facecrook

Whilst still on Malaysia, the crooks here are going to the book, Facebook, that is. A common story all over the world with the new social networking era.

Most of the cases are identity thefts, with telephone numbers, even photographs being lifted off for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to blackmail and sexual harassment.

In Malaysia alone, some 400 crimes involving Facebook were reported to a cyber security group. According to an international survey of 2010, Malaysians are at the top with the most number of friends on social networking websites like Facebook with an average of 233, and spending up to nine hours each week logged on! Malaysia is ranked 15 with 9 899 460Facebook users (37.75% of its population), with US at the top of the list with 146 591 880users, according to the Socialbakers site. Kenya surprisingly has 999 700 users, Uganda 253 620 users and Tanzania 220 560 users.

Facebook users the world over have been posting on many occasions personal details such as birth dates, addresses and telephone numbers on the website and which has been a boon for identity fraudsters.

Hackers operating on social networks can easily create fake profiles and send friendship requests to unsuspecting users within their target groups.

Many users have become victims of identity frauds, harassment, blackmail and lost money through various scams operated via the website.

Kenyan TV commercials

One of those things I could wish for is access to a site or sites that would have this great collection of TV commercials ever aired on Kenyan TV. In mind this would have commercials aired in the 1980s when Kenya had the only TV station that was State owned-the Voice of Kenya (VoK). Growing up in the 1970s I still recall with nostalgia the black-and-white commercials while growing up in the suburbs of Nairobi such advertisements such as Blueband, Kimbo, Omo, Cowboy, Lifebuoy, Rexona, Lady Gay among others.

The 1970s were the days TV station came on at 6 p.m. and closed 3 hours later on at 9 p.m. with the mandatory national anthem playing.

The 1980s saw the shift to more interesting advertisements and programmes such as the “The Six Million Dollar Man”, “The Little House on the Prairie”, “Dallas”, “Bionic Woman”, “Hart and Hart”, “Kojak” and “Dempsey”.

Anyone out there who can take the challenge of sourcing some of these commercials from 1970s to 2010 and having them all in one website where they can be downloaded for the walk down the memory lane?

Africa Internet Facebook Usage

Africa, the second largest continent on earth after Asia, with an estimated human population of 1,013,779,050 in 2010; has a total of 110,948,420 Internet users in as at 31/10, a 10.9% penetration rate. Interestingly, 17,607,440 of these approximately 111 million African Internet users are Facebook users as at August 31/10, a 1.7% penetration rate.
As can be seen from the table below, statistics can be quite revealing, depending on how you want to look at the data.

Country	Population (2010 est.)	Internet Users (Dec/2000)	Internet Users (Aug/2010)	Penetration (% of Population)	User Growth (2000-2010)	% Users in Africa
Western Sahara	491,519	---	---	---	---	0.00%
Mayotte (FR)	231,139	---	---	---	---	0.00%
Seychelles	88,340	6,000	33,900	38.40%	465.00%	0.00%
Reunion (FR)	822,986	130,000	300,000	36.50%	130.80%	0.30%
Tunisia	10,589,025	100,000	3,600,000	34.00%	3500.00%	3.20%
Morocco	31,627,428	100,000	10,442,500	33.00%	10342.50%	9.40%
Cape Verde	508,659	8,000	150,000	29.50%	1775.00%	0.10%
Nigeria	152,217,341	200,000	43,982,200	28.90%	21891.10%	39.60%
Mauritius	1,294,104	87,000	290,000	22.40%	233.30%	0.30%
Egypt	80,471,869	450,000	17,060,000	21.20%	3691.10%	15.40%
Sao Tome & Principe	175,808	6,500	26,700	15.20%	310.80%	0.00%
Algeria	34,586,184	50,000	4,700,000	13.60%	9300.00%	4.30%
Zimbabwe	11,651,858	50,000	1,422,000	12.20%	2744.00%	1.30%
South Africa	49,109,107	2,400,000	5,300,000	10.80%	120.80%	4.80%
Saint Helena (UK)	7,670	n/a	800	10.40%	n/a	0.00%
Kenya	40,046,566	200,000	3,995,500	10.00%	1897.80%	3.60%
Sudan	41,980,182	30,000	4,200,000	10.00%	13900.00%	3.80%
Uganda	33,398,682	40,000	3,200,000	9.60%	7900.00%	2.90%
Gambia	1,824,158	4,000	130,100	7.10%	3152.50%	0.10%
Zambia	12,056,923	20,000	816,700	6.80%	3983.50%	0.70%
Senegal	14,086,103	40,000	923,000	6.60%	2207.50%	0.80%
Swaziland	1,354,051	10,000	90,000	6.60%	800.00%	0.10%
Gabon	1,545,255	15,000	98,800	6.40%	558.70%	0.10%
Namibia	2,128,471	30,000	127,500	6.00%	325.00%	0.10%
Botswana	2,029,307	15,000	120,000	5.90%	700.00%	0.10%
Congo	4,125,916	500	245,200	5.90%	48940.00%	0.20%
Togo	6,199,841	100,000	356,300	5.70%	256.30%	0.30%
Libya	6,461,454	10,000	353,900	5.50%	3439.00%	0.30%
Ghana	24,339,838	30,000	1,297,000	5.30%	4223.30%	1.20%
Angola	13,068,161	30,000	607,400	4.60%	1924.70%	0.50%
Cote d'Ivoire	21,058,798	40,000	968,000	4.60%	2320.00%	0.90%
Malawi	15,447,500	15,000	716,400	4.60%	4676.00%	0.60%
Eritrea	5,792,984	5,000	250,000	4.30%	4900.00%	0.20%
Rwanda	11,055,976	5,000	450,000	4.10%	8900.00%	0.40%
Lesotho	1,919,552	4,000	76,800	4.00%	1820.00%	0.10%
Cameroon	19,294,149	20,000	750,000	3.90%	3650.00%	0.70%
Djibouti	740,528	1,400	25,900	3.50%	1750.00%	0.00%
Comoros	773,407	1,500	24,300	3.10%	1520.00%	0.00%
Mozambique	22,061,451	30,000	612,500	2.80%	1941.70%	0.60%
Guinea-Bissau	1,565,126	1,500	37,100	2.40%	2373.30%	0.00%
Mauritania	3,205,060	5,000	75,000	2.30%	1400.00%	0.10%
Benin	9,056,010	15,000	200,000	2.20%	1233.30%	0.20%
Equatorial Guinea	650,702	500	14,400	2.20%	2780.00%	0.00%
Chad	10,543,464	1,000	187,800	1.80%	18680.00%	0.20%
Mali	13,796,354	18,800	250,000	1.80%	1229.80%	0.20%
Tanzania	41,892,895	115,000	676,000	1.60%	487.80%	0.60%
Madagascar	21,281,844	30,000	320,000	1.50%	966.70%	0.30%
Burkina Faso	16,241,811	10,000	178,200	1.10%	1682.00%	0.20%
Somalia	10,112,453	200	106,000	1.00%	52900.00%	0.10%
Guinea	10,324,025	8,000	95,000	0.90%	1087.50%	0.10%
Burundi	9,863,117	3,000	65,000	0.70%	2066.70%	0.10%
Niger	15,878,271	5,000	115,900	0.70%	2218.00%	0.10%
Central African Rep.	4,844,927	1,500	22,600	0.50%	1406.70%	0.00%
Congo, Dem. Rep.	70,916,439	500	365,000	0.50%	72900.00%	0.30%
Ethiopia	88,013,491	10,000	445,400	0.50%	4354.00%	0.40%
Liberia	3,685,076	500	20,000	0.50%	3900.00%	0.00%
Sierra Leone	5,245,695	5,000	14,900	0.30%	198.00%	0.00%
TOTAL AFRICA	1,013,779,050	4,514,400	110,931,700	10.90%	2357.30%	100.00%

