telecommunications reform
By most standards, Tanzania’s information and communications technology (ICT) policy looks ambitious. In just six years, it wants to make the country a hub of telecommunications infrastructure to help build the economy and end poverty. But John Mireny argues that when it comes to broadband, this vision lacks practical application, and is out of step with the real limitations on the ground….
The landing of undersea telecommunications cables on the east coast of Africa in 2009 – starting with Seacom and The East African Marine System (TEAMS) and to be followed in 2010 by the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) – creates an important opportunity for the countries of East Africa to develop affordable broadband access to the internet for all. However, this opportunity takes place against a backdrop of the implementation of telecommunications reform policy over the last...
This report analyses the challenges faced by the Uganda telecommunications sector in creating a healthy market structure, encouraging efficient and affordable services, and delivering services to the poor. It is divided into three parts.
This report unpacks this mixed reception to the Kenya Communications Amendment Bill (2007), outlining the media’s objections as well as the government’s response, and contextualising the tension between the two historically. At the same time, it asks whether the sector’s positive response to the Act was misplaced, given some worrying inconsistencies and omissions.
This report examines the implementation of telecommunication reforms in Rwanda, with particular attention paid to broadband issues.
Privatisation without regulation does not necessarily improve service delivery, and may even decrease access to information and communication technology for the poor. This is the view of US-based academic and ICT policy analyst Robert Horwitz, who was speaking at a one-week research workshop held in Johannesburg in July 2008. Horwitz is no newcomer to South Africa, or to the politics behind ant...
