 | Issue: | EMEA 2006 |
| Article no.: | 14 | |
| Topic: | ICT and hope in Kenya | |
| Author: | Dr Kai Uwe Wulff | |
| Title: | Managing Director | |
| Organisation: | Kenya Data Networks | |
| PDF size: | 232KB |
About author
Dr Kai Uwe Wulff is the Managing Director of Kenya Data Networks where he has overseen the growth of KDN’s infrastructure, including the roll out of WiMAX and fibre optics. Prior to Kenya Data Networks, he worked with the African Safari Club Group of companies. There, he served as the Marketing Director & CIO until appointed the Managing Director of the African Safari Club, African Safari Airways. Previously, Dr Wulff owned and worked with WULFF EDV Systemhaus AG in Germany, a solution provider for networks, hardware and software, business/management consulting and IT audits. Kai Uwe Wulff is a Doctor in Economic Science, a licensed commercial pilot and a trained officer of the German Air Force.
Article abstract
Kenya’s economic development will depend upon the introduction of an extensive broadband infrastructure throughout the country, especially in rural areas. The liberalization of Kenya’s telecommunication sector, and the introduction of competition, made the build out of wired and wireless networks throughout the country economically viable. These networks will stimulate the development of an ICT support service sector, encourage advanced services for outsourcing, such as call-centres, and motivate the migration of some production and, eventually, R&D to rural areas.
Full Article
“Whether your end users are on-site, at home or mobile, they expect instant access to resource”; “The performance of your wide area network, WAN, is essential to your staff and company’s continued success”; “Your network is mission-critical”; “The reliability, speed of access and stability of your network must be taken for granted.” Although they sound mundane, these statements sounded far-fetched a few years ago in Kenya. However the liberalization of the telecommunication sector in Kenya and subsequent registration of private companies to offer networking solutions has made all this possible. Despite all the positive steps taken in the telecommunication sector in Kenya, there is still a great need to increase the access to facilities in the rural areas of Kenya. Although the country’s rural areas have 80 per cent of the Kenyan population, the infrastructure in these regions remains either inadequate or non-existent. This has led to a great disparity in the services that you can expect in rural Kenya and since information is power, this has further contributed to the great financial gap between the ‘urbanites’ and the ‘rural folks’. Infrastructure in Kenya The underdevelopment of Kenya’s rural infrastructure can be traced back to the long years of state control and ownership of economic activities. Still, even after the entrance of the private companies in the sector the concentration of telecommunications activity in the urban centres has continued. The return on investment in Nairobi and Mombasa is definitely faster than in a remote town like Kakuma. This is further aggravated by the country’s regulatory structure, which stipulates a fee structure based upon the number of transmitters in the network and not a flat fee. This penalizes the operators that have a wider reach. Therefore, without proper direction or incentives from the regulator, the infrastructure builders will continue to ignore rural Kenya. Kenya’s private network operators all started providing service by setting up microwave base stations. The main reason for using microwave was the speed with which a wireless network could be installed. As soon as a transmitter is set up, an operator can start serving clients in any town within its reach. With several interconnected transmitters, an operator can start linking client branch networks and any other services that may be required. However, as the clientele increases, the need for more capacity makes additional radio frequencies a necessity. To overcome the above-mentioned problems, and that of interference that starts manifesting itself given the great number of microwave radios installed on the roofs of users, operators have begun to deployed fibre optics. This will supplement the copper network that is provided by the incumbent (Telkom Kenya) and is available in most urban centres. Due to the growth of networking needs in Kenya, the nationwide microwave backbone that is provided by the incumbent, Kenya Data Networks and the GSM operators, is no longer sufficient. That is why a countrywide fibre optics backbone is in the process of being deployed. This will be to the Kenyan economy in the 21st century what the Kenya-Uganda Railway was in the 20th century. With heightened expectations, customers are now demanding features from their network providers that were not possible a few years back. Tomorrow’s competitive network operator will have a wide range of services to offer. 