1. technology and computing

Broadband Deployment and Digital Divide: The case
of the East African Community (EAC)
Capstone Research Project
April 25, 2015
Gilbert Grant
Chi-Tai Chen
Rugved Bidkar
Piyush Kumar Singh
Interdisciplinary Telecom Program
University of Colorado Boulder
Dr. Martin Taschdjian
Research Advisor
University of Colorado Boulder
I. INTRODUCTION
Abstract—The evolving digital divide in the East African
Community (EAC) poses a serious concern in multiple sectors
including education, public services, and economic development.
Various studies indicate that the lack of both healthy competition
between backbone networks and infrastructure required for
broadband deployment are some of the major causes of the
current situation. Therefore, this research effort aims to find
answers to the question of how broadband deployment in the
terrain areas of the EAC can help bridge the digital divide and
solve the current socio-economic problems.
A. Statement of the Problem
There is a growing consensus that broadband should be
ubiquitous. The growing digital gap that is taking shape in the
East African Community (EAC), however, poses a serious
concern [3]. Most of the people in this region of Africa do not
have access to, or are unable to afford broadband. As a result,
there is a lack of participation in basic services such as eLearning, e-Government, and e-Health which should be taken
as key baselines for infrastructure.
Looking at the issue from an interdisciplinary perspective,
our study strives to subdivide the problem into three different
categories: Technology, Economy and Policy. Unlike the current
situation where the VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal)
satellite is the main source of internet access, this study intends to
describe a technologically suitable environment that enables a
sustainable economic growth pattern while keeping within the
policy standards. The primary contribution of our investigation
is its focus on broadband deployment in the five countries that
make up the EAC: Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and
Burundi that have come together to improve their global
economic and political significance.
B. Research Question
How can broadband deployment in the terrain areas of the
EAC help bridge the digital divide and contribute to solving the
current socio-economic problems? In an attempt to find
answers to this question, we divide it into three sub-problems:
Technology, Economy, and Policy.
1) Sub-Problem 1- Technology
To investigate the affordability, feasibility, and policy
constraints limiting broadband deployment, the study team
developed and implemented a survey questionnaire that was
distributed to the public and to professional academics in the
targeted region. Furthermore, the study assesses how broadband
deployment can improve the lives of people in EAC countries by
adding to educational opportunities, providing access to faster
communication with the world, and improving levels of
awareness and potential to generate employment.
Dependency on the VSAT satellite for internet connection
hurts efforts to bridge the digital divide in the EAC [4].While
internet penetration reaches staggering numbers in the central
cities such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Kigali, and Kampala, most
rural areas rely on a download speed ranging from 128 kbps to
a maximum of 1 Mbps and an upload speed ranging from 64
kbps to 256 kbps. Numerous other small communities and
remote villages do not have basic connectivity at all [8]. Hence,
we attempt to find out ways in which the diffusion of
broadband deployment can support the goal of providing a
high-bandwidth internet connection to a wide population base.
Keywords—EAC; policy; economy; broadband deployment; VSAT;
survey; education; Africa; Internet;
2) Sub-Problem 2- Economy
The digital divide and the deployment of broadband
networks in the EAC link directly to economic development in
the region. This study evaluates the contribution of broadband
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network penetration to the welfare and the growth of a
sustainable economy in the region.
three areas of interest categorized by the technology,
economy, and policy, and collect the quantitative data needed,
we utilized some of the publicly available sources including
Google
Scholar
searches,
the
International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) database, and the African
Development Bank (ADB).
3) Sub-Problem 3- Policy
The fundamental building blocks of Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) in the context of the EAC
are sub-divided into three categories: (a) access – supply or
connectivity with the intent to bring networks everywhere and
to improve the availability and affordability of broadband; (b)
adaptation – demand or usage with the aim to stimulate ICT
and to make utilization of deployed networks more effective;
and (c) competition – with the objective to maintain a
competitive environment, sustain growth of broadband
penetration, drive innovation, and deliver consumer benefits
such as affordability [4].
