GTC's Adrian Wooster is to speak at the 4th Web 4 Development conference hosted by UN Habitat in Nairobi at the end of November.

The working title of the presentation is "The Community Opportunity", focussing on how co-operative social enterprises can be used to deliver development goals using ICT's and especially broadband. With an emphasis on solutions for slum areas, the presentation will focus on the why and how: the benefits accruing to schools, clinics, community organisations and businesses of high speed Internet linked with locally developed services, and how a community-focused social enterprise model can deliver targeted ICT in support of development goals.

It will cover the role and importance of grass roots infrastructure projects at macro and micro levels, especially in slum areas; the challenges and opportunities facing Africa; and an introduction to the 7-pillars needed to ensure the delivery is sustainable and meets a real local need. The presentation will draw on the speaker's experience of UK-based community broadband projects, supported by case studies and analysis from his work in Africa.

This presentation is less about the technology and more about the approach and impact it can have when applied sensitively to a community; this will be of equal interest to policy makers andpeople involved in development efforts, as well as technologist.

GTC has joined forces with Nairobi-based organisation Kicoshep to develop a framework to build and support community-run broadband schemes for the slums of Africa as a means of improving communications and life-long learning whilst capturing the full economic benefit.

One of the key reasons the slums develop is because the rate of urbanisation far exceeds the ability of city authorities to build basic infrastructures; they then become entrenched as the local economy increasingly falls behind that of the neighbouring city. While the lack of reliable telecommunications might not be as life threatening as the absence of sanitation, nonetheless it hampers efforts to improve the lives and health of people living there. Community-based broadband can help to deliver affordable infrastructure quickly, and with all the economic benefit remaining where its needed.

For this reason, the work of GTC and Kicoshep will focus equally on the business, community, social and technical apsects of developing infrastructure; the kind of balance required to enable the changes needed to overcome the issues raised so forcefully in UN Habitat's "State of the World’s Cities 2006/7"

A key part of the project is to build a pilot network in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, to support the pioneering work of the local schools and NGO's. This pilot kicks off at the end of August

GTC has recently completed the first phase of developing new websites for two projects we have been involved with over recent months:

Kicoshep is fantastic project in the heart of the Kibera community in Nairobi, helping local people to improve their life chances.

Chisomo is club for street children in Malawi, re-uniting families and helping them to support their children in one of the world's  poorest countries.

Bayerebon Number 3 is a rural cocoa producing village in Ghana. Over the last year Karen Bridges, an indomitable teacher from the UK, has stayed with the community, helping the school. This website was developed to support her fantastic efforts. 

Make a visit to the websites and see what they do in their own words.

GTC has joined forces with Nairobi-based organisation Kicoshep to adapt and transfer the knowledge of community-run broadband projects built up in the UK to the slums of Africa.

One of the key reasons the slums develop is because the rate of urbanisation far exceeds the ability of city authorities to build basic infrastructures; they then become entrenched as the local economy increasingly falls behind that of the neighbouring city. While the lack of reliable telecommunications might not be as life threatening as the absence of sanitation, nonetheless it hampers efforts to improve the lives and health of people living there. Community-based broadband can help to deliver affordable infrastructure quickly, and with all the economic benefit remaining where its needed.

A key part of the project is to build a pilot network in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, to support the pioneering work of the local schools and NGO's. While we have the support of some major international organisations, funding tends to be evidence based. To kick-start the project therefore, CBN is asking for donations of wireless equipment and tools to help get the project moving quickly. If you can help in any way, please contact GTC.

Update 

7 August - Thanks to generous offers from Steve Spillane (Village Internet & Broadband) and Adrian Powell we have almost enough technology to build the pilot project in Kibera.

Work begins in Kenya on 25 August.

Can anyone explain to me why a satellite broadband service costs so much in Africa?

• Geostationary satellites hover over equatorial Africa, even when they also serve Europe and the Middle East.
• Often the Ground Station where it meets the Internet is in Europe whether the customer is in Africa, Europe, or the Middle East 
• The customers terminal and satellite dish is fundamentally the same for everyone

So why is Avanti in the UK able to offer a 512kbps service for £25 per month, when in Africa it can be more than £700 per month?

The key differences are:

• Choice     In Africa there is often no other option, while Europeans and Americans have lots of options - a captive market
  
• Market    Demand for space over Africa is high because the markets in Europe and the US are depressed because of the choice
  

There is no difference in cost - only in the price the supply chain can get away with.

So while the African incumbents focus on limited deployments of terrestrial services, satellite providers are compounding the problem by failing to stimulate demand and offering services at price points which only Western companies and NGO's will just about stomach because connectivity is essential to them.

If ICT is going to help developing nations leap frog rather than evolve their economies, , as many Western Governments and the UN hope,  then the focus must be on making sure ordinary businesses and schools have connectivity they can afford.

Time for a Fair Trade ISP!

Please contact us if you can help break this model.