Project Details

 WSIS Action Lines: 1

Context: Why is this project important?

Kenya began to liberalize and privatize the telecommunications sector in the late-1990s, splitting up the state-owned monopoly Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation into two state-owned entities—Telkom Kenya Limited (TELKOM) and the Postal Corporation of Kenya (POSTA)—and the independent CCK, and allowing competition in the mobile telephone market (mobile operators now have close to a million customers, three times the number of fixed lines operated by TELKOM). Now the government wants to license regional telecommunications companies to bring services to rural areas, with funding coming from the UAF. However, Kenya’s rural regions vary greatly: some are remote and sparsely populated, others are near the fringes of urban areas. This project will allow the CCK, with the help of a highly experienced Canadian consulting company partnered with a Kenyan research institution, to develop a Kenyan Universal Access policy and a UAF operational strategy that draws on the expertise and addresses the needs of all telecommunications sector and rural community stakeholders.

The Project: How does this initiative address the development problem?

The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the country’s independent regulator, is committed to bringing affordable ICT access to all Kenyans, especially the 80% who live in rural areas. To fund development of communications infrastructure in rural areas, Kenya will soon establish a Universal Access Fund (UAF) comprised of license fees paid by Kenyan telecommunications operators. To ensure that the UAF is used effectively, the CCK needs answers to fundamental questions, such as: What kind of Universal Access policy is required to guide and direct use of the fund? What is the best way to translate the general goals of the policy into specific actions? What are the needs and priorities of rural communities, and how do they differ from region to region? What is required to make delivery of ICT services to these regions economically viable? This research project will allow the CCK to answer these and many other pertinent questions.

Objectives:

As many African countries have learned from painful experience, attempting to improve rural access to ICTs without an appropriate policy and incentive framework is an uphill battle. This project—which replicates a successful IDRC-supported project in Uganda—addresses all aspects of extending ICTs to rural communities, including technical, economic, social, and political considerations. It will give Kenya and Kenyans a real opportunity to leverage ICTs to speed economic and social development in rural areas.

Development Impact

Through workshops, international best-practice research, regional audits of telecommunications services and facilities, a baseline rural needs and demand study, regional market assessments and extensive stakeholder consultations, this project is giving CCK solid data upon which a realistic UA policy and implementation plan can be based. It will also allow the CCK to establish a research unit that will increase the Commission’s ability to plan and implement policies, collect and analyze data, and leverage innovative practices and interventions. Ultimately, the project will help to stimulate investment in rural communications across Kenya.

Outputs