High Speed Internet in Kenya: The Potential
I was going through my site, cleaning out spam and checking the comments when I noticed that someone had left a link to a site called Horizon Contact Centers. They said it was a new call center that was coming into the market and was founded by some former Kencall employee’s.
So, of course, I googled the name of this company because I was curious about it and the first search result that came up took me to this site: Kenyanjobs.blogspot.com. However, as I read the description of this company, I became confused. ‘This is a quote about the company from the above site:
“In tandem with it’s mantra “Our Core Our People” Horizon prides itself of having a Bistro, Cyber Café, Library/Resource centre, Chill out zones, on-site Doctor with Dispensary Chemist in addition to excellent medical cover, staff transport and many other considerations to ensure not only a world class working environment but one that resonates the company’s values of “Innovation and Excellence”.
A bistro, a cyber cafe and a dispensary? I thought it was a call center? Their list of jobs does indicate that they are looking for call center team leaders. So, who are these people and what is this company about? I’m assuming that since they are hiring, they already have a revenue source in place? I mean, you don’t hire people unless you have clients lined up or unless you have a big loan. Right?
Moving on….
I was talking to a Kenyan blogger the other day who was excited about the introduction of high speed internet services in Kenya because he said that it was going to increase his readership and this increased readership would lead to increase ad sales. I’m not so sure about that, but it did have me thinking about the potential of Kenyan journalism with this increased access to the internet. We saw a bit of it during the violence last year when Kenyan bloggers really stepped it up with their 24/7 information full of pictures and videos.
Bankelele had a post where he talked about the rising demand for on-line information in Kenya and how high speed internet services will help spur that demand.
One of the biggest benefits (which is already happening) will be that the government is going to increasingly lose it’s ability to control the free flow of information around the world and people’s abilities to access it. Lucy Kibaki’s midnight raids to media houses is going to become sooooo ineffective against bloggers. Like what is she going to do? track down people’s IP addresses?
So, that will be one benefit (information) — but are there other benefits that will deal more specifically with commerce and the selling of goods and merchandise?
Your thoughts…..
Ke,
You guys have raised your hopes too high. Obviously the high speed internet will increase Kenyans presence online- But this is something that is past due- we are already behind.
I don’t see the high speed internet improving the life of the local mwanainchi- Only real investments in their direction will.
To say the least- I think Kenyans need to study why they are disadvantaged. I SAW Cbk Ndugu on the clip the other day saying that World economic crisis will not and has not affected Kenya-
OH PLEASE- The Nrk’s and diaspora money remitance capacity will be affected – This is the money used in more than 60% construction going on in the country.
I mean could this CBK dumbo resign for saying such a stupid statement.
Hei,
I think high internet is gonna improve kenyans life deeply. The most important thing its gonna teach them is “do it yourself mentality” which we lack in africa. Our kids die of malaria and we dont even clear the stagnant water in our neighbourhood as a community or a village. We wait for the goverment.
Why do you ppl talk as if a computer costs 100 kshs? How many ppl can afford comps in kenya? High speed internet is gonna enrich only those ppl who can afford comps and pay the internet bill, like rich and middle class kenyans. How many of those do we have in kenya? The fruits if they gonna come will be many yrs to come. And plz dont mention India . India unlike kenya got many millions of middle class.
Cheap internet is good… why? It will create jobs but more important… ACCESS TO INFORMATION…
As regards ‘cheap computers’ the Kenyan computer is the web-enabled cellphone which gets cheaper by the day…
Coldtusker’s right.
+ Business Daily Africa has a couple of downloadable magazines – 40 under 40 and one on ICT in Kenya (forget the title). Kenyan kids are getting a chance to develop applications for the mobile phone that are being snapped up by firms like Google.
+ On the use for the average Kenyan, remember banking got cheaper as well due to MPESA. With cheaper internet they can now access other banking activities as information bacomes available – remember the loans for women that were not used because most women did not know about them?
