Internet Governance - the Need for a Global Management Body

Should developing nations fear or embrace the Internet? This is a question that should be responded to in the affirmative on the surface. After all, how would our lives be without email, websites, facebook, twitter and linkedin, among others?


In fact, one wonders how the urban, elite, (office workers, researchers, the corporate world) lived without the Internet only a couple of years ago. Undoubtedly the Internet along with other information society technologies and mobile telephony stands out has added tonnes of value to modern life. Precisely because we are hooked and even addicted to the Internet in the globalised world is the more reason why we should be wary of its downsides while leveraging on its many undeniable positives.

While issues such as digital divide, crime and pornography have been identified as cyberspace challenges, governance remains on the fringes of the pros and cons of the Internet.

As perceptive communications critics have pointed out, control and management of the Internet from a single government, the US, is a cause for concern. The addresses that all Internet users - corporate and individual - use are assigned by the Internet Corporations for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organisation established by the US government.

This means that all email addresses, websites, portals and servers are, as communications scholar Dan Schiller puts it, "supervised by the US by the US."

Even if we held the view that the US government is responsible enough not to abuse the special position of being the unilateral Internet governance agency, this situation is inherently slanted for a resource that is used by over 2 billion so-called netizens.


This is indeed what communications scholars refer to as hegemony - another word for domination. For, it's not too much of a stretch to argue that since the US singly provides overall management of the Internet, it has the potential to rule over the 2 billion-plus people who live and work through Internet.Such unfettered unilateral access to global data should have everybody worried, more so governments and large non-US corporates.

What if, for example, some elements in the US government decided to mine data on countries, organisations and individuals from the Internet to further the political, economic or social ends of Uncle Sam?

There is no end to all manner of speculation as to the potential abuse of this power by the US, particularly at a time when the world's single superpower is struggling to remain afloat, economically.The US government would be the first to strenuously deny the possibility of someone intruding into confidential content and accessing the codes that create domain names. Fair enough.

As with Wikileaks, the initial source was a disgruntled US civil servant with access to the diplomatic cables that have supremely embarrassed governments across the world and changed the face of diplomacy.


For instance, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is reported to have said that "on their own, new technologies do not take sides in the struggle for freedom and progress, but the US does; we stand for a single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas."

This is another way of saying that the US may use its Internet prowess to influence political discourse and even actively advocate change in some parts of the world.

Against this statement, consider that the US has been promoting youth movements specifically tapping Internet strategies. Recall the spurt between the Kenyan government and former US ambassador Michael Rannenberger early this year?

To what extent are these movements based on covert information on governments and societies?

Just such worries led to lobbying particularly by developing nations for the establishment of a supranational body to oversee Internet management during the World Society for the Information Society in Tunis in 2005.

IGF is more interested in cyber crime, broadband availability, new technologies and legal and regulatory issues at regional and country levels.Where the hot button issue of management of the Internet numbers and names resources is concerned, the US can't budge, won't budge and IGF will follow cue without question.


However, in an ideal situation, IGF or UNESCO would be the best organisational home for the assignment of addresses to the world's netizens - individual and corporate. Decision making on key policy and operational issues on the Internet would be representational, with each country represented in one way or another.

The prevailing debate on Internet management and the unequal information flows as well as global security issues is at the heart of the intersection between politics and information technology today.

As to whether the push for a UN-style entity to manage this resource will succeed remains to be seen. The US will not willingly agree to loosen its grip over this resource. So much for democracy.

German Software Firm Launches Product

In Dar es Salaam A German business application software provider for industries and market segments, SAP AG, has launched its new product for small and medium businesses in Tanzania.

According to the chief executive officer (CEO) of Double Click Consulting Ltd, Mr Ali Shariff, the product called Sap Business One 8.8.1, integrates all core business functions across an entire company including all key departments within the particular organisation.


With sap application in a particular company, different departments get connected to one system and they get email notifications of what is going on in another section in terms of transactions.

"Unlike other small business solutions on the market today, Sap business one is a single application eliminating the need for separate installations and complex integration of multiple modules...Sap brings all systems together and the manager can view the whole company simply," said Mr Shariff.


Mr Shariff was speaking during a press briefing before the official launch of the software in yesterday in Dar es Salaam.Sap delivers its software solutions in Tanzania through its business partners who are Advance One, Bluekey, Double Click Consulting Ltd, iO.sys and ITSL.

The Sap Business One Channel Manager for Africa Region, Mr Nazir Jadavji said the product was meant for all companies and small and medium entrepreneurs for efficient management of their respective organisations.

"We have packages of different levels of organisations from SMEs to government institutions like ministries and its departments," said Mr Jadavji.

