Internet connectivity unlocks Kenya's creative potential to global partners

Geoffrey Mwavizo, a radio show host, says the Internet has made his work easier compared to the manual search for information in the 1980s and 1990s, when he worked for public broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

Mr Mwavizo says although his job demanded that he read widely to keep abreast with current issues affecting his audience, searching for information from books and journals stacked in often dusty libraries was never easy.

"On the Internet, it takes an average of about 30 minutes to access information on any subject we are working on," he says. His experience is not news. Unknown to the majority of youths enjoying the fruits of modern technology, Kenya is one of the countries that had no Internet connectivity just 20 years ago.

Samuel Kungu, a librarian at Daystar University, recalls being the only person on campus with an Internet enabled computer in 2004, attracting long queues from colleagues and students seeking to access information online.

Fibre optic cable "The Internet was so slow but the experience was remarkable," he says as if it all happened 50 years ago. But in a span of 10 years, Kenya has come of age and Internet usage is no longer for the privileged but rather for the masses. Internet penetration has particularly improved since the country got hooked onto the global superhighway through the undersea fibre optic cable three years ago.

"Penetration has moved from three per cent three years ago to 40 per cent today, a testimony to the fact that we are ready to embrace information communication technology" says Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communications.

This growth is clearly captured in the Communications Commission of Kenya ( CCK) report for July 2010 to September 2011. Internet penetration rose by 27.33 per cent during the period representing a total of 5.4 million subscriptions ‘ compared to a similar period the previous year while Internet access estimation stood at 14.3 million users indicating -a 14.06 per cent rise.

This growth has been supported by the higher speeds that came with the landing of the undersea fibre optic cable and Kenya’s subsequent movement from the expensive and cumbersome satellite connection to Global System for Mobile Communications ( GSM), EDGE ( Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) and now 3G with download speeds of up to 21Mbps.

Kenya is plotting to take this revolution to the next level with the migration to the 4G platform that operates at speeds of up to 100 Mbps for file downloads and 50Mbps for uploads, making it five times faster than 3G mobile Internet technology.

Apart from offering high speed, the cables have also lowered the cost of access, making it possible for Kenyans to access data bundles for as little as Sh8 per megabyte. The cost of international Internet connectivity has also dropped from $ 3,500 to $ 500.

Kenya is connected to the global superhighway by three marine cables the East Africa Marine system ( TEAMs), SEACOM and Eassy ( East Africa Submarine System) — all continue to record robust growth in data usage among Kenyans.

Growth of Internet has also been a fertile breeding ground for internet service providers ( ISPs) and business solutions providers. Ability to compete Local consumers are served by 11 active service providers with mobile phone based Internet providers accounting for 99 per cent of mobile broadband subscriptions.

Safaricom, Airtel and Orange Telkom rank top with 84.17 per cent, 11.66 per cent and 2.89 per cent respectively. Kenya Data Networks ( KDN) is in the fourth position with 0.51 per cent market share.

This level of connectivity and the high speed access have not only significantly lowered the cost of doing business in Kenya, but also placed the country on a good position to compete for internet based businesses such as back office offshoring.

Businesses have also used increased connectivity to set up facilities such as video conferencing significantly cutting down communication timeframes and travel costs.

Kenya has also used the increased Internet bandwidth and speeds to position itself as a centre of innovation that has attracted the attention of global ICT players such as Google, Nokia, Microsoft and IBM. The social space has also used the Internet to cut costs and bridge distances.

Thousands of schools and colleges have been hooked on to the Internet, greatly broadening their access to learning resources. Cybercrime up Wired hospitals have introduced telemedicine services that allow patients to consult doctors online or help doctors operate on patients with the help of far placed specialists.

The Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi and Shalby Hospital clinic are among medical institutions that have taken up telemedicine. Besides, a number of hospitals have digitised medical reports making it much easier to access information.

The government has also take queue and opened up a large fraction of its operations to the public through the open data portal that has earned Kenya the distinction of being the first African state to take its operation online.

"We are doing great on applications and content creation through innovation centres like IHub, ILab, MLab and incubation centres," says Dr Ndemo. "The government is aggressively building content in all registries including Land, Judiciary, State Law Office and Kenya Revenue Authority among others to post on the Open Data platform," the PS says.

But this rapid growth in internet penetration has, however, not been without its pitfalls. Official data shows that cybercrime rates have risen at almost the same speed as the growth of penetration leaving the government with the hard task of policing the web.

Frequent cable cuts have also posed a challenge to Kenya’s rising internet connectivity costing service providers such as Kenya Data Networks ( KDN) and Access Kenya millions of shillings. Key drivers of this Internet connectivity plot are, however, undeterred and have their eyes firmly fixed on the prize.

"Given that most of what is required to propel the economy through ICT is in place, we are confident that the vision is within reach," says Dr Ndemo. " Our goal is to get the sector to contribute as much as 30 per cent of the GDP in five years time up from less than five per cent today.

"Internet connectivity unlocks Kenya’s creative potential to global partner s Radio show host Geoffrey Mwavizo. Improved Internet penetration is the source of joy in many sectors.