+ Kenyan export farmers monitor global commodity prices on their cell phones. It will improve lives.
+ Last time i was home Safaricom was placing cell phone towers in Northeastern. When we have internet access across the country, all kinds of business activities will become cheaper and feasible. Remember the farmers in North Rift hoarding their maize due to poor NCPB prices while Kenyans in Turkana starve? Innovative Kenyans can bid via phone to purchase and sell where the need is.
I could go on and on and on….
Faisal:
Are you contradicting yourself? First, you say the internet will improve the lives of kenyans deeply. Then, you turn around and say that not many kenyans can afford a computer so it won’t do much. Clarify your point.
CT:
What kind of jobs will be created? Remember, one of the things about using the internet is that it makes work a lot more efficient, so you won’t need that many employee’s to get your tasks accomplished.
Good point on the cell phones though. I wonder how much it will cost to have internet access on one’s cell phone. I don’t use it here because I think it’s still too expensive. Will it be cheaper in Kenya because as you said, that’s what most people use.
**
Interesting article on people who’ve been laid off turning to what the author calls, “forced entrepreneurship”. I think forced entrepreneurship has existed in kenya for a long time and maybe the arrival of high speed internet will spur on a new generation of forced entrepreneurs in kenya, who’ll be more willing to use computers as revenue generators. No more mama mboga’s.
Link below:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html
Ke,
What i mean is a few kenyans gonna benefit but the majority will wait much longer. Basic life gotta improve first.
Faisal,
I remember whe I used to be in Nairobi. I used to have internet on my cell- It was cheap even before this high speed arrival.
I think it was 2 cents a minute thru’ safcom. I don’t know how much cheaper this broadband is going to make it in Kenya. For me 2 cents was really cheap. Cheaper than what I pay here for my black berry.
What you’re saying is right. I guess basic life has to improve first.
For those in Kenya who are really geting excited about this broadband reach. Ask yourself first. Were you paying 2 cents to safcom for every minute for you internet on phone.
If this is the case then – This broadband will not have as much of an effect on you.
When Kenyans are working to get their High speed connected. Americans are working on expanding the Interstate Highspeed rail network. I mean when will these people ever catch up ?
I don’t know.
More opportunities… efficiencies drive out waste… so more jobs to create local apps…
Also the grand ol’ BPOs but more important… local businesses can collaborate… to create more local jobs & bid for business.
1.Lower cost of doing business because of cheaper internet.2. High speed internet improves effeciency as it eliminates bottlenecks of limited bandwidth.3. Egovernment becomes a reality as gok connects all provincial and district headquarters thru the national fiber opt n/w to the undersea cable 4. Opportunities for elearning. This can Lower cost of education 5. Prohibitive prices that kept the middle class from accessing net from get smashed 6. We can benefit from technology like iptv, video calls etc 7. Surfing sites like youtube and downloading huge files will not be a pain 8. Digital centres in rural areas can work effectively and encourage entrepreneurship in young rural forks as they set up cyber cafes and voip calling boths 9. Cheaper and faster internet for budding bpo industry will make it more competitive in the global market 10. A more connected and online society will lead to knowledge that will create innovation, open up business opportunities as people use the internet to open up new marketing channels.
We need to look at the issue of reduced costs coming in as an advantage for ALREADY EXISTING users and not POTENTIAL users. Hey but then, potential users will bring in more business. Kenya has 3million Internet users at last count, which is about 8% of the population.