As can be seen from the table above, the top 3 countries in Africa in terms of Internet penetration are Seychelles (38.40%), Reunion (36.50%) and Tunisia (34.50%). The African countries with the least Internet penetration are Ethiopia (0.50%), Liberia (o.50%) and Siera Leone (0.30%); countries that have just emerged from a history of long civil war. Looking at member countries that comprise the East African Community in terms of Facebook usage are Kenya-864,760 Facebook users (2.2% penetration rate), Tanzania -141,580 Facebook users (0.3% penetration rate), Uganda-196,000 Facebook users ( 0.6% penetration rate), Rwanda-52,520 Facebook users (0.5% penetration rate) and Burundi-6,740 Facebook users (0.1% penetration rate).

Source: Internet World Stats

Global and African Internet Usage

According to the latest statistics as as 30 June 2010 by IWS the number of Internet users globally is almost hitting the 2 billion level! To be exact, there were 1,966,514,816 Internet users, representing 28.7% penetration rate of the world’s estimated 6,845,609,960 human beings.

Africa had 110,931,700 Internet users, a 5.6% penetration rate of its estimated 1,013,779,050 total population as at 2010. But worth noting, was the fact that when compared to 2000, when there were only 4,514,400 Internet users, the Internet usage uptake can be described as a phenomenal 2,357.3 % growth rate over the last decade!

But this will likely change even further with the liberalization of the ICT sector especially in a continent where states have always preferred to exert control on the information flow among its citizenry. And as the democratic space widens and African states open up to the global knowledge society, it is hoped that the cost of accessing the Internet bandwidth will come down, allowing for healthy inter-sectoral competition has witnessed in recent weeks in Kenya. Here, the price wars between the major mobile phone service providers such as Safaricom, Zain (now Bhatel), Yu and Orange has seen voice calling rates as low as zero at off-peak to Ksh.1 (USD 0.012) per minute; and broadband access charges at Ksh. 3 (USd 0.036) per MB using 3G platforms. Safaricom is now even testing on the 4G that promises faster access rates and supporting even more applications over the wire than was previously envisaged.

East Africa’s fibre link outage, in comes satellite

The past few days were a frustrating experience for users of the Internet in East Africa, particularly in Kenya due to intermittent outages in the fibre optic cable operated by Seacom and The East Africa Marine System (Teams) occasioned by repairs on the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable along the Mediterranean Sea.

This led to major ISPs reverting back to satellite services, recently abandoned in favour of the fibre optic cable, so as to cushion customers against total loss of communication. The satellite connection was the main link for East Africans as attempts were made to repair the fibre cables. This proves that despite its technological inefficiencies, satellite connectivity should and must be retained as a back up system in any economy, particularly for any developing economy at its nascent stages of information technology growth.

And as is becoming the norm in Kenya, cable vandalism has been increasing to such an extent, especially among the major players in the sector.

This has not gone well with the end users who had high expectations that costs of bandwidth would go down considerably, and in turn stimulate growth in other sectors.

The repair work on the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable was completed successfully on 29 April 2010, with the major regional and continentals ISPs, including SEACOM, being migrated .

SEACOM was the first cable to provide broadband to countries in East Africa. Within Africa, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya are inter-connected via a protected ring structure. Additionally, a second express fibre pair is provided from South Africa to Kenya. The two fibre pairs have a combined capacity of 1.28Tbs. Express fibre pairs are also provided from Kenya to France into a PoP in Marseilles, and from Tanzania to India into the PoP in Mumbai. SEACOM has procured fibre capacity from Marseilles to London as part the SEACOM network.

Kenya Institute of Education: Coming of age

During the recently held inaugural Regional Education Conference on eLearning (RECE 2010) from 28-30 March 2010, the role that the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) plays in the education sector came to light.

In many ways, KIE has transformed in such tremendous ways that most of us would not begin to understand the modernization and degree of metamorphosis in place.

