Review of Department of Communications' colloquium on an integrated national ICT policy
The ICT sector needs to be enabled to make the contribution it should be making to the economic growth, job creation and the deepening of democracy. For too long the sector has been stifled by policy that has resulted in poor access to the full range of services and information required for effective participation by all in the economy and polity and suboptimal use of them as a result of high prices and poor quality, where there is access to them.
Editorial by Alison Gillwald, Executive Director of Research ICT Africa, on the Department of Communications' colloquium on an integrated national ICT policy.
The ICT sector needs to be enabled to make the contribution it should be making to the economic growth, job creation and the deepening of democracy. For too long the sector has been stifled by policy that has resulted in poor access to the full range of services and information required for effective participation by all in the economy and polity and suboptimal use of them as a result of high prices and poor quality, where there is access to them.Editorial by Alison Gillwald, Executive Director of Research ICT Africa, on the Department of Communications' colloquium on an integrated national ICT policy.
Myth buster on reasons for SA high prepaid mobile pricing
The reactions of various interest groups to a yearlong study by RIA into pre-paid mobile prices across the continent, and South Africa’s relatively poor showing in it, are perhaps not surprising. They nevertheless prompt clarification and hopefully further debate - before the issue of the high price of communications in South is again swept under the carpet. Research ICT Africa Executive Director, Alison Gillwald responds.
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The reactions of various interest groups to a yearlong study by RIA into pre-paid mobile prices across the continent, and South Africa’s relatively poor showing in it, are perhaps not surprising. They nevertheless prompt clarification and hopefully further debate - before the issue of the high price of communications in South is again swept under the carpet. Research ICT Africa Executive Director, Alison Gillwald responds.
Read more...
Africa Prepaid Mobile Price Index 2012: South Africa
Among 46 African countries studied, South Africa ranks poorly for prepaid mobile telephony affordability. Ranked 30th out of 46 African states, South Africa is now far behind countries where the regulator, unlike in South Africa, has enabled competition by enforcing cost-based mobile termination rates. The resulting competition has in many cases driven down prices for consumers. Not long ago, South Africa and Namibia shared the same mobile termination rates and had similar end-user prices. Today, Namibia enjoys amongst the cheapest mobile prepaid prices in Africa, as a result of the slashing of its termination rates close to cost, which pressured the incumbents towards cost-based pricing, thereby increasing demand and remaining highly profitable.
Download the policy brief
Download Research ICT Africa's asnwers to the following technical questions from the media:
1. Why did you focus only on prepaid?
2. Do you expect prices to decline further next year when MTRs drop to 40c?
3. Could you send through the January 2012 OECD Lower User Baske costs in USD table that includes PPP factor?
Among 46 African countries studied, South Africa ranks poorly for prepaid mobile telephony affordability. Ranked 30th out of 46 African states, South Africa is now far behind countries where the regulator, unlike in South Africa, has enabled competition by enforcing cost-based mobile termination rates. The resulting competition has in many cases driven down prices for consumers. Not long ago, South Africa and Namibia shared the same mobile termination rates and had similar end-user prices. Today, Namibia enjoys amongst the cheapest mobile prepaid prices in Africa, as a result of the slashing of its termination rates close to cost, which pressured the incumbents towards cost-based pricing, thereby increasing demand and remaining highly profitable.Download the policy brief
Download Research ICT Africa's asnwers to the following technical questions from the media:
1. Why did you focus only on prepaid?
2. Do you expect prices to decline further next year when MTRs drop to 40c?
3. Could you send through the January 2012 OECD Lower User Baske costs in USD table that includes PPP factor?
"Money, Real Quick", a book on M-Pesa and Mobile Money
Tonny Omwansa and Nicholas Sullivan have published "Money, Real Quick", a book on M-Pesa and Mobile Money. The book expounds on the innovation, the execution and impact of M-Pesa, the mobile money service operated in Kenya by Safaricom and is now available in several other countries. The nine chapter book is a comprehensive, easy to read, broad-range narrative of a technological innovation being exported from Africa.
You can get a copy of the book at the following link.