A. Technology
For the technology aspect of the digital divide, we were
interested to know what the most common broadband
technologies used by the Internet subscribers in the area (i.e.,
ADSL, fiber-optics, or cellular - 2G, 3G, or 4G). Thereafter,
our focus was to determine the most suitable technology and
technically suitable environment for the deployment of
broadband access throughout the region.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
B. Economy
To effectively and efficiently utilize the broadband
technology, we figured that it was critical to know the
subscribers’ purchasing power and people’s attitudes toward
the related technologies and applications, including the
Internet. Therefore, we looked at the questions of whether the
situation of economic development in the region favored the
expansion of broadband technology and if there is any
bottleneck in the economy that limits the opportunities and the
benefits of using broadband technology.
Several researchers have looked at the issue of broadband
deployment and digital divide in an effort to help bridge the
gap of technological information inequality in developing
countries [3], [5]. We began our literature review by
subdividing our research question into three sub-problems:
technology, economy, and policy. In all three categories, we
considered all of the existing parameters in an effort to capture
the detected trends appropriately. During the course of
reviewing the World Bank’s database and multiple other
research reports, one major point that kept on capturing our
attention is that, despite the empirical evidence that the digital
divide is widening, relative to universalization of technological
capacity [5], various obstacles continue to exist throughout the
developing world [3]. In the case of the EAC, broadband ICT
is closely tied with strategies for economic development;
however, the lack of healthy competition between backbone
networks and infrastructure required for broadband deployment
limits the progress in both sectors [3]. As a result, the price
remains high and quality of service remains poor [1]. On the
economic side of our research question, we studied the World
Bank’s economic information on income in all five countries
that make up the EAC and compared it to the data obtained
from the survey questionnaires that we deployed to the general
public and professional academics in the EAC. The combined
data is a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge
regarding the creation of a technologically suitable
environment, enabling sustainable economic growth in the
region.
C. Policy
In our policy research, we used various Internet searches in
an attempt to understand the current telecommunications
regulations and policies of EAC countries toward broadband
deployment and expansion.
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Fig I. Countries Comprising the EAC (shown in yellow) [25]
During the course of our research, we learned that
investigating the cause of the digital divide requires an
approach that not only describes relationships between
variables, but also the experiences of people. In this study, we
used the mixed-methods research approach, consisting of two
components: a quantitative method to examine publicly
available data about the digital divide and a qualitative method
to seek insights through survey questionnaires. To answer the
IV. RESEARCH RESULTS
A. Technology
With the Internet of Things around the corner, the question
is not if, but when the entire world is going to go online. Our
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investigative analysis has led us to believe that the greatest
challenge in bridging the digital gap that exists in the EAC
revolves around the “Digital Divide Equation” [11]. In other
words, there is a need to plan, design, and implement an intraregional strategy that coordinates all affairs within the
telecommunication sector of the EAC. For a long time,
satellite-based communications have been the major source of
telecommunication linkage between the EAC and the rest of
the world [8]. As such, the prices for access have been too high
for ordinary citizens who would need it to advertise their
products, apply for jobs, study for school, etc. Our research
shows that the EAC is one of the regions in the world that
suffers from an increasing digital inequality, resulting mostly
from scarce, unreliable, and expensive Internet connectivity.
The recent introduction of the East African Submarine
Cable System (EASSy) project, however, is expected to bring
about changes in the near future [9]. This is a multinational
effort to lay an undersea fiber-optic cable covering the entire
length of the eastern coast of Africa (approximately 10,000
kilometers) [9]. The cable originates from the coast of
Mtunzini, South Africa and ends at the port of Sudan, Sudan,
landing in several points along the eastern coast of Africa,
including Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya,
Somalia, and Djibouti. Figure IV below depicts the
geographical area of coverage [9], [11].
Presently, all five countries that make up the EAC rely
largely on the old and inadequate terrestrial infrastructure of
ground stations that link via satellite to reach the rest of the
continent and the world [11]. This connection offers a very
limited capacity at a very high cost. The VSAT satellite
connection that is used in the region offers a maximum upload
speed of 256 kbps and download speed of 1Mbps [1]. As it is
shown in the figure II below, the field study that we performed
in the two remote villages, one big city, and one university
campus in Rwanda showed that 70% of Internet users find the
price of Internet access to be too high, while only 11% feel that
it is just fine. Figure III also shows that 63.4% of the Internet
users live in rural areas, while 36.6% reside in cities.
Fig IV. Landing Points of the EASSy Cable [9]
This project is perceived by many in the region to be the
most appropriate means of closing the existing digital divide.