For starters, KIE has truly embraced ICT and is fast changing the education landscape in the region. This is towards the realization of the Vision 2030, and during the Conference there were ample demonstrations of these new developments in the well equipped and manned labs, with digitalization of  primary and secondary school curriculum. The quality of the DVDs that are quite interactive, and rich in multimedia that are locally produced are simply put, quite innovative. They have covered subjects such as the languages (English and Swahili), sciences and arts that if put to good use, would help transform the way we teach and learn in the education system. The media are very good support tools, not meant to replace the teacher, but rather support the traditional classroom teaching and learning. The only challenges that I foresaw, were inadequate ICT facilities and lack  of power in the rural schools. But conversations with other researchers and CSO indicates that contrary to the norm, rural-based schools appear to have put good investment in ICT infrastructure.   KIE is now selling the DVDs to schools and teachers at Ksh. 3,000 (USD 40) that are being planned to be updateable online in the not so near future, but with revisions to content planned on annual basis. This is bound to be cheaper and faster compared to traditional book print, which as we know from lessons in developing countries, can be costly for such economies.

Of notable interest is the fact that KIE has acquired the terrestrial digital transmission technology, and is actually testing and transmitting its signal within a 100 kilometer, providing the only education content to a potential 1/3 of Kenya’s population. This was only possible with the national fiber optic project,  and is modeled along DSTV’s Mindset and BBC’s Knowledge pure educational channels. From what was said by the KIE, it is the only institution in the region that has this kind of technology in place, with NTV and KTN in the process of purchasing similar studio equipment. Worth noting, is that KIE is now in position to use the fiber optic to transit rich multimedia on the Internet as here lies idle capacity for such.

KIE are also trying to be innovative in generating additional income channels, considering the dwindling budget allocation to them. I was very impressed that KIE has a fully equipped mobile  out broadcasting van, which Multichoice among other media houses occasionally outsource!

This is to me is a fine good example of taxpayers funds being used effectively.

Safaricom now on 4G experimental stage.

Kenya’s biggest mobile phone service provider, Safaricom is now testing 4G under the radar. With Zain now being sold for the 4th (or is it 3rd) time to the Indian mobile phone giants, focus seems to be on Safaricom to lead the market in terms of innovative products and services.

So what is this 4G fuss all about? 4G refers to the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to 3G and 2G standards. The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service. The first was the move from analogue (1G) to digital (2G) transmission. This was followed by multi-media support, spread spectrum transmission and at least 200 kbit/s (3G) and now 4G, which refers to all IP packet switched networks, mobile ultra-broadband (gigabit speed) access and multi-carrier transmission. A 4G system is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure all-IP based solution where facilities such as IP telephony, ultra-broadband Internet access, gaming services and streamed multimedia may be provided to users. Now you can guess why government ministers are all of a sudden knowledgeable about BPOs, eLearning, eGovernment etc! A 4G cellular system must have target peak data rates of up to approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility such as mobile access and up to approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility such as nomadic/local wireless access, according to the ITU requirements. Scalable bandwidths up to at least 40 MHz should be provided (that is more than we will ever ask from the fibre optic operators, if Safaricom maintains the Ksh. 8 per megabit cost rate).

The world's first publicly available 4G service was opened in the two Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Oslo on the 14 December 2009. Associated with this, the Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) mobile wireless broadband access (MWBA) standard is sometimes branded 4G, and offers peak data rates of 128 Mbit/s downlink and 56 Mbit/s uplink over 20 MHz wide channels.

Source: Wikipedia

Testing ‘Digital Pens’ in Hospitals in Tanzania: Lessons for Kenya

Source: http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/news213.php

In many hospitals throughout the world, it is still standard practice for doctors and nurses to keep handwritten patient files; this is also the case in Africa. However, these files can easily get lost, and if patient data have to be transferred from one medical institution to another, the files can take a long time to arrive. Digital documents that can be shared and stored easily could go a long way to combating such problems. To help remedy this situation, at the beginning of January 2010, the IT managers of several hospitals in Tanzania began gearing themselves up to test a new ‘digital pen’; one that can convert doctor’s handwriting into a compact, easy-to-archive digital file.

So why a digital pen and not a computer? “Using a computer and a keyboard to enter data could be a solution”, confirms Israel Pascal, technical project officer in Arusha. “Doctors are currently using normal keyboards for data input. But in many cases, doctors are reluctant to use a keyboard because they lack required skills: they type slowly and make frequent errors. It would be much more convenient if their handwriting could just be converted automatically into a digital file. The pen that we will experiment with can do that.”

First Results: End of January 2010

The digital pens are currently being tested at a number of hospitals in Arusha and Mwanza that are owned and managed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church Tanzania (ELCT), a body that manages around fifteen per cent of Tanzania’s national health services. After the first results have arrived from Arusha at the end of January 2010, the pen will be tested at various medical facilities in and around Mwanza. If successful, the hospitals will order more pens.

The Health Management Information System (HMIS) Project

The ‘digital pen test’ is only one aspect of a much wider health initiative in Tanzania called the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) project, which is run by ELCT and supported by the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). In fact, the ELCT hospitals and those in Mwanza that are taking part in the digital pen test are also part of the HMIS project.

Under this project, an automated HMIS has now been installed in four hospitals. Part of the project also involves developing a generic Tanzanian version of Care2X, an open source HMIS. ELCT programmers are, therefore, cooperating with the University Computer Centre (UCC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s capital, to adapt the software to Mfumo wa Taarifa za Uendeshaji wa Huduma za Afya (the Swahili name for HMIS) – the government health registration system. Through the HMIS project, hospitals can quickly and easily collect, store and analyse data on patient registration, billing, laboratory tests, pharmaceutical issues, stock-taking, x-rays, and ward management by using digital tools. In addition, the effort also focuses on a wide range of other ICT issues, such as telemedicine.

The Benefits of a Well-Functioning HMIS

Health facility management often suffers from inefficient management practices due to chronic staff shortages, high staff turnover rates and a sub-optimal use of health data. The quality of information from many health facilities, particularly in Tanzania’s rural areas, does not meet the required standards and takes a lot of time for the staff to collect. Fortunately, the country’s ICT structure has now developed to a level where it is realistic to computerise some of the routine processes in hospital management. Through the HMIS project, there has been a marked benefit during the last four years for both hospital staff and patients as a result of digitising hospital data. First of all, the new system provides timely and accurate information, which in turn leads to better healthcare planning and improved hospital diagnoses. Furthermore, an increasing number of patients gain access to better healthcare services. It also boosts hospital finances through better revenue collection, better patient flows and a more efficient use of capacity.