1. Service Level Agreement (SLA) – Given the competition, some operators will soon be offering SLAs that call for 99.99 per cent network uptime; other network operators are already offering a 99.9 per cent network uptime SLA; 2. Clear troubleshooting/escalation procedure – No one in the world can have a 100 per cent trouble-free solution. In the event of a problem, clients want to know that their problem is being addressed and how to get in touch with their service delivery managers and account managers; 3. Clear and transparent pricing – There should be a simplified process for WAN pricing. This means that the clients should view pricing as a clear and transparent monthly operation for an agreed level of services (SLA); 4. Change Control Procedures – A comprehensive change control process imposes a necessary degree of discipline on the way technology is allowed to grow and develop within an organization. Given the necessary emphasis on security when delivering WAN solutions, it is obvious that any uncontrolled changes to a firm’s WAN infrastructure could lead to potential security issues; and 5. Security – Today’s networks are designed in a highly structured way. To reduce the complexity every layer is built upon the preceding layer in order to meet the demands of clients that are becoming increasingly aware of their security requirements. Infrastructure There have been several developments in as far as infrastructure in the region is concerned. Kenya has had a significant improvement in its infrastructure, and this has contributed to the fastest growth in access to the Internet and telephone services in the region. Several organizations have been licensed as Local Loop Operators with a mandate to provide affordable telephone services to Kenyans. This is meant to further improve service levels and competitiveness in this sector. However, judging from what has happened with the network operators, it would be safe to assume that the majority of these companies will concentrate on the urban centres. It is for this reason that we are now embarking on an ambitious project to reach 80 per cent of Kenyans with affordable data, video and telephone services by the year 2008. This will be achieved by means of the following infrastructure projects: 1. A countrywide fibre optics network is in the process of being deployed; 2. The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System, EASSy, will bring international access, but its interconnection of the countries in the region will be more important. Currently a telephone call from Kenya to England is cheaper than one to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The system aims to change this anomaly; 3. A seamless WiFi network is being deploying in Nairobi and later to the rest of the country. This will not be used not only for Internet access, but also to provide access to local and regional content; and 4. WiMAX – Kenya already has the largest WiMAX network in Africa. Given local conditions, this is an ideal network for last mile connectivity. These projects are meant to build capacity not only in the urban centres, but also in the rural areas. This will make all the projects being pushed by the government and, as well, by some non-governmental organizations, possible. Projects, such as the much talked about e Government project that is meant to take services close to the people, will not be possible without a good infrastructure. The eLearning projects undertaken by educational institutions are among the many tasks that will rely heavily upon the availability of a good network system. There are some impediments in Kenya, and indeed in Africa, that have contributed to the slow growth of its telecommunication infrastructure. Some of the obstacles are: 1. Wrong attitude/lack of interest from equipment manufacturers – the attitude that some manufacturers have is that Africa needs products that are almost obsolete in the rest of the world; this is stifling progress. The comments that we get are ‘it has worked in Europe’, ‘it is affordable’ etc. They do not question if it is the best technology for the region. They need to understand that the disposable income for telecommunication services in Africa is lower than that in Europe, but the demand for quality is not less. Africa has unique needs, but companies that take time to acquaint themselves with the continent’s problems can meet them – and make a profit; 2. Availability of electricity – In rural Kenya, the percentage of households with electricity is only about two per cent. Going back to the previous point, manufacturers of equipment should, for example, think of offering equipment that can use solar power or rechargeable batteries; and 3. Licence fees – The frequency fees levied on network operators in the region by the governments are prohibitively high and, since the cost is then passed on to the end users, the unnecessarily high cost of connectivity results in low service uptake. A cycle of growth What the region needs is a paradigm shift; instead of concentrating on the cost of infrastructure, the focus should on the services that can be provided. The question that should be at the top of the ICT experts’ minds should be: “What can we do with the links to improve our business?” not, “How much does the link cost?” As long as the state of telecommunication infrastructure remains poor, the growth of the region’s economies will continue to be slow at best. Development of ICT can stimulate faster growth in the following ways: 1. Appropriate, affordable, technologies can stimulate service uptake and usage; 2. With increased usage, and access to information and learning, the knowledge needed to participate effectively and efficiently in the economy can be generated; 3. The growth of ICT usage will stimulate the growth of a low-level local service industry to support it. This, in turn can leads to the growth of small industries; 4. The growth of ICT and the development of the communications infrastructure will also make possible the development of somewhat higher, medium-level, ICT-intensive, services such as call centres; 5. Production Shift – medium level support will lead to the migration of some production to locations in rural areas; 6. R&D – after production is established, the next step will be the establishment of research and development in these areas; 7. Top Level support – R7D will necessitate the development of local top level support; and 8. Outsourcing into rural areas – eventually there will be outsourcing to the rural areas.