Tonny Omwansa and Nicholas Sullivan have published "Money, Real Quick", a book on M-Pesa and Mobile Money. The book expounds on the innovation, the execution and impact of M-Pesa, the mobile money service operated in Kenya by Safaricom and is now available in several other countries. The nine chapter book is a comprehensive, easy to read, broad-range narrative of a technological innovation being exported from Africa.You can get a copy of the book at the following link.
Broadband price drop expected
Article by Lloyd Gedye published in Mail & Guardian.
Consumers can look forward to even cheaper broadband prices, with many new undersea cables set to come online within the next 18 months. It is unclear how much of a decrease is likely, but talk in the industry is of a 10% to 20% drop in local prices, which are regarded as being among the highest in the world.
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Article by Lloyd Gedye published in Mail & Guardian.
Consumers can look forward to even cheaper broadband prices, with many new undersea cables set to come online within the next 18 months. It is unclear how much of a decrease is likely, but talk in the industry is of a 10% to 20% drop in local prices, which are regarded as being among the highest in the world.
Read more...
CPRafrica 2012 /CPRsouth7 2012 - Call for Abstracts
Connecting Africa & Asia: ICT Policy research and practice for the Global South
The third CPRafrica will take place from 5 - 7 September 2012 together with CPRsouth in Mauritius.
Introduction
Communication Policy Research Africa (CPRafrica) encourages intellectual endeavour and research in the area of ICT policy and regulation in Africa through the creation of a forum in which African academics and researchers can engage on and profile their research and contribute to global debates from an African perspective. The overall objective is to nurture policy intellectuals capable of informed and effective intervention in ICT policy and regulatory processes in specific country contexts. This is an initiative of Research ICT Africa and draws on similar initiative by LIRNEasia – CPRsouth. For the first time in 2012 these two partners will hold their conferences jointly in Mauritius. There is no more appropriate setting for this conference. Mauritius, itself an amalgam of Africa and Asia, is one of the most dynamic ICT markets on the African continent.
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Mobile broadband QoS and measuring social media at the ITU WTIM
The 9th ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Meeting (WTIM), held in Mauritius from the 7 to 9 December 2011, focused on emerging issues related to ICT indicators such as new indicators to measure mobile broadband subscriptions and tariffs, and broadband speed and quality of service; measuring e-waste; and assessing current ICT access and usage trends through household ICT surveys.
Enrico Calandro from Research ICT Africa made a presentation on “Measuring the use of social media through household surveys”. In the Conclusions and Recommendations of the meeting, the assembly agreed that the development of new indicators through household surveys was necessary to reflect recent trends and the growth in new applications such as social media and mobile Internet. In the discussion on indicator definitions and measurements, Calandro suggested to the Expert Group on Telecommunications Indicator to expand the QoS indicators to include not only fixed-broadband but also mobile-broadband services, taking into account the African context where the majority of broadband connections are wireless.
The 9th ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Meeting (WTIM), held in Mauritius from the 7 to 9 December 2011, focused on emerging issues related to ICT indicators such as new indicators to measure mobile broadband subscriptions and tariffs, and broadband speed and quality of service; measuring e-waste; and assessing current ICT access and usage trends through household ICT surveys.Enrico Calandro from Research ICT Africa made a presentation on “Measuring the use of social media through household surveys”. In the Conclusions and Recommendations of the meeting, the assembly agreed that the development of new indicators through household surveys was necessary to reflect recent trends and the growth in new applications such as social media and mobile Internet. In the discussion on indicator definitions and measurements, Calandro suggested to the Expert Group on Telecommunications Indicator to expand the QoS indicators to include not only fixed-broadband but also mobile-broadband services, taking into account the African context where the majority of broadband connections are wireless.
Young Scholars Tutorials 2012
Young Scholars Seminar
3-4 September 2012 - Mauritius
Twenty Young Scholars from Africa and Asia will be selected to participate in the conference without having to fulfill the paper acceptance qualifications and to attend an ICT policy research seminar prior to the conference to allow them to participate more effectively.
Read more...
Young Scholars Seminar
3-4 September 2012 - Mauritius
Twenty Young Scholars from Africa and Asia will be selected to participate in the conference without having to fulfill the paper acceptance qualifications and to attend an ICT policy research seminar prior to the conference to allow them to participate more effectively.
