenya for 24yrs under a one party rule. At the time Kibaki took over GDP growth was at 0.6%. He immediately formulated a new economic blueprint known as the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation [ERS]. By the end of his first term at the end of 2007 growth had reached 7.1%. It was then that the unfortunate events took place.
Since then however a new coalition government has taken over and begun putting the country back on the road to recovery. The government has now begun the implementation of the new economic blueprint for Kenya known as Vision 2030. This is an extremely ambitious program meant to propel Kenya into a middle income status country on the same footing as the Asian tiger economies of the Far East.
VISION 2030.
The vision 2030 blueprint has three major pillars. These are namely the following;
Political Pillar.
Social Pillar.
Economic Pillar.
I will mainly focus on the third pillar which is concerned with economic prosperity. It is however important to briefly touch on the other two pillars. The political pillar envisages an issue-based, people centred, results oriented and accountable democratic political system. The social pillar vizualises a just and cohesive society enjoying equitable social development in a clean and secure environment.
The economic pillar is extremely ambitious it aims for sustained economic growth of 10% per annum. To achieve this the plan identifies six economic areas where it hopes to place the greatest emphasis. This areas are considered highly likely to succeed because Kenya has a competitive advantage in them. They are the following;
Agro – processing
Business Process Outsourcing
Financial services
Tourism
Retail & Regional Trade
Manufacturing.
Having identified this key areas it follows that the government through the National Economic and Social Council sees most investments as being most profitable when directed towards this areas. However this does not mean that investors interested in other areas will not be welcome. It simply means this areas have the potential of making the geatest impact on Kenya’s growth. The following are excerpts from the vision 2030 document.
Agriculture & AGRO – Processing.
Kenya will raise incomes in agriculture, livestock and fisheries even as industrial production and the service sector expand. This will be done by processing and thereby adding value to her products before they reach the market. She will do so in a manner that enables her producers to compete with the best in other parts of the world. This will be accomplished through an innovative, commercially oriented and modern agriculture, livestock and fisheries sector. These interventions are expected to generate an additional KSh.80 – 90 billion increase in GDP, mainly through better yields in key crops, increased smallholder specialisation in the cash crop sector (2-3 crops per plot), utilisation of a million hectares of currently uncultivated land, and new cultivation of up to 1.2 million hectares of newly-opened lands.
Specific strategies will involve the following:
(i) transforming key institutions in agriculture and livestock to promote household and private sector agricultural growth; and
(ii) increasing productivity of crops and livestock. Kenya will also introduce new land use policies through: better utilisation of high and medium potential land.
Business Process Outsourcing
This is a new but promising sector for Kenya and especially for its young people. It involves providing business services via the Internet to companies and organisations in the developed world e.g. Britain, USA, Canada, etc. The 2030 vision for business process outsourcing is for Kenya to “quickly become the top BPO destination in Africa”. The goal for 2012 is to create at least 7,500 direct BPO jobs with an additional GDP contribution of KShs.10 billion. This will be done by attracting at least 5 major leading IT suppliers, at least 10 large multinational corporation companies and global BPO players to Kenya. This will create an estimated additional 5,000 jobs. At least 5 large local players will be identified to become local champions through stand-alone operations or joint ventures. Kenya will therefore attract top international IT suppliers to create confidence in more investments, thereby attracting leading multinational corporations and foreign companies with top BPO brands.
The Flagship BPO Project
The flagship BPO project for 2012 is to design and establish one major BPO park in Nairobi (possibly in Athi River) that will have world class infrastructure developed by top international IT suppliers. Kenya will offer competitive incentive packages for companies to locate in the park, provide a-one-stop shop for administration and talent and serve as a “showcase” park to attract more top foreign IT companies.
Financial Services.
The 2030 vision for financial services to create a vibrant and globally competitive financial sector in Kenya that will create jobs and also promote highlevels of savings to finance Kenya’s overall investment needs. As part of Kenya’s macro-economic goals, savings rates will rise from 17% to 30% of GDP in about a decade. This will be achieved through measures that include increasing of bank deposits from 44% to 80% of GDP and by a declining cost of borrowed capital i.e. interest rates. The country will also decrease the share of population without access to finance from 85% to below 70% at present, and increase stock market capitalisation from 50% to 90% of GDP. Savings of up to 10% of GDP for investment are expected to be realised from remittances, foreign direct investments (FDI), overseas development assistance (ODA) and sovereign bonds.
The flagship projects for 2012 are:
Facilitate the transformation of the banking sector to bring in fewer stronger and well capitalized banks.
Develope and execute a comprehensive model for pension reform.
Pursue a comprehensive remittances strategy.
Formulate a strategy for the issuing of benchmark sovereign bonds.
