PRESS RELEASE PAN-AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT IMPERATIVES FOR BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY ACCELERATED THROUGH SATELLITE-BASED INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ADVANCE ‘Best practice’ briefing and discussion sessions on bridging Africa’s digital divide facilitated by global satellite association at Information and Communication Technology Development Hub; Key regional conference theme of “Developing Partnerships to Mainstream Africa’s ICT Industry” supported by GVF-organised Telecommunications Operators Forum 25 May 2004 LONDON & MAURITIUS – Developing Partnerships to Mainstream Africa’s ICT Industry is the theme of the Sixth Annual African Computing and Telecommunications Summit (ACT 2004), taking place over 7-9 September at CyberCity, Mauritius, the Information and Communications Technology Development Hub for Africa and the Indian Ocean. This year, building on its strategic relationship with the GVF – the global association of the satellite telecommunications industry – the organisers of ACT are working with the association (www.gvf.org) to facilitate a rare discussion and networking opportunity for the telecommunications carriers, or PTTs, from across the African continent. Satellite-based communications provides the only effective breakthrough from the bottleneck that is the under development of telecommunications services throughout much of Africa – under development that has been effectively caused by: • Low disposable incomes (and outright poverty), and consequential disincentives to telecommunications operators to actually provide reliable services; • Lack of competition and therefore lack of infrastructure investment; • And, the fragmentation of a continent into many national markets which are devoid of economies of scale. Yet, from the greatest cities to the smallest villages, access to information through low cost telecommunications connectivity is an imperative for the economic and social development of Africa. Recognising this imperative, the non-profit and non-partisan satellite industry association – the GVF – has organised a Telecommunications Operators Forum, a programme of briefing and discussion sessions for the African telecommunication carriers community, to take place over the 7th, 8th and 9th September 2004. The sessions will address key issues regarding the world of connectivity solutions from satellite-based technology and will offer examples of ‘best practice’ in the creation of strategies for satellite terminal deployment, network roll-out and sustainable application development. That ‘best practice’ strategies for aiding access to ICTs through satellites benefit indigenous businesses in encouraging improved investment conditions, and also benefit national governments through a stronger tax base, is implicitly recognised in the Catalysing Access to Internet in Africa project. CATIA is a three-year programme of the British Government’s Department for International Development (DfID) and reflects the strong ground swell of opinion that the Millennium Development Goals will only be achieved by using Information and Communication Technologies. This is also the emphasis placed on ICTs in the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and in the targets of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The GVF is one of the partner organisations in the CATIA project, and an update on the progress and implications of CATIA will be included in the briefing sessions comprising the Telecommunications Operators Forum. Opportunities for tens of thousands of new telecommunications entrepreneurs across Africa continue to advance with the increased availability of lower price satellite bandwidth all across the continent. In addition, current downward price trends for both satellite terminals and Internet access can only continue as potential economies of scale come on-stream. Such potential developments will also be examined during the Forum briefings, considered from the perspective of: • The perceptions of telecommunications operators of new market dynamics; • The opportunities of increased competition in more liberalised contexts; • Understanding the necessities of UAO/USO and the implications of VoIP over satellite; • The provision of essential applications for the corporate sector and the enterprise space; for government, education and healthcare; and for the development sector. The GVF Telecommunications Operators Forum will bring together senior decision-making representatives from PTTs from across the continent, with particular emphasis on telecommunications carriers from the PTTs Group of the SADC nations. Also attending will be senior executives from Africa’s sub-regional organisations of telecommunications regulators, including: TRASA – the Telecommunications Regulators Association of Southern Africa; WATRA – the West African Telecommunications Regulators Association; and, EARPTO – the East Africa Regulatory Post and Telecommunication Organisation. For further information about the Telecommunications Operators Forum, or about the GVF, please contact either: Martin Jarrold,

Chief of International Programme Development at the GVF Secretariat

Direct telephone + 44 1727 884 513;

Email martin.jarrold@gvf.org Helen Jameson, GVF Secretariat Administrator Direct telephone + 44 1727 884 627;