Read more...
More criticism of telecoms law amendments
Article by Craig Wilson published in TechCentral.
Instead of taking away oversight and management of SA’s radio frequency spectrum from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) and centralising it in the office of the minister of communications, government should be trying to assist the authority to better perform its tasks.
That’s the view of Alison Gillwald, executive director of research at ICT Africa and adjunct professor at the University of Cape Town’s GSB Infrastructure Reform and Regulation Programme. She was reacting to planned amendments to the 2005 Electronic Communications Act, which would take away control over spectrum from Icasa and hand it to the communications minister.
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Article by Craig Wilson published in TechCentral.
Instead of taking away oversight and management of SA’s radio frequency spectrum from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) and centralising it in the office of the minister of communications, government should be trying to assist the authority to better perform its tasks.
That’s the view of Alison Gillwald, executive director of research at ICT Africa and adjunct professor at the University of Cape Town’s GSB Infrastructure Reform and Regulation Programme. She was reacting to planned amendments to the 2005 Electronic Communications Act, which would take away control over spectrum from Icasa and hand it to the communications minister.
Read more...
SA fails test of network society
Article by Dr Alison Gillwald, RIA Executive Director, on the output of a two-day seminar with Manuel Castells at the Centre for Higher Education and Training (CHET), an independent and oversight think tank. The seminar aimed at engaging some of the country's leading economists and policy makers in a discussion on South African informational development.
See link for full article.
Article by Dr Alison Gillwald, RIA Executive Director, on the output of a two-day seminar with Manuel Castells at the Centre for Higher Education and Training (CHET), an independent and oversight think tank. The seminar aimed at engaging some of the country's leading economists and policy makers in a discussion on South African informational development.
See link for full article.
Fair Mobile Index
Research Areas Research ICT Africa has identified areas of ICT policy, regulation and indicator research that are under-investigated or where specialised research is needed and which might serve as possible topics for post-graduate research.
Read more ...
Vacancies There are no vacancies at the moment.
Training and Events Young Scholars Tutorials 2012 Young Scholars Seminar3-4 September 2012 - MauritiusTwenty Young Scholars from Africa and Asia will be selected to participate in the conference without having to fulfill the paper acceptance qualifications and to attend an ICT policy research ...
Read more...
CPRafrica 2012 /CPRsouth7 2012 - Call for Abstracts Connecting Africa & Asia: ICT Policy research and practice for the Global SouthThe third CPRafrica will take place from 5 - 7 September 2012 together with CPRsouth in Mauritius.IntroductionCommunication Policy Research Africa (CPRafrica) en...
Read more...
Broadband as a platform for Video in Africa The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information is pleased to announce that its first conference on the topic of broadband as a platform for Video in Africa will take place May 22nd & 23rd in Lusaka, Zambia. For further information about the C...
Read more...
AMMREC2012 Conference AMMREC2012 Conference April 2 and 3, 2012 Nairobi, Kenya Mobile money is an emerging area of research, AMMREC expects to build a Conference Community that will ensure an exciting and high quality networking environment, providing an opportuni...
Read more...
Spectrum Valuation Masterclass with Prof Martin Cave This one-day masterclass on spectrum valuation was convened by Prof Alison Gillwald and was part of a new component of the Graduate School of Business programme in Management of Infrastructure Reform and Regulation (MIR). It was offered...
Read more...
The International Institute of Communications Annual Conference The International Institute of Communications is a leading independent policy forum focused primarily on telecommunications, media and digital media policy and regulation, and their impact on business and society. Its 42nd Annual Conference, ‘T...
Read more...
G I G A N E T - Sixth Annual Symposium UNON complex, Nairobi, Kenya, Room 4 September 26, 2011 The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) held its Sixth Annual Symposium on 26 September 2011, one day before the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Nairo...
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Connectivity and Convergence 2011: Alternative Regulatory Strategies for Telecommunications The Executive Course "Connectivity and Convergence 2011: Alternative Regulatory Strategies for Telecommunications" has been postponed. For further information, please contact info [at] researchictafrica [dot] net Programme Summary...
