The lack of fast, affordable and accessible internet is a problem facing most of Africa. One of the main reasons for this is the widespread lack of dependable power supply that plagues most African countries. This in turn raises the cost of operations for the internet service providers. A bit of a catch-22. But the lack of internet has far reaching negative implications.
The economy, health services and education are all adversely affected. Access to the internet is mostly available in urban areas with very few rural areas provided for. In Tanzania where I live, there are five major telecommunication companies. The Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) provides 3G connection only for broadband and USB modems while providing CDMA for mobile phones. The other four telcos: TiGO, Airtel, Vodacom and Zantel provide GSM communication, means you can have voice call, SMS and 3G internet connection services provided by these networks. There is no 4G LTE.
Also, the ratio of a country's population to its number of active internet users is low when compared to Europe.
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source:internetworldstats
From the table above, it is fairly obvious that more than half of the population of European countries are online. For the Netherlands, it is fair to say that all of them use the internet. For African countries, the top country that has huge number of internet users is Egypt, coming in at 35% of its total population. This really needs to be taken in a very serious manner since we are in a digital revolution, almost all activities needs the power of the internet in one way or another. Apps like Ushahidi,a crowdmap software and Mxit, a popular instant sms app in South Africa were conceptualised here. It is a safe bet to say that more innovation could happen if access to the internet was reliable and affordable. That really indicates that Africa needs ubiquitous internet connection that's cheap and reliable. There is a rapid growth of internet usage in Africa. The emergence of smartphones in Africa have brought many people into an internet world. In Tanzania for instance,two out of five college students own a smartphone. We can not rely on old infrastructure. Another thing is to reduce the cost of internet subscriptions. Indeed, this is a problem in developed economies as well. With the explosion of HD video and the nascent Ultra HD also known as 4K, many subscribers will find themselves unable to use many services. If the cost could be reduced, there would be an increase in the number of subscribers which in turn would mean higher advertising revenue. Telecommunication authorities should consider enabling public places such as recreation areas to be accessible with wireless internet(Wi-Fi) that is free and open, this thing is very common in cities like London,Barcelona etc. and I think it is possible to power our cities with such access.
The economy, health services and education are all adversely affected. Access to the internet is mostly available in urban areas with very few rural areas provided for. In Tanzania where I live, there are five major telecommunication companies. The Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) provides 3G connection only for broadband and USB modems while providing CDMA for mobile phones. The other four telcos: TiGO, Airtel, Vodacom and Zantel provide GSM communication, means you can have voice call, SMS and 3G internet connection services provided by these networks. There is no 4G LTE.
Also, the ratio of a country's population to its number of active internet users is low when compared to Europe.
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CONTINENT
|
COUNTRY
|
POPULATION(2012)
|
INTERNET USERS (2000)
|
INTERNET USERS 2012
|
PENETRATION
(%) |
AFRICA
|
Egypt
|
83,688,164
|
450,000
|
29,809,724
|
35.6%
|
Nigeria
|
170,123,740
|
200,000
|
48,366,179
|
28.4%
| |
Kenya
|
43,013,341
|
200,000
|
12,043,735
|
28.0%
| |
S. Africa
|
48,810,427
|
2,400,000
|
8,500,000
|
17.4%
| |
Tanzania
|
46,912,768
|
115,000
|
5,629,532
|
12.0%
| |
EUROPE
|
Netherlands
|
16,730,632
|
n/a
|
15,549,787
|
92.9%
|
U.K
|
63,047,162
|
n/a
|
52,731,209
|
83.6%
| |
Germany
|
81,305,856
|
n/a
|
67,483,860
|
83.0%
| |
France
|
65,630,692
|
n/a
|
52,228,905
|
79.6%
| |
Spain
|
47,042,984
|
n/a
|
31,606,233
|
67.2%
|
From the table above, it is fairly obvious that more than half of the population of European countries are online. For the Netherlands, it is fair to say that all of them use the internet. For African countries, the top country that has huge number of internet users is Egypt, coming in at 35% of its total population. This really needs to be taken in a very serious manner since we are in a digital revolution, almost all activities needs the power of the internet in one way or another. Apps like Ushahidi,a crowdmap software and Mxit, a popular instant sms app in South Africa were conceptualised here. It is a safe bet to say that more innovation could happen if access to the internet was reliable and affordable. That really indicates that Africa needs ubiquitous internet connection that's cheap and reliable. There is a rapid growth of internet usage in Africa. The emergence of smartphones in Africa have brought many people into an internet world. In Tanzania for instance,two out of five college students own a smartphone. We can not rely on old infrastructure. Another thing is to reduce the cost of internet subscriptions. Indeed, this is a problem in developed economies as well. With the explosion of HD video and the nascent Ultra HD also known as 4K, many subscribers will find themselves unable to use many services. If the cost could be reduced, there would be an increase in the number of subscribers which in turn would mean higher advertising revenue. Telecommunication authorities should consider enabling public places such as recreation areas to be accessible with wireless internet(Wi-Fi) that is free and open, this thing is very common in cities like London,Barcelona etc. and I think it is possible to power our cities with such access.
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