Friday, August 26, 2011

Study identifies Kenya ICT access gaps


Kenya's Ministry of Information & Communication
Permanent Secretary , Bitange Ndemo (with  mic)
, CCK officials and consultants from Aolo Consultoria:
72% of the population lacks access to broadband

The Communications Comission of Kenya (CCK) has released the results of a study on ICT access gaps in Kenya. Commissioned in mid 2009 and carried out by Apoyo Consultoria, the study seeks to provide accurate and reliable data on the availability and accessibility of various information and communication facilities in the country. The launch was held Tuesday at Nairobi’s Ole Sereni hotel and was attended by acting CCK Director General, Francis Wangusi and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication, Bitange Ndemo.

The study especially tackles the Universal Service Fund (USF)  which was established in the amended Kenya Communication Acts of 2008. The USF is funded from licensee levies , allocation by Parliament , principal and interest payments on advanced loans and investment by funds and endowments. The interest comes from loans of which can be applied form the funds.

Mobile operators however so far posed opposition to the USF saying that it amounted to extra taxation that would logically be passed on to their customers. This lead to a partial compromise where the operators would establish digital villages in an effort to bridge the access gaps.

The report was compiled from data collected in the 2009 national census and information obtained from stakeholders in the ICT sector.”In the past five years, we have carried out studies on the Internet market, the telecommunications network costs , postal and courier market , competition, among others, “ says Wangusi.