I’ll speak for myself here. I am a more than average Kenyan Internet user, maybe a heavy one at that. I subscribe on Telkom’s ADSL for a 32/128 kb connection unlimited throughout the month but I pay a whooping 9188/= a month to have the Internet available to me 24/7 while at home. I have two Safcom connections, one directly on my phone and another for postpaid access through some nifty USB 3G modem. I rarely use my phone for Internet access unless I am on the road. The reason why I have the USB modem is because I would need a backup in case my ADSL comes down mostly due to cable vandals. My average monthly Internet bill is about 15k and unless I am using my ADSL connection, then I am at pains to limit what I download since safcom charges 8/= for an MB of data transfer. Considering I torrent a lot and didn’t have an unlimited package, I would be paying alot more cash. I have to torrent a TV episode of 24/Prison Break each week and one of this is 350MB which comes to about 2800 per episode, 4 episodes come to 11200 and this is without other typical surfing. Many Kenyans love to Facebook and I am not excused from this bunch. On a typical day, Facebook would consume about 30MB of data without any uploads, (just the other typical stuff). That’s about 300Mb of data a month, in the end you find yourself racking up a bill close to 20k just on the Safcom connection and you don’t get to have high speeds.
When fiber comes in, this cost should reduce significantly and this is where the hype is. You need to note that the reduced costs are more targeted towards people who are already using the Internet and not those how have no idea what the Internet is. This is the bunch that will see reduced costs. For people who already have budgets for Internet use. These savings in usage should see some extra income which could be put to other uses, companies could hire more people with this income, they could provide better services or get better equipment, they could expand their portfolio, they could do other stuff. A home user will have extra cash for some other investment, more purchasing power (which in effect improves someone else’s income).
Ohh and I don’t use the Internet just for torrenting, I am a software developer and use the connection for my work and also looking for other business online. I use it for research too. I also resell my connection to me neighbors, yeah I run some LAN and have wired it to their houses, so they help offset the bill. However, the number of users is limited due to the little bandwidth, but with more bandwidth, I can get more people, and the price tag would go down, now ain’t that cheaper Internet?
Officer Rickey,
I like your analysis. I completely agree that “We need to look at the issue of reduced costs coming in as an advantage for ALREADY EXISTING users and less for POTENTIAL users”.
For a person like you. The cost burden will be reduced tremendously and you can save the money. You must be some serious torrent freak from the way you talk about it. Well, I don’t blame you- Here we are downloading all our movies online through torrent sites. It seems like the Kenyan torrent community is going to Increase exponentially because of this high speed connection.
And to answer your question that’s totally cheaper bandwidth- make money.
KE,
I just read the article on property kings on Nation. I still can’t keep away from asking myself if this is just a property bubble or is it a boom. I don’t know everybody seems to running for a house in Nairobi and Mombasa. Or is it money laundering. I don’t know what it is but it looks like some people are making some buck.
And why did muite say that Kenya has the biggest Gap in the world between the Rich and the Poor. Is it that bad ? – These are very mixed signals coming from Nairobi.
Rickey: I am a software developer and use the connection for my work and also looking for other business online. I use it for research too. I also resell my connection to me neighbors, yeah I run some LAN and have wired it to their houses, so they help offset the bill. However, the number of users is limited due to the little bandwidth, but with more bandwidth, I can get more people, and the price tag would go down, now ain’t that cheaper Internet?
I’m curious about what online businesses you are running in Kenya.
Also, this idea of reselling your connection. That is very interesting and I’m sure the internet service providers will try and crack down on this practice. Kenyans ane their “corruption”
How exactly do you ensure that you get paid once you wire up people’s houses?
Junior:
Everyone’s been talking about that article on the property prices in Nairobi. That looks like a classic bubble.
Is Nairobi looking congested with all the construction of these apartments and sub-divisions?
The one thing you notice about Nairobi, especially if you’ve lived in the west, is it’s complete disorganization. There’s no sense of city planning or order and if they let that continue, that place will look like a congested urban slum in another 10 years.
Anonymous:
I’m curious about what online businesses you are running in Kenya.Also, this idea of reselling your connection. That is very interesting and I’m sure the internet service providers will try and crack down on this practice.Kenyans ane their “corruption”
How exactly do you ensure that you get paid once you wire up people’s houses?
