The poorly developed state of Internet infrastructure is also a formidable problem. In West
Africa, a high-capacity cable known as SAT-3
(South African Telecom-3) connects Europe to
West Africa to South Africa to India. However,
incumbent telecommunication companies, which
are usually state owned, often have sole control
over the branching unit from this cable to their
country. As a result, they often charge exorbitant
rates for connection via this cable, between
US7,000 and USD15,000 per Mb/s per month
depending on the country. 5 There is no equivalent high-bandwidth cable connecting East
African countries to the Internet, though there are
a number of plans to build one. 6 As a result,
many sub-Saharan African Internet service
providers (ISPs) are highly reliant on expensive
satellite Internet services (not lower than
USD1,800 to USD2,000 per Mb/s per month) 7 ,
driving up the price and driving down the availability of Internet services for the people in the
region.
Even if sub-Saharan countries were better
connected to the rest of the world with more equitable pricing arrangements, it would be difficult
and expensive in most cases for them to develop
sufficient internal infrastructure to support widespread Internet development. Since populations
are highly rural and spread out (in Rwanda, 94
percent of the population lives in rural areas; 8 in
Uganda, 85 percent),
9
it is often a better investment for companies to build a cable into another
country with more populous cities than to build
further into the originating country. 10 Moreover,
the endemic poverty and economic degradation
of the region makes any significant rural Internet
development prohibitively expensive for many
countries. 11 In Zimbabwe, for example, with inflation rates reaching nearly 1,600 percent, the government-owned TelOne has had difficulties paying its satellite provider bills to just maintain its
current level of Internet access. 12 As a result,
Internet usage remains low and concentrated in
urban areas; in Kenya, 80 percent of Internet
users live in Nairobi. 13
The recent privatization and liberalization of
the telecommunications markets was promoted
as a means to alleviate the infrastructure problems of Africa. Many countries have made this
important step, including Botswana in 1996, 14
Malawi in 1998,
15
South Africa in 2002 (though
there was no real competition until 2006)
16
,
Senegal in 2003,
17
and Kenya in 2004.
18
Despite
this liberalization, telecommunications companies that once held monopolies are still dominant, 19 limiting the boost in Internet development
expected from deregulation and competition in
the Internet services markets. 20
In Uganda the spread of the Internet has
been hampered by tariffs so high as to be prohibitive to the vast majority of the population. For
monthly unlimited Internet access, the standard
tariff is priced at USD50, along with local phone
charges for dial-in users that, for an hour of
usage a day, could run from USD31 to USD93 a
month (depending on whether the connection
was used at peak or off-peak times). 21 Even
Internet usage in cybercafés costs around
USD6/hour. 22 Compared to Uganda’s annual
GDP per capita of USD525 in 2005,
23
the cost of
Internet use is strikingly disproportionate to the
disposal income of most of the population. 24
The lack of local content may also serve as
a disincentive to Internet use. Although English is
the official language of Uganda, for instance,
very few of the country’s inhabitants speak it as a
first or even as a second language, although that
number is growing. 25 Botswana’s own telecommunications regulatory body, the Botswana
Telecommunications Authority, has pointed out
that “another factor hampering Internet uptake is
the lack of indigenous local content.” 26
Nevertheless, many countries actively promote the Internet through ICT policies as an element in their overall development plans. Rwanda,
for example, has an ambitious, long-term “ICTled socio-economic development plan” to trans214
Regional Overviews
Africa, a high-capacity cable known as SAT-3
(South African Telecom-3) connects Europe to
West Africa to South Africa to India. However,
incumbent telecommunication companies, which
are usually state owned, often have sole control
over the branching unit from this cable to their
country. As a result, they often charge exorbitant
rates for connection via this cable, between
US7,000 and USD15,000 per Mb/s per month
depending on the country. 5 There is no equivalent high-bandwidth cable connecting East
African countries to the Internet, though there are
a number of plans to build one. 6 As a result,
many sub-Saharan African Internet service
providers (ISPs) are highly reliant on expensive
satellite Internet services (not lower than
USD1,800 to USD2,000 per Mb/s per month) 7 ,
driving up the price and driving down the availability of Internet services for the people in the
region.
Even if sub-Saharan countries were better
connected to the rest of the world with more equitable pricing arrangements, it would be difficult
and expensive in most cases for them to develop
sufficient internal infrastructure to support widespread Internet development. Since populations
are highly rural and spread out (in Rwanda, 94
percent of the population lives in rural areas; 8 in
Uganda, 85 percent),
9
it is often a better investment for companies to build a cable into another
country with more populous cities than to build
further into the originating country. 10 Moreover,
the endemic poverty and economic degradation
of the region makes any significant rural Internet
development prohibitively expensive for many
countries. 11 In Zimbabwe, for example, with inflation rates reaching nearly 1,600 percent, the government-owned TelOne has had difficulties paying its satellite provider bills to just maintain its
current level of Internet access. 12 As a result,
Internet usage remains low and concentrated in
urban areas; in Kenya, 80 percent of Internet
users live in Nairobi. 13
The recent privatization and liberalization of
the telecommunications markets was promoted
as a means to alleviate the infrastructure problems of Africa. Many countries have made this
important step, including Botswana in 1996, 14
Malawi in 1998,
15
South Africa in 2002 (though
there was no real competition until 2006)
16
,
Senegal in 2003,
17
and Kenya in 2004.
18
Despite
this liberalization, telecommunications companies that once held monopolies are still dominant, 19 limiting the boost in Internet development
expected from deregulation and competition in
the Internet services markets. 20
In Uganda the spread of the Internet has
been hampered by tariffs so high as to be prohibitive to the vast majority of the population. For
monthly unlimited Internet access, the standard
tariff is priced at USD50, along with local phone
charges for dial-in users that, for an hour of
usage a day, could run from USD31 to USD93 a
month (depending on whether the connection
was used at peak or off-peak times). 21 Even
Internet usage in cybercafés costs around
USD6/hour. 22 Compared to Uganda’s annual
GDP per capita of USD525 in 2005,
23
the cost of
Internet use is strikingly disproportionate to the
disposal income of most of the population. 24
The lack of local content may also serve as
a disincentive to Internet use. Although English is
the official language of Uganda, for instance,
very few of the country’s inhabitants speak it as a
first or even as a second language, although that
number is growing. 25 Botswana’s own telecommunications regulatory body, the Botswana
Telecommunications Authority, has pointed out
that “another factor hampering Internet uptake is
the lack of indigenous local content.” 26
Nevertheless, many countries actively promote the Internet through ICT policies as an element in their overall development plans. Rwanda,
for example, has an ambitious, long-term “ICTled socio-economic development plan” to trans214
Regional Overviews