For more information about the IICD-supported eHealth programme in Tanzania, which consists of seven eHealth projects and reaches over 6,000 health workers and hospital managers, contact: Nic Moens, Country Programme Manager for Tanzania at: nmoens@iicd.org or visit http://www.iicd.org/countries/tanzania.

Morgan Stanley predicts rosy future for Safaricom

Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000001135&catid=4&a=1

A global financial services firm is forecasting a rosy future for mobile services provider Safaricom over the next two years.

It has also ranked Safaricom stock as "overweight", a rating equivalent to a recommendation to investors to buy the share at this time, because of its value in relation to other stocks.

Morgan Stanley’s analysis is based on several planks, including the easing of price competition in the voice market, and the huge, and growing, demand for money transfer and Internet services in Kenya.

Based on these alone, Morgan Stanley forecast group revenue growth of 22 per cent for Safaricom this year, and a further 16 per cent in 2011, up from its previous estimate of 12 per cent, and 10 per cent, respectively.

“We forecast Safaricom will surpass one million mobile broadband subscribers by 2012," says the report.

The analysis, dated January 13, was not commissioned by Safaricom, but was part of Morgan Stanley’s latest outlook on leading telecommunication firms worldwide.

According to the analysis, Safaricom shares are likely to trade within a band of Sh4.80 to Sh6.40 as new revenue streams initiated by the company begin to have an impact.

While the higher share price of Sh6.40 is only likely during a bull run at the stock market, Safaricom accounts for at least 70 per cent of daily turnover at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).

As such, other equity counters tend to view any appreciation of its share price positively, as happened last week, when the share shot past Sh5, sparking recoveries in other key stocks.

The NSE is expected to recover significantly this year, buoyed by the influx foreign investors, a fall in interest rates, and optimism about an economic upturn.

"We could witness a sustained price rally in equities across all counters until May, when companies begin to release their half year results," Mr Fred Mweni, Managing Director of Tsavo Securities, told the Standard, on Sunday.

"Safaricom remains one of the top picks this year, and most global clients are being advised to buy it," he added.

Of particular interest, Morgan Stanley says, M-Pesa could account for up to 12 per cent of revenue for Safaricom by 2011.

"We also think it is interesting that Safaricom is looking at developing a full mobile banking solution, implying more revenue upside to our forecasts," notes Morgan Stanley.

But the investment firm has also drawn up alternative scenarios that could change its forecasts. Among them is Safaricom retaining its dominance, but losing some ground to the competition, with revenues staying flat over the next five years.

In the case of a renewed and extended bear run at the stock market, inflation would mean that lower tariffs would not be offset by sufficiently higher usage, once food prices rise.

In such a scenario, average revenues per user (ARPU) would drop by six per cent this year, and rise by just two per cent in 2011.

Included in the potential risks, are the uncertain political climate created by the divided coalition Government, and the search for a new constitution.

Others are higher selling and marketing costs, due to increased competition in the mobile phone services industry.

Last year, Safaricom paid its first dividend since its listing at the NSE. The report notes that as the firm’s dividend policy becomes clearer, its shares will be more attractive.

Morgan Stanley research estimates that Safaricom can pay a higher dividend in future, even if it has to raise capex (capital expenditure) to support further revenue growth.

The assumptions in this ratings assume that Safaricom retains its 80 per cent market share, and raises its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) above 50 per cent. This is as new competition proves ineffective.

But the game changer for Safaricom is M-Pesa, the money transfer service, with a fast-growing base, that the report notes "is gaining critical base".

The forecast is for 70 per cent of the firm’s subscribers to be registered M-Pesa users by 2013, an enviable base should the firm opt for full mobile banking.

On average, M-Pesa users send, or receive, money three times a month, with transactions hitting Sh23 billion in September last year, says the report.

Average transaction per user would increase to at least four times a month by 2011, which will in term boost ARPU.

And with the number of M-Pesa subscribers fast approaching a figure equivalent to the total bank accounts in the country, Safaricom is now in prime position to offer a full banking product.

The strengths of M-Pesa — it allows users to deposit, withdraw and transfer cash, pay remittances and bills, and is a safe haven for their money — makes it a strong brand that would give established banks a run for their money, notes the report.

Mobile phone market set for greater heights

Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000001228&catid=457&a=1

East African mobile communication markets are poised for more growth driven by cheaper handsets and network investments, a new study says.

An analysis from Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company says Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda markets earned revenues of Sh197 billion ($2.62 billion) in 2008, and estimates this to reach Sh679 billion ($9.03 billion) in 2015.

Kenya enjoyed the highest number of active subscribers and revenues among the four countries. Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda are, however, likely to witness significant growth over the next seven years due to increasing network investments, continuing product innovation and reduced handset costs, according to the US firm.

Technologies covered in the just released markets study are code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) and wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA).

"The key drivers in these markets include strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates, increasing demand for mobile money transfer services and declining handset costs," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Jiaqi Sun.

East African consumers, he adds, are spending more on mobile communications due to the low fixed-line network coverage, underdeveloped banking systems and limited availability of inexpensive handsets. Sun says there are 37.6 million mobile subscribers in East Africa, at a penetration rate of 30.8 per cent. The number of subscribers, according to the analysis, is expected to reach 99.5 million in 2015, at a compound annual growth rate of 14.9 per cent.

"The undersea cables are anticipated to reduce the cost of telecommunications by 60 per cent over the next seven years. This will boost demand for mobile Internet access," Sun says in the Analysis.

However, there are challenges faced by the market participants such as high tax rates on mobile services, lack of network rollout in rural areas and low demand for data services.

Cheating in Kenyan national exams goes high tech

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations kicked off nationally last week. Like in the past few years, the public was treated to media reports of examinations cheating by candidates and their proxies, despite feeble attempts by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), the government body in charge of these matriculation exams.