Implement legal and institutional reforms required for a Regional financial centre.
Tourism
Tourism will be a leading sector in achieving the goals of the Vision. Kenya aims to be among the top 10 long-haul tourist destinations in the world offering a high-end, diverse, and distinctive visitor experience that few of her competitors can offer.
There are three specific goals for 2012:
Quadruple tourism’s GDP contribution to more than Ksh. 200 Billion.
Raise international visitors from 1.6 million in 2006 to 3 million in 2012, while raising average spent per visitor from the present KShs.40,000 to at least KShs.70,000; and
Increase hotel beds from 40,000 to at least 65,000, combined with an emphasis on high quality service.
The specific strategies for realising the goals will involve: an aggressive strategy to develop Kenya’s coast (north and south) by developing resort cities in two key locations in addition to the Isiolo resort cities; achieving higher tourism revenue yield by increasing the country’s premium safari parks and improving facilities in all under-utilised parks; creating new high value niche products (e.g. cultural, eco-sports and water-based tourism); revamping business-visitor offering by attracting high-end international hotel chains; and by investing in new conference facilities.
Flagship Projects for Tourism
Three (3) resort cities – two new resorts cities at the coast (one in north and the other at south coast). The third one will be located in Isiolo.
Better marketing of little-visited parks so as to bring more tourists to game parks that have not been receiving many visitors, and which are located in all parts of the country.
Wholesale, Retail & Regional Trade
The 2030 vision for wholesale and retail trade is to move towards greater efficiency in the country’s marketing system by lowering transaction costs through institutional reforms. This involves strengthening informal trade (through investment in infrastructure, training and linking it to wider local and global markets). This will raise the market share of products sold through formal channels (e.g. supermarkets) from the current 5% to 30% by 2012. This will also contribute an additional KShs.50billion to the GDP. The plan is to attract at least three new retailers with more than 10 stores each into the Kenyan market. The vision also plans to enumerate informal sector operators, to provide them with permanent and serviced facilities, training and access to credit and markets. The simplification of business registration and trade licensing will continue in order to create a more enabling business environment for all trading activity. At producer level, the plan aims to establish “Producer Business Groups” (PBGs), which will in turn feed large wholesale hubs principally in rural areas.
These hubs will be “Tier 1” retail markets that will provide the primary producer with better value than at present where markets are heavily fragmented. The Government will continue to strengthen the producer co-operative movement and assist in branding and marketing Kenyan products in regional and international markets.
The Flagship projects for Retail & Wholesale Trade.
Creation of at least 10 wholesale hubs and 1,000 – 1,500 Producer Business Groups (starting with a pilot project in Maragua, Central Province, that is to be extended to other regions).
Building of at least 10 ‘Tier 1’ retail markets (starting with a pilot project in Athi River).
The building of one free trade port at the coast inorder to “bring Dubai to Kenya”. This port will serve eastern and central Africa.
Manufacturing
Kenya aims to become the provider of choice for basic manufactured goods in eastern and central Africa, before breaking into other markets by targeting “niche” products (e.g. organic foods and beverages). This will be done through improved efficiency and competitiveness at firm level. The state will invest in training, research and development. The goal for 2012 is to: generate an additional KShs.30 billion to GDP by producing consumer goods that compete with imports (without resorting to restrictions) in key local industries; and raising market share in the regional market from 7% to 15%. Kenya also intends to attract at least 10 large strategic investors in key agro-processing industries, targeting local and international markets.
Flagship Projects for Manufacturing
The flagship projects for 2008 – 2012 are:
The development and establishment of two economic clusters that is related industries to gain from linkage and multiplier economies.
The development and creation of at least 5 Small and Medium Enterprise [SME] Industrial Parks.
To ensure that this vision is achieved the government has put in place preparatory measures that span from reforms in land, security, energy, education, health, legal and political reform. If this vision is achieved Kenya will truly be on the way to becoming the paradise it can be . Kenya Yes We Can.
The first time I heard people saying that the mobile phone would replace the desktop or laptop I was very sceptical. Having used computers for a long time I have become accustomed to typing using a keyboard. Whenever I type SMS on my phone I feel slowed down and slightly cumbersome. I was also under the impression that such a small device like the cellphone could not possibly have the same computing power as my desktop. This notion was embedded in my mind by comparisons between desktops and laptops (or if you prefer notebooks). Laptops always had less memory or processing power than desktops.
However in the age of technology nothing should surprise us. The first computer was the size of a whole room [1800square feet] weighed 50 tons with 18,000 vacuum tubes and had very little processing power compared to todays laptops and may very well have been surpassed by the new smart phones.