Once complete, EASSy will provide the EAC countries with
access to a faster and more affordable means of communication
with the rest of the world. Additionally, it will bring about
closer inter-regional integration, not only technologically, but
also socially and economically. “The total capacity is projected
to reach 640 GB/s with a design life expectancy of 25 years”
[9]. Although the undersea cable-laying related activities have
been completed and the cable has reached the shores of
Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam as of 2008, the majority of the
people within these EAC countries still have not seen the
benefits of this much anticipated technology [10], [11].
Fig II. Price of Internet Access
To respond to the consumers’ needs and ultimately make an
effective use of the EASSy, it is imperative that each of the five
EAC countries, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and
Uganda, plan, design, and implement a methodology to extend
(deploy) branches of the EASSy technology to local
communities, including rural areas where the overall majority
of the ICT consumers reside. Technically speaking, however,
we cannot discuss the extension of the EASSy to all countries,
cities, towns, and villages of the EAC without pointing out that
three out of the five countries of the EAC, Rwanda, Burundi,
and Uganda, are geographically land-locked [9], [10]. In
essence, these countries don’t have a direct access to the Indian
Ocean or Cable System. Therefore, there is a need for a
dynamic collaboration by all five member countries to achieve
these inter-land connections. This initiative would require a
collaboration with the local and regional Power and Oil
companies in order to use existing infrastructure.
Fig III. Number of Internet Users by Area of Residence
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We envision that the overall improvement of the ICT in the
region is, in part, going to depend on the quality, effort, and
commitment of each country’s local politics, although this is
outside of the scope of this particular study. To take full
advantage of the EASSy and ultimately narrow the digital
divide in the region, each country needs to roll out an
optimized, internal communication network. This will require
extensive funding and the will of outside sponsors. The
implementation of all steps mentioned throughout this study
will lead to improved competition in the quality of services and
improved pricing among the major regional providers,
including those using the new fiber-optic technology and those
using satellite-based connection.
GDP per capita
B. Economy
2011
2012
2013
Burundi
259
271
294.2
Tanzania
553.1
650.1
742.6
Uganda
543.4
614.5
633.6
Kenya
868.7
989.3
1055.2
595
644
709.4
625.5
714.2
768.9
Rwanda
“There are two key areas that have been particularly
important for the economic and regulatory environments of the
EAC; they include the improved fiber-optic links between the
region and the rest of the world and the expansion of mobile
telephony and related services, notably mobile money. In July
2009, the first under-sea fiber optic cable network, SEACOM,
reached Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda.
It was soon thereafter connected with Rwanda. This marked the
beginning of an era of radically faster and cheaper Internet use
in the EAC” [12]. In 2010, the other submarine fiber optic
cable system, EASSy became operational along the East and
South African coasts to service voice, data, video and Internet
needs of the region [12]. However, these improvements in
backbone facilities do not guarantee the EAC people an
affordable access to broadband network and related
applications. As aforementioned, the EAC people still heavily
relies on satellite and mobile network for communications and
the infrastructure in access network is still inadequate in the
region. Average mobile penetration in the EAC had reached 40
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2010, with the highest
level noted in Kenya (61) and the lowest in Burundi (14) [12].
East Africa
Fig V. GDP per capita of the EAC [14]
Many forecasts of broadband penetration in developing
countries are based solely on the GDP or per-capita GDP. In a
recent report, the Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) points out that the median monthly
subscription charge for low speed broadband in developed
countries was roughly US$26 as of September 2008. (Other
significant charges exist based on the volume of data
downloaded.) On an annual basis, this subscription rate is
equivalent to about 1 percent of income based on the average
nominal (current dollar) per-capita income for developed
countries—about $31,600 in 2006 [15]. That means broadband
affordability is not a material issue for the vast majority of
these households in developed countries. However, at the
same price, this relative percentage of income may be as high
as 10 percent for many developing countries with smaller percapita incomes. To forecast the broadband penetration rate in
developing countries, it is necessary to determine which
specific subset of the population can actually afford
broadband. Generally, when the annual broadband expenditure
is priced at more than 2 to 5 percent of a household’s income,
broadband is considered unaffordable [15]. Our questionnaires
analysis shows that 70% of the people who responded to our
questionnaires feel that Internet access is still too expensive
and this result echoes Cisco’s findings.