The truth came out last week, with arrests of teachers allegedly with access to the exams, to cartels transmitting and selling the exams and to students who had proxies sitting the examinations on their behalf.  In one of these cases, an individual arrested turned out to be an “informer” working for KNEC, and who over the past few years has been working undercover and busting some of these cartels.

But the bit that was interesting were reports that corrupt individuals with access to the examination papers, were actually using high tech devices in the cheating. The individuals with access actually scan the pages with blue tooth enabled portable scanners, send the scanned pages to their smart phones, and through an elaborate scheme send via blue tooth, MMS and even emails the scanned examination pages to their agents, then pass on the same to the students who need who purchase them for ‘preview’ for between USD 5o and USD 100. This in a third world country, where 60% of its population lives below the poverty line!  According to the media, the government is now working closely with the mobile phone providers to track down the crooks messing up its education system and values.

That’s how competitive and cut throat the education system is in Kenya>

Power outage, now Internet outage!

Last week, in typical Kenyan style, we had a nationwide power outage that lasted from 2-7 hours depending on which part of the country. reportedly the government machinery went into a spin as it developed into a security issue. The cause was apparently a malfunction in the monopolized power utility firm, Kenya Power & Lighting Co. Ltd due to the large amount of diesel powered generators that we are using as a stop gap measure to avoid us being in perpetual darkness.

This was shortly followed by Safaricom’s cellular and Internet outage on Friday last week, due to 4 or 5 cuts on their main fibre optic ring network, either due to other Internet firms laying their fibre optic, and what was attributed to as sabotage at 2 of those points.

This was followed by Seacom’s claims that its main fibre optic line at Voi was sabotaged, resulting in downtime for its subscribers in the Coast area and Nairobi.

Now its sabotage of the country’s communication infrastructure due to the competitors’ hunger for domination of the market. This is extremely worrying and should be treated by the government as a threat to its nation security.

Is the national fibre optic project paying off in Kenya?

It appears that the national fibre optic national project might be paying off if statistics for the April-June 2009 from CCK are anything to go by. As at end of June 2009, the number of Internet subscribers in Kenya grew to 1.82 million, from 1.52 million as at end of March 2009. This is a 20 per cent growth rate in the Internet subscriber base!

Looking closely at the data collected by CCK, most of these growth is attributed to mobile data/Internet subscribers, due to the aggressive roll out of data services by the major mobile operators.

This can be explained by the table where I have extracted what is interesting.

Indicator	Dec-08	March-09	June-09
Number of leased line customers	1,809	2,002	2,789
Number of dial up customers	7,846	6,902	7,231
Number of mobile data/Internet subscribers	392,964	1,674,948	1,801,876
Number of Internet subscribers	407,845	1,713,852	1,824,203

 Source: CCK Database

This perhaps explain results of an earlier study undertaken early this year to investigate factors that determine Internet utilization among teachers and their students in selected schools that had Internet connectivity in Kenya.

The study showed the extent to which the Internet is utilized and identified the factors that enhanced or impeded its utilization at this level of education, and which can be used to explain the integration of Internet into the teaching and learning.

The findings of the study shows use of Internet and its integration in the teaching and learning in secondary education is getting more widespread; and its use more pervasive among students and teachers as a means of communication and for information searching being common; and the least use in some instances for course content delivery, assignments and continuous assessments.

Access rates for teachers and students were observed to be much higher in educational institutions that have made effective ICT investments in education.

The study also found that most of the schools are actually expending a substantial part of their annual budget on maintaining Internet connectivity, and this explains why it is estimated by the Ministry of Education that only 3% of the 6,566 secondary schools in Kenya have any form of Internet connectivity. But this could change with the enhancement of the competition regulatory framework as well as operationalization of the National Fibre Optic cable to boost Internet penetration and bring the cost of Internet connectivity down in the third quarter of 2009 (a very far fetched idea now that data operators are not changing their pricing of data bundles till they recoup their initial investments).

There was a positive correlation between proportions of students and teachers accessing the schools’ computers, and this was evident in girls only schools where it appeared that investments in ICT was low and resulting in gender disparity disadvantaging the girl child. This does not portend good news for the girls in the secondary schools, considering that there are 635,698 girls enrolled, constituting 46% of the country’s 1,382,211 total student enrolment in secondary schools. Though the study focussed on schools with Internet connectivity, the proportion of teachers with access to computers and internet at schools and homes was respectively 98% and 53% of the teachers sampled, implying that the affordable bundle rates and increased access to the mobile wireless broadband services is having an impact. According to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) there were 392,964 mobile broadband users as at 31 December 2008 . Some of the schools sampled were addressing the issue of accessibility to computers by its teachers and students through use of Wi-Fi in the school localities. This is also reflected at the proportion of teachers and students with email addresses which are at 92% and 64% respectively, with 72% of the students owning mobile phones.

Zain to roll out 3G in mid-2010

Zain looks determined to venture into the 3G technological platform in an industry long held by Safaricom. Should Zain afford to pay the Kes. 2 billion (USD 25 million) for the licensing cost of the spectrum to CCK, it will become the second mobile phone operator in Kenya to roll out 3G.

The cost of setting up of 3G network infrastructure has been prohibitive for new entrants into the Kenyan market, with current statistics from CCK’s April-June 2009 report indicating that as at 30 June 2009 there were 17.4 million mobile subscribers. With this sort of growth being witnessed in the country, it is quite disappointing to note that even despite registering a growth in Internet users subscriber base, from 1.52 million in March 2009 to 1.82 million in June 2009, we are still a long way from achieving affordable Internet access as the fibre optic national infrastructure nears completion.

Most of this growth in Internet subscribers can be attributed to the new purchases of Safaricom’s broadband modem that run on 3G network. This accounted for nearly 60% of the growth, with Internet access via leased lines contributing 39% in the same period. Only one of the major data operators has dropped the price of the international bandwidth, and even offering 4 megabytes of bandwidth at the current price it is charging 1 megabyte. The other operators, in the true Kenyan capitalist spirit said they require at least 2 years to recoup the billions sank into the project.

