East Africa gets broadband internet
East Africa has finally shed the tag of being the only broadband-less region with a undersea fibre-optic cable which linked it to networks in India and Europe went live. This should reduce the cost of high – speed internet services as well as voice calls.
A Nairobi financial analyst, Aly-Khan Satchu, said that they have gone into the 21st century from the medival age in a very short time. This is a big economic boost, he said.
Local companies have been fixing fibre optic cables in and between cities in anticipation of the arrival of these undersea cables while internet providers have been reducing the price of modems in order to woo more customers.
Seacom, an internet provider, said that their customers were now paying about 90% - 95% less for a megabit of internet connection. Retail prices should also fall considering the high capacity of the networks and the low intake of customers currently.
The main reason for increase in undersea cables worldwide is the popularity of video sites like YouTube, which is causing demand to double every 1.5 years. Another reason is to prevent loss of productivity in case some cables are accidentally severed.
The cheaper cost of internet should result in the growth of the outsourcing and call – centre industry in Kenya. ISPs hope that the growth of internet usage will rival that of mobile phone usage, which increased from 15,000 to 17.4 million within a decade. Internet access is expected to spread more through mobile phones as laptops continue to be expensive.
In addition to slow speeds, the main reason for lack of internet penetration had been the cost of internet. Even after price rivalries in Kenya, a 3G connection with 5 MB of bundled data with the leading telecom company, Safari.com, cost nearly 55 pounds monthly.
Source - guardian.co.uk