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Making Mobile Broadband Accessible for All Research ICT Africa and the Management Infrastructure Reform and Regulation Programme at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, in partnership with Vodacom convened a public seminar on Making Mobile Broadband Access Accessib...
Read more...
CPRafrica 2011 : Convergence The second CPRafrica took place on 15 – 19 April 2011 in association with the University of Nairobi, Kenya. CPRafrica 2011 presentations available on the publications page. &n...
Read more...
Young Scholars Tutorials 2011 Fifteen Young Scholars from Africa were selected to participate in the conference. Application Guidelines Applications should be submitted to aallem@researchICTafrica.net by or before 19 November 2010 and must contain the following: a one-page...
Read more...
CPRafrica Papers Eight out of the best ten papers presented during CPRafrica 2010, Cape Town, have been published in info Volume 13 Issue 3
Read more ...
Flickr Photos
Research Areas Research ICT Africa has identified areas of ICT policy, regulation and indicator research that are under-investigated or where specialised research is needed and which might serve as possible topics for post-graduate research.
Read more ...
Vacancies There are no vacancies at the moment.
Training and Events Young Scholars Tutorials 2012 Young Scholars Seminar3-4 September 2012 - MauritiusTwenty Young Scholars from Africa and Asia will be selected to participate in the conference without having to fulfill the paper acceptance qualifications and to attend an ICT policy research ...
Read more...
CPRafrica 2012 /CPRsouth7 2012 - Call for Abstracts Connecting Africa & Asia: ICT Policy research and practice for the Global SouthThe third CPRafrica will take place from 5 - 7 September 2012 together with CPRsouth in Mauritius.IntroductionCommunication Policy Research Africa (CPRafrica) en...
Read more...
Broadband as a platform for Video in Africa The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information is pleased to announce that its first conference on the topic of broadband as a platform for Video in Africa will take place May 22nd & 23rd in Lusaka, Zambia. For further information about the C...
Read more...
AMMREC2012 Conference AMMREC2012 Conference April 2 and 3, 2012 Nairobi, Kenya Mobile money is an emerging area of research, AMMREC expects to build a Conference Community that will ensure an exciting and high quality networking environment, providing an opportuni...
Read more...
Spectrum Valuation Masterclass with Prof Martin Cave This one-day masterclass on spectrum valuation was convened by Prof Alison Gillwald and was part of a new component of the Graduate School of Business programme in Management of Infrastructure Reform and Regulation (MIR). It was offered...
Read more...
The International Institute of Communications Annual Conference The International Institute of Communications is a leading independent policy forum focused primarily on telecommunications, media and digital media policy and regulation, and their impact on business and society. Its 42nd Annual Conference, ‘T...
Read more...
G I G A N E T - Sixth Annual Symposium UNON complex, Nairobi, Kenya, Room 4 September 26, 2011 The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) held its Sixth Annual Symposium on 26 September 2011, one day before the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Nairo...
Read more...
Connectivity and Convergence 2011: Alternative Regulatory Strategies for Telecommunications The Executive Course "Connectivity and Convergence 2011: Alternative Regulatory Strategies for Telecommunications" has been postponed. For further information, please contact info [at] researchictafrica [dot] net Programme Summary...
Read more...
Making Mobile Broadband Accessible for All Research ICT Africa and the Management Infrastructure Reform and Regulation Programme at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, in partnership with Vodacom convened a public seminar on Making Mobile Broadband Access Accessib...
Read more...
CPRafrica 2011 : Convergence The second CPRafrica took place on 15 – 19 April 2011 in association with the University of Nairobi, Kenya. CPRafrica 2011 presentations available on the publications page. &n...
Read more...
Young Scholars Tutorials 2011 Fifteen Young Scholars from Africa were selected to participate in the conference. Application Guidelines Applications should be submitted to aallem@researchICTafrica.net by or before 19 November 2010 and must contain the following: a one-page...
Read more...
CPRafrica Papers Eight out of the best ten papers presented during CPRafrica 2010, Cape Town, have been published in info Volume 13 Issue 3
Read more ...
Flickr Photos
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