a) General Performance and Purchasing Power:
The pace of Africa’s GDP rose twice in the 1980s and the
1990s. The overall purchasing power of the people in the EAC
is increasing. Telecom, banking, and retail are flourishing,
although only Kenya’s GDP per capita is more than US$1,000
per year and all EAC members are still defined as the least
developed countries (LDCs) by the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the World Trade
Organization (WTO) [13]. As Microsoft said, broadband is the
oxygen of the digital revolution. We have to recognize the
importance of broadband networking and related applications
to the regional economic development in each corner of the
world, even though it suffered the disadvantage of relatively
less development of telecommunications infrastructure.
Erickson’s research indicates that the double rise of broadband
speed will result in a 0.3 percentage of GDP growth [14].
However, Erickson’s research is mainly based on the data of
developed countries, and this correlation between broadband
deployment and the economic growth may not be the case in
less developed countries (LDCs), including the EAC
members. The relatively low per capita GDP of EAC members
may result in less affordable income spending on broadband
subscriptions. Figure V shows the GDP per capita of EAC
members in recent years (2011 – 2013).
b) Economic
Factors
that
Influence
the
Telecommunications Industry:
Literature about the digital divide is mainly focused on,
but is not limited to, four categories: income, living area
(urban or rural), education level, and gender. In the realm of
economy, educational level is the other important factor that
influences the economic development in the region and then
the broadband deployment. Up to 2013, only Tanzania and
Uganda’s literacy rates were higher than 70% and only
Kenya’s primary school completion rate was higher than 70%
[16]. This also results in the bottleneck of broadband
development and digital divide in the region. As
aforementioned, mobile communications have remarkable
growth and are more dominant for broadband applications in
the region. Fixed-line communication and fixed broadband
4
connect a call that ‘terminates’ on the latter’s network
However, the poor performance of the EAC’s
telecommunication operators’ finance was attributed to the
low spending power of most subscribers, with research
findings indicating low average revenue per user (ARPU),
which ultimately affected the profits of the operators.
According to the ARPU data released in 2013, “Rwandan
mobile phone users spend an average of $2 per month, while
Kenya subscribers lead, at $6.2, followed by Tanzania ($4.4)
and Ugandan, $3.5. The low ARPU means that majority of
mobile phone users in Rwanda are low-end subscribers, with
minimal ability to spend on mobile value added solutions,
which reduces the effective rate of revenue realization per
minute for the operators. With the low propensity to consume
telecom products, operators naturally find it difficult to make
returns on investments” [20].
It is rational to believe that the gap between the
telecommunications infrastructure in urban and rural areas is
also a bottleneck of broadband deployment. According to the
research and the prediction of the McKinsey Global Institute,
there will be a 50% portion of African living in cities by 2030
[21]. However, regarding the fixed-line and mobile
communications development in the EAC we just discussed,
the difference between urban and rural areas will have no
significant impact on the EAC’s broadband deployment.
applications are still less developed with few subscriptions
although the mobile subscription in all 49 LDCs, including all
five EAC members, is just 0.5% compared to that of the rest
of the world [17]. Figure VI below shows ITU’s data
concerning the number of fixed lines compared to the
percentage of the population in the EAC. Only Kenya has an
index that is more than 1%. Figure VII shows the global fixedbroadband subscription per 100 inhabitants, by speed, in early
2013.
2007
2008
2009
Tanzania
0.40
0.29
0.4
Uganda
0.54
0.53
0.71
Kenya
1.23
1.67
1.67
Rwanda
0.24
0.17
0.33
Burundi
N/A
N/A
N/A
Fig VI. Fixed-lines Compared to the Percentage of the Population [17]
c) Regulation and Competition in Telecommunications
Sector:
Regulation is the other reason that explains the lack of
competition of the EAC’s telecommunications industry.
According to ITU’s database, among 49 LDCs, including all
five EAC members, there are 27 whose incumbent fixed-line
operator are fully state-owned, including all EAC members’
telecommunications carriers [22]. There is still no robust
telecommunications regulation that guarantees the competition
and the universal access across the EAC. The East Africa
Regulatory, Postal and Telecommunications Organization
(EARPTO), which has since been renamed the East Africa
Communication Organization (EACO), published “Guidelines
on Interconnection and Access for Telecommunications
Networks and Services within the Telecommunications
Networks and Services within the East Africa Community.”