Email helen.jameson@gvf.org Or for details about the wider programme of ACT 2004, please contact: Sean Moroney, AITEC Africa Direct telephone + 44 1480 495 595;

Email sean@aitecafrica.com
Full details are available at www.aitecafrica.com

Mauritius CyberCity selected as venue for ACT 2004 7-9 September 2004 The sixth annual African Computing & Telecommunications Summit (ACT 2004) is to be held at the impressive new CyberTower being constructed in Mauritius as the key element of the island state's drive to become an ICT development hub for Africa and the Indian Ocean. AITEC has been invited by the Act ICT Industry Alliance of Mauritius to hold the next ACT Summit in Mauritius due to the attendance it will attract from ICT professionals and managers from throughout Africa, as well as other international participation, thus promoting the country's position as a supplier of ICT services and expertise. The theme of the Summit will be "Developing Partnerships to Mainstream Africa's ICT Industry." Welcoming AITEC's decision to hold the Summit in Mauritius, Viv Padayatchy, Chairman of the Association of Internet Service Providers (FAIR) and Secretary of the Mauritius ICT Alliance, called on industry counterparts across Africa to use the Summit as an opportunity to pool knowledge and experience to promote the continent on the international stage. "Although some of us may land up competing for the same outsourcing work, the potential market is huge and expanding. We will all benefit from increased skills levels across the region, as well as improved perceptions of the continent's ICT capacity. I'm confident that companies attending ACT 2003 will find that co-operation and alliances, rather than competition, will be the order of the day." AITEC will hold the event in partnership with Publi-Promo, the leading exhibition company in Mauritius. The following will be the key streams within the Summit: Ø Business Process Outsourcing Forum Ø Knowledge Sharing Ø The African Open Source Forum, is associate with the Free & Open Source Foundation for Africa Ø eGovernment Forum in association with the UN Economic Commission for Africa Ø ICT Policy & Telecoms Regulation Ø Telecommunication Operators Forum Ø ICT for Development The ACT Summit has been held in the UK, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria in previous years. Over 2,000 African ICT professionals, managers, resellers, innovators and policy-makers have benefited from the Summit's intensive knowledge-sharing platform. For further details of ACT 2004, contact

IN MAURITIUS: Didier de Senneville, MD, Publi-Promo Tel 208-3873; Mobile: 255-7677 ppromo@intnet.mu

INTERNATIONAL: Sean Moroney, AITEC Africa, Tel: +44-1480-495595 sean@aitecafrica.com 

From Rachel Engel
Sent by: The DIGITALDIVIDE discussion group

Given the current media swirl in the US relating to the FCC decisions on VoIP and the WiFi issue in Africa, bridges.org have written a short commentary looking at the benefits of this technology in relation to the developing world. We thought you might be interested in this.

If you would like any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

RESTRICTING VoIP AND WiFi COSTS SOUTH AFRICA ITS POSITION AS A TECHNOLOGY LEADER IN AFRICA

25 May 2004
Commentary written by bridges.org in collaboration with the East and Southern Africa Centre for International ICT Policy (ESA-CIP)

South Africa is celebrating ten years of democracy -- a period during which the country has shown progressive leadership, including explicitly targeting information and communications technology (ICT) as an enabler of socio-economic development. In its re-election campaign this year, the Government promised to focus on poverty alleviation and job creation. But, ironically, the Government's legislative efforts affecting new technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) are actually working against the development goals it seeks to achieve.

On one hand, the South African Government has taken unparalleled steps in forming national and international advisory councils to advise President Mbeki on how to extend the benefits of ICT to all citizens. However, existing telecommunications and convergence policies are not keeping pace with technological progress, and communications costs remain high as a result. Moreover, the Government has failed to provide a coherent legislative framework for ICT. Unless the Government aligns its intentions and actions it may undermine the country's position as a technology leader in Africa.