Hey Anonymous, now why would you want to think everything done is illegal? First off, I never signed any contract that forbid me from sharing my bill with anyone. Secondly, there is nothing illegal about sharing one connection on multiple computers, that’s the whole gist in a cybercafes. In any case, when Telkom started the service, they were charging 5604 for the same connection I have. They had a 64/256 link for cybercafes, but inefficiencies on their side never provided that link in its entirety. One would pay for a 64/256 link for 16k but only get 32/128 service. That drove cybercafes to scale down. When Telkom figured this out, they brought in another twist. Pay 5604 and get 90 hours(peak time usage) or 180 hours (off peak usage) or pay 9188 and get unlimited use. That way they ensured they got more revenue even if someone used the connection for commercial purposes. Moreover, Telkom’s aware that even home users share the connection on multiple computers and have no qualms about that as long as they get paid for the service. So next time before you go yapping about corruption, get your facts right.
How do I get paid, we work on a system of trust, you stay for long without paying, a network cable is yanked out from the switch, or your domain account gets disabled or you simply get fire walled. I have only 4 other users on the network, so it’s easier to manage and the bandwidth is not choked. Moreover, I don’t make any profits, we share out the costs exactly as they come in, taking care of bandwidth, electricity and probably some 200/= for administration. The arrangement is just to have Internet access at home and in the easiest and cheapest way possible. Making money out of each other is not in our interest. We call this “pooling resources”
As for my online work, no I do not run bot nets and I do not crack SW for Russians or sell 1 dollar hosting for porn sites. Like I said, I develop Software and most of this is web based, figure out the rest.
Anon,
How are going to talk about town planing in place where people build on cliffs.
You see people in Nairobi never think about the future- They just wait until there is a congestion and dis organization and building start falling crisis then they ministers address it by throwing some well calculated words at the issue.
I don’t know man- The only way Nairobi can develop is if they use the Metropolitan legislation provided by M.Kilonzo.
I wonder If anything works there anymore. When I left the Municipal was obsolete and the only the Harambee Ave. Used to be clean. Is it still the same way ?
I use safaricom internet on my handset, its very cheap. Just browsing and check emails I hardly notice the data traffic charges. I mean ksh.8 per mb is nothing. I have chatted yahoo messenger with friends for about an hour and I only spent 4 shillings. Actually there’s a new trend now young people are using internet more than sms. Its the reason safaricom data traffic has skyrocketed.
Bottomline, I think kenyans are more likely to come up with mobile apps than outsourcing. NB mpesa was developed by vodafone not kenyans, so technical expertise is still wanting my opinion.
Lost, your Internet usage is pretty minimal, you can’t even rack up a charge of more than 20/= daily just for chatting. I bet you won’t even notice much increase in bandwidth with the coming of fiber. try downloading audio files, streaming, video downloads and VOIP and you will change your opinion really fast.
oversight is key, just like in a free media. govt will not be able to control what is posted online in kenya blogs/websites. since most of the voters are young and will be drawn to internet, we could use the online media to educate pple on useless MPs.
It does not happen overnight. the more informed the citizens are the better. look at mathira, they have an new MP every election for the last 3/4 elections.
Reason is that pple are informed here and if you do not perform, they vote you out.
I must say i am one of the cynical buggers. The most visible effect of internet i have noticed is the trenches they are digging all over across our road network. these trenches are leaving the stretches of road in very bad shape. I wonder ain’t there a provision requiring anyone who tampers with the public utilities for his business be required to restore it to the status it was.
I also think most of the bloggers and other frequent internet users who were expecting miracles are depressed. I don’t have the official figures with the psychiatrists in Nairobi by the time of going to press but will surely let you know once i have gathered, confirmed and compiled the figures.
the media has also benefited through the splashing news headlines on ‘landing’,'going live’ of the fiber optics. Even the holloi polloi who in their lifetime may never know the correct spelling of fiber optics are earning a livelihood through digging thos trenches.
Peace