EACO has not as yet been brought into the legal framework of
the EAC, but its directives are supposed to guide all of the
national regulatory authorities [23].
Fig VII. Global Fixed-broadband Subscription per 100 Inhabitants [17]
According to Argent’s research, among all EAC members,
Rwanda has seen explosive growth in mobile
telecommunications over the past decade [18]. Uptake of
mobile communications has grown from less than 100,000
subscribers in 2003 to more than 4 million today, with annual
growth in the market in the double digits for most of the past
decade. Products offered in Rwanda, especially in the central
cities such as Kigali and Huye are now similar with those
available in the most developed markets, and prices have
declined substantially. But, this decline of mobile device price
does not result in the decrease of the EAC people’s cost of
mobile communications. As mentioned earlier, the EAC
people still feel mobile subscription is expensive in the region.
“Fixed line telephony, operated by Rwandatel, makes up less
than 1% of all subscribers. The Internet Service Provider (ISP)
market is much less concentrated, with six operators currently
operational and another three due to begin” [18]. Rwanda’s
case is not unique in the EAC. The absence of effective
competition and resulting pricing is the most important factor
that restricts telecommunications penetration in EAC. This is
especially true in the case of Rwanda’s mobile communication
in terms of the mobile termination rate and on-net/off-net
different pricing [19]. Mobile termination rates are the prices
that a mobile network operator must pay to another operator to
d) Reciprocal Causation - Economic Development and
Broadband Penetration:
The growth of GDP and per capita GDP do not account for
all economic development. However, it is difficult to establish
a mathematical model that explains the correlation between
the broadband penetration and the improvement of economic
development due to many factors that influence the economic
development. Such factors include the improvement of
information transparency and gender equality, which are not
easily quantified and measured. The lack of quantification of
these “spillover” effects may result in the underestimate of the
broadband benefits in developing countries including the EAC
5
members. We find that there is a reciprocal causation between
EAC countries’ less developed economies and the digital
divide, including the relatively poor development in
broadband applications, which is a vicious cycle. It is difficult
to tell the difference between the reasons and the results of the
EAC’s lack of development of the broadband network and
related applications. However, as Nwana argued, “ any baby
steps are better than none because all African countries must
be charting their way to be on the path of knowledge-based
economies, and fixed network would be invaluable to such
transformation. This is because, ultimately, radio spectrum is
limited by Shannon’s law, whilst fiber optic cable can provide
virtually unlimited capacity with more fiber.”[23] Technology
in general is undoubtedly central to the growth process, but the
less developed countries like the EAC members appear illprepared to benefit from the opportunities that the broadband
Internet does present—they lack the physical and human
capital, along with the institutions required, to exploit the eeconomy [23]. This phenomenon makes the value-added to
broadband and related applications deployment in the EAC
less than that in the developed countries. The deployment of
broadband and related applications will have a positive impact
on the EAC’s economic development; however, to enjoy the
value-added to broadband and related applications, including
e-commerce, e-hospital, e-farming, and e-education, the
governments of EAC members and the international
organizations including the African Development Bank
(ADB) and the ITU also need further cooperation to design a
more effective strategy for the EAC’s economic development.
ownership requirements from 0 to 35%. For example, Uganda
demands zero local equity ownership, whereas Tanzania has a
35% clause [25]. But even before equity ownership is
discussed, the licenses need to be awarded. There are
differences in the final authority that is responsible to
awarding licenses. The authority is scattered between either
the National Regulatory Agencies, partner states, or the
ministries. Thus, we found that there is a difference in the
authority and their criteria in awarding the licenses.
2) Tariff Regulation:
The tariff regulation in the EAC countries can be
categorized into two types: Self-regulation and Strictregulation. The Communications Commission of Kenya
(CCK) regulations determine how much the tariff should be
after considering the cost of providing service and
interconnection costs. In Tanzania, there is no regulation of
tariffs by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority
(TCRA). It is a self-regulating type of environment, and at the
same time it upholds the nondiscriminatory approach. The
case with Uganda is similar. In Burundi, after the approval
from the regulator, the operator fixes the costs. Whereas the
suppliers of networks and services determine the tariff in
Rwanda [26]. It is evident that there is a clash between selfregulation and strict-regulation in the EAC countries. Kenya
and Burundi are more inclined towards strict-regulation,
whereas the other countries have adopted self-regulation [25].