One example is South Africa's strategy to create jobs by enticing international call centres to the country. These centres -- common in places like India -- provide outsourced services using high bandwidth connections and VoIP platforms. VoIP converts calls to data and carries them like messages on any data network (including the Internet), which lowers costs, but can threaten the earnings of traditional telecommunications providers. Call centres provide telephone support services to developed countries from their bases in developing countries where labour is cheap, bringing cash to local economies. VoIP can also support socio-economic development more generally by bringing the benefits of efficient data network use and lowered call costs to individual consumers, small businesses, government agencies, and community organisations. Yet existing legislation that limits the use of VoIP in South Africa stifles advances in this area.

South African law also inhibits the use of WiFi technologies that could help bring the Internet to under-serviced communities. WiFi creates a high-bandwidth network using certain radio frequency transmissions that cover short distances. It is cheap to implement, largely because it does not require traditional wire infrastructure, and can be used to extend the reach of telecommunications and "backbone" Internet connectivity at low cost. And this in turn offers an effective channel for the delivery of many development services to under-serviced and rural communities. But it also jeopardises telecommunications profits.

Developing countries and communities with low telephone penetration stand to benefit the most from the introduction of new technologies like VoIP and WiFi. Gone are the days of voice traffic over traditional copper wire (which is often stolen), and separate cabling for data transmissions. There are huge cost savings to be gained in under-serviced communities by rolling out technologies that allow for both voice and data services on a single, combined, cost-effective network. Moreover, until recently VoIP and WiFi were only available to people with access to personal computers, but technology advances are extending this reach. For example, WiFi can be used to connect handheld devices to the Internet. And instead of requiring a computer with VoIP software, now people can use a regular telephone handset to dial to an intermediate computer connected to the Internet that will convert their call to VoIP.

Across the continent, other African countries are moving to the forefront. Algeria, Mauritius, Mali, Nigeria and Kenya have legalised VoIP and WiFi. For example, the Algerian Government recently approved several Internet Service Providers to use VoIP to legally compete on international calls. Prior to this, only the incumbent telecommunications operator was allowed to offer international call services, costing six times more. These progressive governments are boldly embracing new technologies to gain the long-term benefits of ICT, despite potential short-term losses in revenue as incumbent telecommunications providers restructure their approaches.

Currently, the provision of VoIP services in South Africa is only allowed in areas where less than five percent of the population have access to a telephone. The Government maintains that such restrictions will encourage companies to provide telephone service to these outlying regions and thereby rectify the imbalance in technology access between modern, urban hubs and under-serviced and rural communities. WiFi is also restricted to use by individuals or organisations within the confines of their own premises. So "hotspots" are okay, but connecting offices across town is not. In South Africa, it appears as if Government policy-makers either do not understand the development potential offered by these technologies, or they are just not ready to let go of the entrenched revenue streams from Telkom's stranglehold on the market.

Nonetheless the use of these effective, cheap technologies is growing in South Africa -- albeit illegally -- including in different spheres of government. For example, local government agencies are connecting remote departments with WiFi networks that are well-suited to carry VoIP calls. Their existence is no secret, with public tenders in the local media calling for the installation and maintenance of these systems.

Removing restrictions and allowing competition to thrive in the communications sector will lead to greater choice, lower prices, and the proliferation of innovative services. This will in turn benefit the development needs of under-serviced and rural communities, where communication services are prohibitively expensive, as well as the corporate needs of businesses wanting to enter the value-added network market. All that is holding back the unlimited provision of VoIP services in South Africa is the public announcement of a date, at the Minister of Communication's discretion, from which VoIP will be legal. This is a seemingly easy step, yet one not taken. Consequently, business leaders, development practitioners and the ordinary consumer alike are suffocating under an artificial constraint on telecommunications growth.

And in the meantime the South African Government, with all its right intentions, is increasingly losing its position at the technological forefront in Africa. An apparent reluctance to embrace new technologies must not be allowed to hinder the creation of jobs and wealth for the people of South Africa. Every citizen should understand the socio-economic development potential of new technologies, and call upon the Government to drive the changes needed to allow their widespread use. Unless the South African Government alters its course in this area, during the next election voters may well be asking why the Government has not delivered on its promises.