But in my opinion, Zain (Celtel or whatever) has been always extremely slow in responding to the market trends, and mid next 2010 will be too late for them, as Safaricom keeps on getting “better”.

Seacom fibre optic landing heralds in new era of Internet connectivity

There has been a lot of excitement since last week over the Seacom fibre optic cable that went live this past Saturday at the Swahili Cultural Centre, Mombasa.

The undersea cable was commissioned simultaneously in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa in Africa; and in India. Though from initial reports from the sponsors it is still a little bit premature to celebrate as the effects of fibre optic connectivity will not be felt till September (6 months late due to piracy activities off the coast of Somalia where the cable had to pass by).

There has been an expectation among end users that this will result in immediate downward trend of Internet costs, but I do not think this is likely to happen sooner as the investors need to recoup some of their initial investments. From media reports, Seacom will offer wholesale prices at around Ksh. 7,700 (USD $ 100)/mb, and at very subsidized prices of Ksh. 770 (USD $ 10)-1,925 (USD $ 25)/mb to educational, research and health institutions. Bandwidth currently cost Ksh. 42,350 (USD $ 5,000)/mb. The subsidized rates are of tremendous interest to stakeholders in the education sector, especially when we consider that it is estimated that about 3% of the 6,566 secondary schools (as at 31 December 2009) are connected to the Internet. Recent research indicates that a majority of these schools rely on tuition fees to sustain these connectivity, and spend up to 5% of their annual expenditure for such. Therefore, such subsidized costs will be a welcome relief to such schools, not only at the secondary level but also the primary schools. This calls for concerted efforts from the government and other stakeholders that concurrent efforts are undertaken to ensure wider penetration of Internet through provision of adequate power supply so as to provide ICT access to all schools, especially in rural areas so as to reduce the “rural urban digital divide”  among other measures.

Already there have some noticeable difference in access speeds, and personally have noted that most domains on .ke (whether .ac, .co or .or) load much faster than previously experienced. Even NTV, incidentally the same agency as AKF which is the a major shareholder in Seacom, has moved to upped its digital media service by offering TV content online through streaming video or downloadable by partnering with Safaricom.

But this is bound to come with its own challenges, one of which has been argued by some players that the bandwidth is just too huge to be consumed and will result to redundancies. Consider this fact:- it is estimated that an average user in Kenya utilizes about a gigabyte of data/month, and Seacom will provide 160 gigabytes/second! The other issue has always been availability of locally relevant content, though there seems to be a lot of effort out there to rectify this anomaly by encouraging use and creation of local content by the KICTB and even Google Kenya. With high Internet speeds, we are also likely to attract the attention of hackers who have never bothered looking at this side of the world due to the trivial data transfer speeds in existence.

Let’s wait and see what happens in the next few weeks, as there is no information on what exactly happened of the government led EASSY fibre optic project.

For youngest mobile phone firm, the war has just begun

Source: http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144013286&catid=457&a=1

ix months after its entry into the local market, Yu, Kenya’s youngest mobile phone services company, feels it has grown enough muscles to take on its older rivals in the business.

In a span of about two months, the holding company has changed its name from Econet Wireless Kenya to Essar Communications and the seams seem to be busting with a number of sweetheart offers, tailored to woo new customers.

About a fortnight ago, the company launched free Short Message Service (SMS) for intra network messages. The free SMS model is a first in Kenya and could significantly drive up the uptake of its services.

"At Sh7.50 for cross network calls and fifty cents for intra-network charges, we are offering the cheapest calling rates in the country. Our idea is to offer services at the cheapest rates and grow our market share," says Yu's MD Srinivasa Iyengar.

It could be a tall order for the company given the general slowdown of the economy. Companies seeking to expand have been experiencing setbacks in sales projections as job cuts, and inflation, eat into consumer purses, slowing down new spending.

Entering the country’s mobile telephone market is a capital-intensive venture, given the nature of the market, customer loyalties and a myriad other factors. It also involves fighting vicious publicity wars against established market players, which also entails massive expenditures.

But, Iyengar, is confident that Yu will pull it off because the company’s current business model has been working well in India, where mobile companies charge minimal rates for services then rely on the mass market to drive up their profits.

The Indian way

Last year, Econet Wireless International sold a 49 per cent stake in the company to India’s Essar Communications Holdings in a move that was expected to significantly benefit the company, which is 70 per cent owned by EWI, in its a rollout and enhance its products.

So far, the company seems to be going the Indian way and the latest offer of free SMS could be geared to shepherd the mobile market in the direction of what is popularly referred to as bundle SMS offers in the Indian market.

Under the bundle regime, mobile users are given opportunity to determine and buy the number of SMS they would like to send in a bundle, say 40, 70 or more in a month and then pay heavily discounted prices for the services, depending on the chosen bundles.

Although he is not shy to admit that his company could be operating at a loss because of its chosen model of business, Iyengar is confident that it will pay off in the long run.

"The mobile market is growing and we hope to shore up our subscriber base to three million in the next two years. We are offering the best services. This is not something to advertise because the information is out there. It is time for people to begin asking the hard questions, especially about mobile charges and subscribe to the best offers," says Iyengar.

In the latest sector statistics report, the market regulator, Communication Commissions of Kenya (CCK) says that with the addition of new players like Yu, competition is expected to intensify leading to a range of benefits such as reduction in cost and choice for consumers, which will ultimately increase mobile penetration in the country.

So far Safaricom is the market leader with a market share estimated at about 80 per cent, followed by Zain. The latest entrants into the mobile market, Orange and Yu have also been gaining slices and are expected to grow with the market.

new subscribers

But Iyengar says some mobile companies are charging too high for services and feels this is immoral, especially in a country where people are still struggling to buy bread.

"It makes such companies look bad. In fact you can see the anxiety in people’s faces whenever they are making calls. They have to hurry and talk fast to save on costs, which I think is also destroying interpersonal relationships. We have to find a way of lowering call costs to remedy the situation," says Iyengar.

Recent entrants to the mobile market like Yu have been for the adoption of mobile number portability, which has traditionally benefited new entrants into markets.