3) Competition:
C. Policy
Kenya Communications Regulations (KCR) in section 5
and 8, allow the investigation of any license holder who
violates and hinders in promoting a fair competition and equal
treatment of all telecommunication businesses. Similarly, The
Kenya Communications Tanzania’s TCRA Act, Rwanda’s
Utilities Regulatory Agency, and Uganda’s Fair Competition
Regulations rules (2005) promote competition. Burundi again
does not have clear rules stating competition should exist in
the communications industry. Through the EAB-BIN project,
the National Regulatory Authorities are striving to set up a
unified approach to maintain healthy competition in the EAC.
Each country in the East African Community has over the
years developed its own telecommunication and broadband
policy structure. In order to assess why there is a difference
between these policies governing the telecommunications
sector, we need to look at the history of each country. For
example, Kenya and Uganda were ruled by the British,
Rwanda was a French colony, and Burundi was part of the
Belgian colonial empire [24]. The colonial empires have left a
huge mark on the way the government is structured and the
approaches they take to instill any laws and regulations. Thus
there is a divergence in the regulations and the structure for
laws governing the telecommunication sector.
4) Quality of Service (QoS):
Kenya, through section 39 of KCR, 2001 hints at the
international standards for ensuring QoS [25]. The Tanzania
Communications Regulatory Authority states that the
customer must know what current QoS standards the provider
is following and can challenge it if it goes against the rights of
a telecommunications services customer. Uganda’s ‘equality
of treatment’ clause allows for similar access and QoS to
customers paying the same tariff, thus not allowing special
treatment of certain subscribers. Rwanda’s position is not
clear in that it states that the "regulator should ensure that the
service is up to accepted standards in industry and the QoS
parameters could be updated considering the level of
congestion and link failures" [27].
In order to find a common ground for establishing new
broadband policies, we have sorted out the nuances of the
difference between the policies structures of each country.
After going through numerous reports, the EAC infrastructure
website, ICT documentation, and various conference papers,
we have put together a detailed analysis of each component
that make up telecom policy, law, and regulation outlines in
every EAC country.
1) Licensing:
An analysis of licensing clauses of each EAC country
shows a divergence in the requirements of the local equity
ownership. The license holders may encounter equity
6
possibility of conflicts of interest, inefficient sanctions,
opaqueness, and misinterpretation of rules.
5) Universal Access:
Uganda is way ahead of other EAC countries in
establishing a Universal Access fund. It also has brought in
action other various funds like Rural Communications Fund in
the betterment of the infrastructure, introduction, and
expansion of newer communication technologies in remote
areas of the country. Looking at Rwanda, the Presidential
decree and Law N44/2001 governing telecommunications
have had key roles in setting up a Universal Access fund.
Tanzania and Kenya have set up a Universal access fund
through their Universal Communications Service Access Act
(2006) and Kenya Communications Act (2009), respectively
[25]. Thus, though Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania
seem to have amendments for a Universal access fund Burundi
does not [5].
• A common competition policy is crucial to maintain a
healthy competition in the telecom industry in all five EAC
countries. This allows for subduing any monopolistic behavior
and the resulting ability to influence the telecom industry by
practicing dominance. Universal service also goes hand in
hand with maintaining healthy competition. A unified
competition policy will allow normalization of rates and
service to urban and rural areas, equally.
• Another recommendation is that the EAC countries should
agree upon a unique legal framework in cases dealing with the
violation of antitrust laws. This is essential to bind all the
network operators in the EAC countries together to the same
legal authority under which any violation will subject them to
the same legal action.
6) Interconnection:
• A divide in the tariff regulation schemes means that the
telecom markets in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and
Tanzania cannot co-exist. Thus, it is essential for the countries
to agree on either self-regulation or strict-regulation.
After a detailed analysis of interconnection policies it can
be concluded that all EAC countries agree upon nondiscrimination as it is upheld in all of the regulations. The East
Africa
Regulatory
Postal
and
Telecommunications
Organization (EARPTO) needs to consider which
interconnection policies work for what kind of networks and
how to make the interconnection policies technology neutral
[29]. There are some core interconnection aspects, like control
of network boundaries, sharing of network facilities, cost
structures, core transit networks, and distinguishing the traffic
from its origin.
