Michael Minges and Tim Kelly The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ITU or its membership. The authors can be contacted at Michael.Minges@itu.int and Tim.Kelly@itu.int.
ITU Internet Case Studies • Seek to understand factors which accelerate or retard the development of the Internet in different environments • Obtain market information • Through comparative analysis, advise policy makers and regulatory agencies • Analyze spread of Internet in different sectors of the economy such as health, education and commerce as well as government • The first round of studies include Uganda, Nepal, Egypt and Bolivia.
Uganda Overview Population % Population < 14 Life expectancy Rural population Population in capital GDP per capita Adult literacy Households with electricity Source: ITU from World Bank, UBOS data.
22 million 50% <40 years 85% 4% ~ US$ 300 (LDC) 64% 4%
Telecom policy • Reformed, privatized and liberalized • Private mobile operator – CelTel, May ‘95
• Regulator created – UCC, 1998
• Second network operator introduced – MTN Uganda, Oct. ‘98
• Incumbent partprivatized – UTL, Feb. 2000
P. Masambu, Executive Director, UCC
Telecom market • Low fixed penetration – Low investment, high tariffs
• First African country where mobile>fixed
120 100 80
Per 100 inhabitants 0.39
0.29 0.25 60 0.21 0.16 40 20
Fixed
– 2 operators, prepaid, foreign investment
140
Mobile
• Rising mobile penetration
Telephone subscribers, Uganda 160(000s) 0.67
0 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 Source: ITU from UTL, MTN, CelTel data.
Internet market • Status – 8 licenses issued, 4 active ISPs – Incumbent not yet providing ISP service – 4’000 subscribers, ~25’000 users – Foreign investment – Wireless Internet could prove significant
• Recommendation – ISPs should peer locally, perhaps via an independent Internet exchange point
Internet tariffs
– A nationwide dial code for Internet access should be established – Revenue-sharing of telephone calls charges should be encouraged
Telephone subscription
Telephone usage ISP charge ea k
• Recommendations
160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
P
– Not many options – Telephone usage charges – Long distance outside Kampala
Dial-up Internet access charges, US$ per month
Ec on om y O ff -P ea k
• Status
30 hours per month
Source: ITU from UTL, InfoCom data.
Donor projects • Status – A number of IT projects are taking place with the assistance of bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and different sectors of Uganda government
• Recommendation – Greater co-ordination of these different efforts is required
International & Bilateral IT projects for Uganda Donor US AID World Bank Denmark Canada Italy UNESCO ADB ADB Norway
Counterpart Makerere Univ. Min. Education UBOS UCST Min. Health UCST Makerere Univ. Min. Health Makerere Univ.
Source: ITU adapted from various.
Public Access • Status – No explicit policy for Internet – Telephone line & payphone targets – Around 10 cybercafés in Kampala – Uganda Posts provides e-mail in 3 towns – Donor projects
• Recommendations – Emphasis should be placed on developing public access points such as telecentres, cybercafés, utilising for instance existing community locations such as post offices, schools, health centres, etc.
Domain name • Status
Uganda (.ug) hosts 139
– Uganda OnLine registrar – Registration US$50 per year
• Recommendations – Registrar should be neutral – Costs should encourage development of web sites in Uganda
113
58 30 17 1995
1997
1999
Source: ITU adapted from Network Wizards.
Sector absorption • Recommendations Distribution of Internet Users – Awareness • Promoting Internet through seminars, trade shows etc.
– Content • Local content in local languages
– E-Government • Government ministries should get on line
– E-Commerce • Creation of an eCommerce task force
NGOs, UN, World Bank, etc. 30%
Government 5%
Business 40%
Academic 25%
Source: Charles Musisi, March 1999
State of Internet Uganda Pervasiveness 4 3
Sophistication
2
Dispersion
1 0
Organizational
Absorption
Connectivity Note: Range is 0 = (non-existent) to 4 (highly developed) Source: ITU adapted from Mosaic Group.
www.itu.int/ ti/casestudies/