The cellphone revolution that has hit Africa is morphing everyday into ever new and user friendly applications for consumers. In the beginning cellphones were primarily used for voice communication. Their portability was a massive revolution for Africans for whom telephones were a luxury. The cellphone gave them freedom to communicate on the move. Now it has progressed far beyond our wildest dreams.
The cellphone has allowed citizens in Kenya to transfer money conveniently and cheaply effectively ending the domination of companies such as Moneygram and Western Union. It has allowed people to listen to radio, play games, download music, wallpapers, send sms, pay bills and now most importantly it has brought the internet. It is this last fact that has the world brimming with excitement.
Enter Apple Inc the creators of the iPod and the revolutionary iPhone. On 19th June 2009 just last week Apple released their latest iPhone 3GS in the USA, Canada and 6 European countries. On June 26 they released in Japan and Australia and it is scheduled to rollout to the rest of the world within the months of July and August. But what really is the iPhone and why all the hype?
The iPhone is defined as an internet connected multimedia smart phone designed and marketed by Apple. What is a smart phone? A smart phone is defined simply as a mobile phone with advanced PC like functionality. Since the launch of the first iPhone in the USA on 29 June 2007 the phone has seen remarkable success. The following table by wikimedia commons illustrates the growth of sales
Not only has the phone remarkable success on the sales side but it is now eliciting an increasingly international response. Before it could be said the iPhone was mostly confined to North America and some choice European contries. The original 3G iPhone was initially released in upto 22 countries it has since risen to more than 80 countries world wide. The following wikimedia commons map illustrates the growing numbers of countries covered by the iPhone.
The exciting thing about the iPhone is that it has now become akin to a normal computer with very many PC like functions known in short as Apps [Applications]. Designed primarily for surfing the web and it’s ability to access ones email, process word documents, take pictures, find one’s way using it’s digital compass and google maps functionality, it may be argued that it has superior functionality to a desktop. While traveling on a public system you cant depend on a desktop to find your way around. The Apple apps store now has thousands of applications available both free and for purchase.
A recent study conducted by Opera a software company based in Oslo, among African countries where the technology platform called mobile web is used, Kenya led the group of 12 African countries in number of page views. According to the report the number of internet users on mobile has risen dramatically. The ranking on number of mobile surfers is led by South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Zambia, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Namibia, Ghana and Gabon in that order. The number of users is offcourse also a factor of population. It is instructive to note that Nigeria with 140 million people is still behind South Africa with 48 million people. Kenya with 38million people is just after Egypt which has 82 million people.
Some interesting figures for Kenya emerged which give some insights into the growth of the mobile internet experience.
Page-view growth since April 2008: 572.6%
Unique-user growth since April 2008: 146.4%
Page-views per user: 372
The most important figure is the last which indicates that with 372 page views per user individual Kenyans are spending alot more time on the web than any other African country. This figure may turn out to be more important than number of users because it could indicate a higher ARPU [Average Revenue Per User] potential for mobile data providers. It also shows that Kenyans have a hunger for the web which may signal even more promise for web related content and revenue streams.
With the recent arrival of fibre-optic cables i.e. TEAMS and SEACOM, the broadband market is likely to see a massive growth. Telkom Kenya and Safaricom have already started preparing for this new market niche that will supplant the voice market niche. With the new smart phones able to view Television, transfer money and transact business this could be the device that delivers broadband for Africa.
Which takes us back to the iPhone. This week 29 June 2009 Google in conjunction with Grameen Foundation and MTN Uganda launched a suite of SMS based mobile phone applications that will greatly enhance real-time information ranging from health related clinical to agricultural based info and virtual market information. What this means is that the cellphone is now being leveraged as a tool to fight poverty and spur development.
If we expand the notion of the iPhone to mean that it is an information phone then the benefits are obvious for Africa. This is why mobile operators are now focussing all their energy into developing smart phones. A fierce competition has now emerged with Nokia, LG and Samsung launching their own versions of smart phones largely similar to the iPhone. It has to be said though that the iPhone is not necessarily a market leader in the smartphone industry but it does set a high standard that can only be good for the future.
In conclusion another technological revolution is taking place. In the development of operating software and applications the concept of crowd sourcing has revolutionized the way software is designed and developed. By allowing open source software development, innovative and amazingly ingenious applications have found their way into the market place which means ordinary devices find themselves transformed into super devices which can handle a wide variety of tasks. This is what has transformed the iPhone into a super phone which has converged an iPod, radio, clock, video camcoder, camera, phone and computer into a single device.
If Africa adopts this new technology and developes it’s own apps for the unique situations facing Africans then it can only be good for Africa. I continue to be inspired by the developments taking place in the field of technology and remain convinced that Africa may free itself from the shackles of poverty within a single generation if the young Africans adopt technology to create wealth. Africa Yes We can.
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