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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, (Wairagala
Wakabi and Alan Finlay for APCNews) - Analysts argue that governments
in cash-strapped developing countries often tread a tightrope between a
need to shore up the state coffers for public spending, and a
responsibility to address critical telecommunications access for the
poor. Telecommunications make money – lots of it – and many governments
know that this money can be used to fund basic services, such as water,
housing and electricity. But in the process universal access promises
go adrift, as is the case with Uganda’s high taxes on telecoms
services, write Wairagala Wakabi and Alan Finlay. More
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CALGARY (LC for APCNews) - Cybercafés are in
decline in Senegal. Too much offer compared to demand because of prices
that are still out of reach for the average Senegalese, have resulted
in the closure of many of these access points to knowledge and
communication, once found around the clock on every street corner in
Dakar. The arrival of a much-anticipated new operator, Expresso only
led to disappointment – the operator jumped into the mobile telephone
market rather than focus on the much-needed fixed telephony and
internet sector. As a result, the state-owned operator continues to
control basic infrastructure, creating a mere façade of competition
among operators. More
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