But established market players have not been receptive of the idea that allows subscribers to migrate to new operators with their old numbers.

To circumvent the bottlenecks, Yu launched a similar service, which allows its customers to retain their old numbers while operating under the company’s prefixes.

Another new service in its stable, imoved allows new subscribers on the network to inform their contacts about their new mobile numbers free of charge.

Financing to redraw battle lines in mobile industry

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/magazines/smartcompany/-/1226/594008/-/soc057z/-/index.html

The global financial crisis is set to change the face of competition in the mobile phone industry as players’ finances are squeezed and China moves in for the kill. At the continent level, a number of changes are expected as big mobile operators seek to consolidate their dominance as they cut back on spending.

“There could be a lot of change this year,” says Thomas Sonesson, the managing director of Ericsson East Africa, one of the largest network building companies globally. Locally, Ericsson controls about 51 per cent of the market with Zain, Orange and Yu networks operating on its infrastructure.

Credit squeeze

In Kenya, the financial crisis has slowed down competition with two of the four cellular companies said to be in dire need of funds — and lots of it — to make any meaningful impact in the market. Safaricom dominates the market, controlling about three quarters of mobile subscriptions and dwarfs all in profitability.

International lending is not forthcoming, not just for the cellular phone operators but for most corporates, given the credit squeeze in the global market that has forced lenders to tighten their purses. This trend is slowly catching on in Kenya’s banking industry with a marked slowdown in lending, especially in the last quarter of 2008.

Most banks have recorded reduced uptake of loans and this is set to tighten further as the effects of the global credit crunch begins to hit home. Globally, the credit squeeze has seen even governments postpone borrowing, with Ghana and Kenya delaying issuance of sovereign bonds worth more than $800 million (about Sh64 billion).

It is worse for corporates as the expected economic slowdown means reduced consumption of their products and services. Banks, ever more risk-averse, have read this as increased credit risk, and are reluctant to lend as they seek to balance growth and risk exposure.

And in all this confusion, the Chinese government has seen an opportunity to deepen its interests in Africa. “The Chinese government is giving financial backing to its corporates who in turn are offering to do network set-ups for mobile companies that are in short of funding,” says Mr Sonesson.

“For companies like ours that is not an option as we do not have similar backing. This will definitely change competition with Chinese companies becoming a preference.” Another factor determining financial backing for local operators is the internal competition within the company portfolios. With a squeeze in the amount of funds available, cellular phone operators have been forced to review their policies on allocating funds.

Licensing of G3

“Companies will migrate their capital to the country within the region with the best returns,” says Nicholas William, Ericsson regulatory affairs director for sub-Sahara Africa. “Kenya will need to improve its environment to make it more competitive if it is to attract investment.”

Ericsson managers say Kenya needs to cut down on taxes levied on mobile industry, ranging from excises duty on airtime, Value Added Tax, to duties on importation of machines and equipment. And to level competition in the current fluid environment, they suggest the government should rethink its policy on licensing of the more robust technology network: 3G.

Currently, it is only Safaricom that operates 3G, a superior network to the 2G that’s being used by the other three operators. The problem has been the $25 million fee (about Sh2 billion) for a 3G licence. Safaricom paid for it in 2007. Ericsson proposes that to ease the pain for the other three operators and level competition, the government should consider spreading $25 million over the lifetime of the licence.

“The amount should be ‘lend’ to the users at interest rate equal to a Treasury bond of similar tenure to the intended repayment period,” Mr Williams says. Electricity distribution should also be addressed. Lack of power especially in the rural areas has been the greatest challenge to mobile phone operators’ expansion.

The alternative has been to use generators to power substations, which takes up operation costs by 25 per cent. MTN Nigeria is said to the largest single buyer of oil in Nigeria to fuel its over 10,000 generator-backed base stations. “The country that will be ahead on that and will have a head start in attracting investment and also in addressing problem of rural connectivity,” says Mr Sonesson.

Electronic pick-pockets on the loose

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/magazines/artandculture/-/1222/592352/-/83qljdz/-/index.html

Despite of all the good things brought about by the Internet technology, this sophisticated communication tool has developed a ‘long hand’, and is literally stealing billions of shillings from pockets and bank accounts of its users.

Studies shows that thousands of criminals, mostly from the western and southern parts of Africa, America and even Britain are using attractive and seductive email massages to lure innocent victims into divulging their personal bank account details without knowing that they are being conned.

The conmen sometimes send email messages to millions of addresses (but targeting account holders of particular banks) insinuating that a problem has been detected with their online account information, which needs to be rectified immediately.

The message therefore prompts users to log in their confidential banking details as a matter of agency. The global address or URL provided on the email comes with a well crafted logo and finer details to mimic that of the bank in question, thus deceiving the victims.

Account

In a different system, the fraudsters hack into their victims’ email accounts, and send a distress mail to all addresses found in the inbox seeking desperate help from innocent friends and relatives. They usually change the original password, thus denying the original user access to the email account.

Most common are mails indicating that the legitimate owner of the address is currently stranded in a foreign country. Such a message claims that all his or her money including personal effects and documents have been stolen. The message therefore requests the recipients to help out by sending money through any appropriate money transfer mechanism.

This means that if one falls a victim, then the money has to be sent to an alternative recipient’s name, since it is clear that the ‘intended’ recipient has allegedly lost the necessary documents needed to withdraw cash. In case the recipient replies by email, then the message is received by the con man, who later offers directives on how the money can be sent.

This kind of theft mostly targets hard cash ranging from Sh 100,000 to Sh 500,000. According to information technology experts, the hackers use software called Spyware, which is secretly installed on one’s computer sometimes using the internet, and copies information without the permission or knowledge of the user.

“Spyware may take personal information, business information, and bandwidth from the computer or processing capacity and secretly gives it to someone else,” said Samuel Scooby, a Nairobi based computer expert.

Through this, conmen can access the victim’s entire confidential information, thus keep track of all email correspondence allowing them to monitor movements of their target ‘customer’.

Sometimes when an air ticket is issued through the same mail, it gives the thugs a great opportunity to con the victim’s friends and relatives because they know exactly where their ‘customer’ is.