However, it was noted that only few organisations about 20 companies are using the software in the country and according to Mr Shariff, the low turnout is due to lack of merits of using such systems in their operations.

Dar es Salaam Welcomes India to Invest in ICT

Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Prof Makame Mbarawa

Indians businessmen and women have been asked to seize the abundant opportunities in Tanzania by investing in key areas such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development.

The challenge was thrown here by the Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Prof Makame Mbarawa, during the plenary session of the India-Africa Business Partnership summit which opened here on Thursday.


He said the government wants investors particularly in developing local multi-media content software that would address issues that are relevant to the national development.

"Instead of relying on software that has been designed for the entire world, we need investors who would develop a customized IT content for our country," he said.

He told the two-day forum that has brought together ministers from different African countries, businessmen and women, diplomats and representatives from multinational companies mainly based in India that Tanzania's fiscal and political stability offer a credible offer for investments.

"With its strategic geographical position, Tanzania places itself as the most ideal place in the entire East and Central African region where investors not only from India but world over could come and explore various untapped business opportunities," he said.


He mentioned other areas which are yet to be tapped fully as IT parks and small ICT villages where the youth could assemble and design software that is ideal for the local markets.

He gave an example of business processing outsourcing (BPO) system which could create more jobs for Tanzanians by creating calling centres in the country.

The minister said Indian investors should also capitalize on the fast growing East African Community (EAC) market, covering over 140 million people.

He said that with the improved communication and infrastructure such as road and railway network, the EAC market offers a quick return on investment (ROI).

"The fibre optic project has made communication easier for Tanzania and the landlocked countries such as Zambia, Malawi, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda," he said.

The first phase of Tanzania's 10,674-kilometre national fibre-optic backbone was completed in May last year, connecting to the SEACOM, and EASSy submarine cables.

It runs from Mombasa (Kenya) through Nairobi (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda), and Bujumbura (Burundi) to Dar es Salaam.

The minister also called for investments in mining, agro-based industry, energy, manufacturing, health and education.

Deputy Minister in the Zanzibar Ministry of Trade, Industry and Marketing, Ms Thuwayba Kisasi who is also attending the summit also called on for investments in tourism, value adding on agro-products and deep sea fishing.

Vodacom Tanzania offers flexible bill payments

Vodacom Tanzania and Nokia Siemens Networks has announced an agreement with Vodacom Tanzania to offer flexible bill payment options.


Dietlof Mare, Vodacom Tanzania MD (image source: Vodacom Tanzania)

Nokia Siemens Networks has migrated the existing charging and billing system of Vodacom Tanzania to its own charge-at-once unified platform.

With the unified platform, Vodacom Tanzania’s customers can now flexibly choose either prepaid, post paid or a combination of both payment options for voice, data and SMS services. The platform also offers a wide set of pre-defined modules that can be used to create marketing campaigns with minimal effort and more flexibility in a shorter turnaround time.

“We wanted our customers to be the first to enjoy flexibility in bill payments, and we have become the first ones to implement this flexibility in Africa,” said Dietlof Mare, Vodacom Tanzania MD in a statement.

“Nokia Siemens Networks’ exceptional delivery capabilities ensured fast rollout of flexible payment methods for all services used by our individual and enterprise customers. The new platform also significantly reduces the effort required for the implementation of these flexible payment options. With a customer base of over ten million subscribers, we are always committed to bringing world-class solutions to our customers in the Tanzanian market,” added Dietlof.

Deon Geyser, customer team head at Nokia Siemens Networks said: “Implementing Nokia Siemens Networks’ unified charging and billing platform is an example of Vodacom’s commitment to introducing the latest technology on the market, offering a wide range of services with flexible payment methods. The platform provides flexible bill payment options for both fixed and mobile network services for all customers.”

With migration to Nokia Siemens Networks’ charge-at-once unified platform, the customers of Vodacom Tanzania can now choose post-paid method for using services for business purposes, and prepaid option for private voice calls or SMS. In addition, the platform enables family contracts, where parents can opt for post-paid payment for their voice services and use their phones to recharge their children’s prepaid subscriptions.

Nokia Siemens Networks’ charging and billing platform has a variety of features including self administration, which allows customers to set bill limits and receive alerts on exceeding it. It also allows them various options for recharging their prepaid accounts. With this platform, the operator can also offer special SMS plans as well as customised tariff schemes to its subscribers for internet use.

Vodacom Tanzania Limited is Tanzania’s leading cellular network offering state-of-the-art GSM communication services to more than 10 million customers across the country. It is a subsidiary company of Vodacom Group of South Africa.

Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of telecommunications services.

Tanzania's Vodacom says hits 10 million subscribers

Vodacom Tanzania, part of South Africa's Vodacom Group , increased its users to 10 million this month from 9 million in March this year,
Ranked the largest mobile phone operator in East Africa's second biggest economy, Vodacom said its M-Pesa money transfer service had more than 2 million customers, double the number in 2009.

M-Pesa has been highly successful in neighbouring Kenya where the biggest operator, Safaricom , has over 9 million active users on the same service.

Tanzania's mobile phone subscribers rose 20 percent to 21 million last year as a vicious price war pushed tariffs down.

Mobile phone penetration in Tanzania stood at 47 percent last year, the communications regulator said.

Communications is the fastest-growing sector in Tanzania, accounting for 20 percent of gross domestic product in the country.

Other major players in Tanzania's mobile phone industry are Bharti Airtel, Millicom's subsidiary Tigo Tanzania and Zantel.

Some smaller companies such as state-run telecoms firm TTCL, Sasateland Benson, have tiny share of the market

SEACOM has announced that it will upgrade the capacity of its cable following an increase in demand, after receiving a 60% subscription to the current 1.28 terabytes per second capacity.

SEACOM Chief Executive Officer Mark Simpson (image: mybroadband)

SEACOM Chief Executive Officer Mark Simpson said that following trends by mobile operators shifting to data, the firm plans to increase its capacity to meet the demand.

“Technology is changing a lot and we have already begun to plan for our next upgrade which will be in the next 12-15 months and therefore we will have plenty of capacity to serve our customers,” Simpson said.

SEACOM, the first undersea cable to land in Kenya, sells Internet capacity on its cable to mobile operators and Internet services providers for resale to retail Internet users in the country and region.

The upgrade involves installation of nine land-based Internet access points that will store web content closer to where the ISP is accessed from.

Simpson said that SEACOM also has plans to start selling premium services to its clients to tap into the growing provision of content in Africa.

Premium services that the firm plans to start selling include multiprotocol label switching (a data carrying mechanism that allows a simple relay of information over a network).

“We also need to further build resilience into the network using west coast capacity as well as having highly reliable network,” he said.

Simpson expects Internet costs to start coming down as cable companies recoup their initial investments.

“The combination of the economics we offer on the sub-sea and the benefits we see from the terrestrial networks will continue to deliver quite a reduction in price but with quality being our focus,” Simpson said.

Stretching some 17 000kms along the eastern and southern African coastlines and onwards to India and Europe, the SEACOM system has already connected a number of countries within the regions.

“As we look at the growth of different markets, we are happy with what is happening in Kenya and like Tanzania where the fibre cables are built through consortiums and private public partnerships led by governments; we continue having discussions with them,” he said on future growth of the company.

Kenya, Nigeria snatch Google apps award

Two Kenyans are among three winners of the Sh7.2 million (about US $75 000) Google Android Developer Challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa aimed at encouraging mobile phone applications for use in Africa.


Kenya and Nigeria scoop Google app award (image source: file photo)

The two, David Lemayian of Capefield Ltd and Gerald Kibugi of Elan Telemedia Ltd and a third from Nigeria, Afrinolly, will each receive Sh2.4 million (about US $25,000).

They are expected to use the money to grow their businesses, with mentoring from Google.

The three winning applications, were chosen from hundreds of developers in Sub-Saharan Africawho submitted applications for entertainment, media and games; social networking and communication; and productivity, tools, and geo services.

Capefield’s application, Olalashe (which means ‘brother’ in Maasai) is a geo-alert application that could help one communicate when in distress, through a widget that sends the location of the person with a pre-set message at the push of a button.

Elan Telemedia Ltd’s Shoppers’ Delight allows buyers to compare prices across supermarkets in different areas, unearthing bargains complete with access maps and health information.

The winners were chosen from a short-list of 29 finalists who were then provided with new phones, mentoring from Google and also given six weeks to improve their applications.

The judges also gave honourable mention to finalist apps Rainbow Racer and Wedding Plandroid whose developers would each receive $5,000 (about Sh471,200).

The three winning apps, honourable mentions and finalists will be available on the Android Market soon.

More than 1,000 developers participated in over 25 Android hackathons.

Software developers submitted their apps to one of three specially-designated categories from June 1 2011.

Each application was only submitted to a single category. To determine the winner, there were two rounds of submission.

Google judges reviewed the applications to determine the top three in each region by category (there were 27 in total). Those who reached the final stage were each awarded Android devices and given six weeks to improve their apps before the committee of judges announced the three final winners.