Just incase you are off-list ;-)
--
*******************************************************************
PGP Fingerprint: 6695 794A B84E D922 88FB 73CC 6CBD 8036 B3CD 7304
We can't become what we need to be by remaining what we are
*******************************************************************
--- Begin Message ---
FYI
Some feed back following comments made by Hon. Nasasira during the WSIS
Prep meeting earlier this week.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 8:24 AM
To: I-Network Uganda
Subject: [i-network] Why waste our time? - Hon Nasasira
Hi all
If you have not yet read the article below on the planned Telecomms
policy
please take time to peruse it. It is very frustrating to waste our time
for over a year, consulting stakeholders in the ICT industry, taking us
off our valuable work to iscuss and contribute to what we think is the
best way forward for this nation only to hit a dead end.
I wouldnt like to blame UCC on this but certainly Hon. Nasasira has alot
of explaining to do. How can he just simplistically dismiss the results
of
a process which was painstakingly long and relied on so much good will?
Are there powers that are at play behind the scenes?
> Nasasira said in government's view, the foremost
> constraint besetting
> Uganda's telecom industry is not a restricted
> marketplace or lack of
> competition, but rudimentary technologies and lack
> of capacities large
> enough to deploy modern transmission
> infrastructures.
Does he think that rudimentary technologies are going to be sorted out
in
the current status quo of the duopolies? With the current regulation of
technology, I dont see us breaking ground here. There is a need to let
more players take on niche areas in the telecoms market as a way of
encouraging technological advancement in those specific sub sectors.
> As of now, he suggested, that critical weakness is
> being tackled, incrementally though; by the two duopolistic
> companies through individual investments and the synergies they are
>creating. He cited Uganda's access to international data gateway where
the > country, up to now, is still using a satellite to route all its
>international electronic data traffic; a hugely expensive and
low-capacity > technology that is now regarded as outmoded in most parts
of the world.
I hope the minister is getting appropriate advice. Much as Fibre is a
better way to go than satellite, the Eassy project is simply being over
hyped. It is just going to create a new breed of monopolists for all the
countries that participate in it. If you want to know the implication,
dig
up material on the fibre that moves from South Africa via west Africa
and
on to Europe. It has not benefitted most users in the countries where it
lands. Nigeria is a good example. The telecoms company in charge of
reselling the fibre capacity there is over pricing it to the extent that
satellite access is being used more than such an "obviously" beter
technology. The companies that invest in Eassy will have "monopolistic"
rights to sell the capacity and this will very easily lead to price
fixing. So do you think that will solve our inherent problem?
Hon. Nasasira, I pray that you re-think your decision. It is a pity to
see
us take 3 steps forward only to move another 10 backwards. Open up !!!!
PS: Mr. Minister, I do hope you were quoted correctly.
Wire
> Telecommunication policy to take longer- minister
> Nasasira
> ELIAS BIRYABAREMA
>
> KAMPALA
>
> The government is not in a hurry to publish a new
> telecommunications policy,
> the Minister for Transport, Works and
> Communications, has said.
>
> Mr John Nasasira's explanation of the delay will
> somewhat sock up the
> anxiety that has been bubbling among existing
> telecommunication companies,
> sector analysts, monitors and potential investors
> whose plans unduly depend
> on the changes that might come in it.
>
> Speaking during a meeting of industry stakeholders
> in Kampala recently,
> Nasasira said despite pressure from potential
> investors, the government
> didn't find any cause for rushing things through.
> *NO HURRY: Mr Nasasira*
>
> Central in the new policy is the national telecom
> duopoly, enjoyed by utl
> and MTN for the last five years, and whether that
> restriction should be
> sustained.
>
> Principally, the two companies were allowed to
> operate in a restricted space
> on the premise that they would make substantial
> investments in setting up
> requisite infrastructures and that if subjected to
> competition immediately,
> they would not recoup back their capital and profit
> in reasonable time.
>
> The duopoly ended in July this year, upon which the
> government was supposed
> to review the policy and publish a new one with a
> position that is cognisant
> of recent experience, lessons from the global
> picture and contentions of
> major domestic players and experts.
>
> Now, the government's new stance, would appear to
> delay the longstanding
> national objective of catalysing the spread of
> information and communication
> technologies through a competitive environment
> guided by a robust regulatory
> framework.
>
> Nasasira said in government's view, the foremost
> constraint besetting
> Uganda's telecom industry is not a restricted
> marketplace or lack of
> competition, but rudimentary technologies and lack
> of capacities large
> enough to deploy modern transmission
> infrastructures.
>
> As of now, he suggested, that critical weakness is
> being tackled,
> incrementally though; by the two duopolistic
> companies through individual
> investments and the synergies they are creating. He
> cited Uganda's access to
> international data gateway where the country, up to
> now, is still using a
> satellite to route all its international electronic
> data traffic; a hugely
> expensive and low-capacity technology that is now
> regarded as outmoded in
> most parts of the world.
>
> To solve that problem, MTN and Utl are now laying an
> internal cable network
> that will hook onto the Kenyan one at Malaba border,
> permitting Uganda to
> link up with the international gateway via the East
> African Sub marine cable
> project supposedly to be completed in 2007.
Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, IICD,
OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank
--- You are currently subscribed to i-network as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.12.6/151 - Release Date:
10/28/2005
This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential and
privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient,
please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, delete this
e-mail and destroy any copies. Any dissemination or use of this
information by a person other than the intended recipient is
unauthorized and may be illegal.
_______________________________________________
To post, write to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WIU-Forum information page and archives:
http://lists.wougnet.org/mailman/listinfo/wiu-forum
Information about WOUGNET: http://www.wougnet.org
WIU-Forum is hosted on Kabissa - Space for change in Africa
--- End Message ---
_______________________________________________
LUG mailing list
[email protected]
http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug
%LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
---------------------------------------