ENDS

CONTACT DETAILS
Name: Ewan McPhie, Policy Director
Tel: +27 (0)21 465 9313
Fax: +27 (0)21 465 5917
Email: media@bridges.org
URL:http://www.bridges.org
South Africa: PO Box 715, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
United States: PO Box 53099, Washington DC 20009-9099

ABOUT BRIDGES.ORG
Bridges.org is an international non-profit organisation based in South Africa with a mission to promote the effective use of ICT in developing countries to improve people's lives. One area of focus is informing policy decisions that affect people's access to and use of ICT. Bridges.org also conducts technology research and provides social consulting services to ground level projects using ICT, helping with project planning and evaluation and relaying lessons learned. It brings an entrepreneurial attitude to its social mission, and is committed to working with, instead of against, government agencies and the business community. For more information please go to :
http://www.bridges.org

ABOUT ESA-CIP
The East and Southern Africa Centre for International ICT Policy (ESA-CIP) is a regional non-profit organisation based in Uganda dedicated to increasing the capacity of East and Southern African stakeholders to participate in international ICT policy-making. The Centre forms part of the broader Catalysing Access to Information and Communications Technologies in Africa (CATIA) programme, which aims to enable poor people in Africa to gain the maximum benefit from the opportunities offered by technology and to act as a strong catalyst for reform. It is being supported by the UKs Department for International Development (DFID). For more information, see
http://www.catia.ws


Rachel Engel
International Media and Relations Manager

Tel: +27 21 465 9313
Fax: +27 21 465 5917
email: rachel@bridges.org
South Africa: P O Box 715, Cape Town 8000 South Africa
United States: P O Box 53099, Washington, DC 20009-9099

http://www.bridges.org

From the Conference Manager Dear Colleague Thank you for registering interest in the above event. Online registration is now open. If you would like to attend please confirm by registering at the following address: http://www.cbcglobelink.org/cbcglobelink/events/ICT04/index.htm The ICT Stakeholder Forum, a three-day forum is aimed at bringing stakeholders together to examine concrete projects, proposals and models that will help integrate least developed countries into the global economy through the effective deployment of information communication technologies (ICTs). The Forum will bring together decision makers from stakeholder organisations and engage them in fruitful discussions that will hopefully lead to commitments that can be implemented on the ground. Hon. Prime Minister Paul Raymond Bérenger will deliver the keynote address. Hon. Deelchand Jeeha, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications will open the conference. The Forum will include a mixture of plenary and multi-stakeholder roundtables. On the first day there will be a "ministerial" session drawing on the experiences and challenges facing LDCs; launch of a publication on market opportunities in least developed countries' ICT sector; a scene setting session; a private sector roundtable. The second day will focus primarily on discussing ICT projects and on donor perspectives. For the private sector this event provides a unique opportunity to: * Network with key Government Ministers, local and regional business leaders * Showcase new work to key stakeholders * Discuss opportunities in key areas of ICT development * Influence recommendations on the use of ICT in international development I look forward to welcoming you to the event. With kind regards Helen Stanley Helen Stanley Conference Manager Commonwealth Business Council 18 Pall Mall London SW1Y 5LU tel: ++ 44 (0) 20 7024 8200 fax: ++ 44 (0) 20 7024 8201 www.cbcglobelink.org  

From the Conference Centre of Hotel Ngor in Dakar

The New Board of Trustees for AfriNic is elected. Afrinic is a Not-for-profit Pan-African Organisation, being a regional Internet registry in charge of Internet Numbers (IP and AS) allocation and management in the African region.

AfriNic Board of trustees consists of twelve members from six different regions.

Board of Trustess of AfriNic elected on 24/5/2004 at AFRINIC-I Dakar

Northern Africa
Kamal Okba (Morocco)
Moktar Hamidi (Algeria)

Western Africa
Pierre Dandjinou (Benin)
Sunday Folayan (Nigeria)

Southern Africa
Alain Barett (South Africa)
Alan Levin (South Africa)

Indian Ocean
Viv Padayatchy (Mauritius)
Kenneth Yiptong (Mauritius)

Central Africa
Didier Kasolé (Congo RDC)
Pierre Mutumbé (Congo RDC)

Eastern Africa
Brian Longwe (Kenya)
Charles Musisi (Ouganda)