Legitimate

Another sophisticated method used in internet frauds is what experts refer to as Phishing. Through this, the criminals can target electronic banking identification information of legitimate online customers of a particular bank, then use the information to transfer monies from the victim’s account to a different one.

“The term ‘phishing’ refers to the use of spam emails purporting to be from a particular bank. In this way criminals ‘fish’ for legitimate bank customer’s logon information with an intention of transferring their savings to a different account,” said Scooby.

Spam is a generic term used to describe electronic ‘junk mail’ or unwanted messages sent to your email account or mobile phone. These messages vary, but are essentially commercial and often annoying in their sheer volume.

They may try to persuade you to buy a product or service, or visit a website where you can make purchases; or they may attempt to trick you into divulging your bank account or credit card details.

A study done by Nirph Digital Ltd, a US based banking security solution provider shows that in the year 2008 alone, 10 million individuals in the US were victims of internet fraud. As a result, $ 48 billion (Sh 3.8 trillion) reportedly found way to the fraudsters’ pockets by the end of the year.

Zain raises call tariff charges

The price war in the mobile phone market has forced Zain to review its tariff plan upwards.

Now, the cost of calling from Zain to other networks is Sh12 a minute, up from Sh8 under its prepaid ‘vuka’ tariff, which was designed to net new subscribers.

Unlike other instances when such downward revision of tariffs is widely publicised, the upward revision was silently launched with only media adverts to warn the users.

The new tariff took effect on Saturday and according to Zain Kenya Managing Director, there is no other hidden cost or call set up fee.

The cost of Zain to Zain calls remain at Sh8 a minute, with special offer of calling 10 numbers (friends and family) at Sh3 a minute.

Last year, Zain Kenya registered a loss, largely attributed to its low cross-network tariff campaign, Vuka.

The campaign pulled its average revenue per user (ARPU) to record lows and the lowest in Zain’s Group of 22 countries at $6 (Sh462) down from $7 (Sh539) in 2007.

This is despite the company’s growing market share and subscriber numbers.

Its net losses increased to Sh6.9 billion at current exchange rate of Sh77 from Sh1.67 billion in 2007 on lower revenues and increased administrative costs mainly due to costs related to network expansion.

Attract new subscribers

The company lowered its tariff in October in an effort to attract new subscribers, but the move hurt its revenues despite growing its customer numbers and probably the reason for the current upward review.

For the past few months, mobile operators have been engaged in a price war, which has significantly reduced the mobile tariffs.

Until Saturday, Zain Kenya’s Vuka tariff was the third cheapest at Sh8 a minute to all networks. Calling Orange mobile (Telkom Kenya’s brand), costs Sh7 a minute within the network and Sh10 across network.

Yu, the most recent entrant, charges Sh7.50 a minute to other networks, but one shilling within network.

Calling within the Safaricom network using the Ongea tariff (the most popular prepaid tariff) stands at Sh8 a minute, but Sh15 when calling other networks.

Mobile phone subscribers grew by 1.7 million to stand at more than 16.2 million in the quarter ending December last year, according to a report by the Communication Commission of Kenya. The battle for supremacy and subscribers is not only in the tariff platform, but also on Internet and smart phone technology. Zain-Kenya recently launched a new version of Black Berry smart phone, an upgrade of the phone in the market.

3G phone

The launch came just weeks after Orange introduced iPhone 3G, smart phone.

Safaricom, too, has its own version of Blackberry but has extended tentacles to the masses by introducing cheaper phones.

Its latest entry, Kabambe, has, however, received bitter criticism from users as it breaks down often.

"My Kabambe loses network and no longer has Mpesa and Safaricom functionalities. Worse, I give out my phone to Safaricom for eight days for repair," decried one of the ‘Kabambe’ users at a Safaricom Customer Care point in Nairobi.

Safaricom Internet Modem, Bambanet, now sells at Sh4,000 down from Sh6,000.

Source: http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144014459&catid=14&a=1

Survey shows Internet users rose despite economic downturn

Source: http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144014863&catid=14&a=1

The number of Internet users increased from 2.9 million in 2007 to 3.4 million last year, despite an economic slump, the Economic Survey 2009 reveals.

However, Internet penetration has been among the least accessible telecommunication service due to lack of infrastructure and relevant local content.

The much-anticipated undersea Fibre Optic cable (TEAMS) next month, and improved competition regulatory framework would boost Internet penetration.

"Introduction of broadband services by mobile operators is expected to further boost Internet penetration and use which has remained low in the past," reads the survey in part.

The Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) issued 127 licenses to Internet service providers {ISPs} out of which 56 were operational compared to 50 in 2007.

Cell phone subscribers

According to the survey, the number of mobile phone subscribers stood at 12.9 million last year up from 9.3 million in 2007. This is against mobile telephone capacity of 25 million subscribers.

The broadcasting sector experienced increased demand for frequencies. CCK assigned a total of 30 new FM frequencies out of 295 applications for FM broadcasting.

The number of applicants awaiting allocation for TV frequencies increased from 143 in 2007 to 192 in 2008.

The year under review (2008) also saw the launch of the first digital mobile television broadcast network in the country.

The CCK assigned nine TV broadcast channels to Digital; Video Broadcasting-handheld (DVB-H) but a number of assigned frequencies were recalled due to non-utilisation.

This resulted to the total number of frequencies in operation dropping from 127 in 2007 to 81 in 2008.

Radio Frequencies in use dropped from 368 in 2007 to 268 last year.

Digital technology

"CCK continued to spearhead the preparatory process of the transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting. It is anticipated that the transition would help in reducing the number of applicants and those on waiting list due to spectral efficiency of digital technology," reads the report.

Kenya has set 2012 as the year of transition ahead of the 2015 global deadline.

"In order to improve access to ICT services, the CCK implemented 16 school-based ICT centres spread across the eight provinces and funded establishment of four ICT community access points," reveals the survey.

Circulation of daily newspapers rose to 99.3 million copies last year up from 98.4million copies in 2007 which is a 4.6 per cent increase.