• Moreover, all countries need to agree upon amicably coexisting interconnection and Quality of Service (QoS)
standards in order to provide an economically feasible and
efficiently deployable framework to connect and operate each
other’s network providers.
• This will provide a common framework to help facilitate
efficient implementation of broadband projects joining the
EAC countries, better enforcement of rules, improved internet
connectivity, and hence bridge the digital divide.
A new unified regulation framework is necessary to tap the
upcoming opportunities in the broadband sector in the East
African Community and to address the challenges that come
along with it. Unless an ISP-to-ISP interconnection is
established, the internet traffic needs to be redirected to Europe
and then re-routed back to a neighboring EAC country. Thus,
even though the physical distance between the two countries is
finite, the internet traffic needs to be re-routed from thousands
of miles. This brings about externalities like fiber costs, transit
costs, and maintenance overhead. This is the main reason for
the high costs of internet connectivity and the resulting digital
divide in the EAC. This shows an urgent need to develop a
comprehensive interconnection policy outline and a unified
legal and regulatory structure between the EAC countries. It
was thus an important task in our research to first point out the
differences in order to build common regulation governing all
the five EAC countries. If a new comprehensive policy is to be
made all 5 EAC countries need to agree on common licensing,
tariff regulations, competition policies, universal service rules,
and interconnection rules.
V. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
A. Existing Conditions:
The EAC is a regional inter-governmental organization
established in 2000 [30]. The organization has had plans to
develop different platforms that would help strengthen their
economic and political structures such as: Custom Union,
Common Market, Monetary Union/Common Currency, and
Political Federation. During the initial phase of the custom
union (1997-2000), the EAC tried to create a common
denominator based on all five countries coming together and
enhancing their political and social relations. The next phase,
referred to as the common market (2001-2005), focused on the
custom union when the organization started implementing the
base for a common market [30], [31]. During the period of a
monetary union (2006-2010), the organization strove to
implement common market policies; and under the fourth
model (2011-2016), all five member countries emphasized
enhancing these common market policies and regulations. The
overall focus for the rest of the decade (2011-2020) was to
allot a larger monetary budget in the areas of technological
development, long-term stability in a macro-economic
environment, and creation of policies that encouraged healthy
The following recommendations showcase the advantages
of this new policy:
• A common licensing framework will provide for comparable
local equity ownership stakes and common authority to grant
those licenses. This will allow standardization of the criteria to
award the licenses and thus reduce the administrative
overhead in terms of time and money. It will also remove the
7
availability of information impacts the lives of many people on
a daily basis. Throughout the study, also we discussed a
number of obstacles that limit the broadband penetration in the
EAC, including, but not limited to the lack of required
infrastructure to deploy broadband networks and the scarcity of
resources, both in monetary form and human skillsets [32].
competitive environments, thus allowing new entrants into the
market [30].
B. Existing Challenges:
The tagline of the EAC is “One people, one destiny” [30].
However, the lack of healthy competition in the broadband
market still makes it difficult for middle class and low-income
people to afford the internet and related applications. Based on
our analysis and findings, there is a tremendous opportunity to
deploy fiber-optics, particularly, extending the East Africa
Submarine Cable System (EASSy) throughout the region. The
fact that the EAC is comprised of five countries, each having a
different political and economic structure, results in great
challenges that hinder the efforts of extending EASSy,
especially to the land-locked countries (Burundi, Rwanda, and
Uganda).
B. Suggested Further Efforts:
Our findings as discussed throughout the study influenced
us to propose that future research among other things looks
into to the possibility of establishing a mathematical model
that can help explain the correlation between the EAC’s
broadband deployment and the economic growth in the region.
For example, one suggested approach follows:
GDP per capita = aX1 + bX2 + cX3 + … + C
C. Current Efforts:
Our study shows that, in rural areas of the EAC, the
majority of people are largely dependent on VSAT based
connectivity, but this technology has an overly expensive cost.
In the 21st century, the Internet is not a luxury but a necessity
to everyday activities. In the region, there are multiple projects
related to broadband communications, including the East
African Community Broadband Infrastructure Network (EACBIN), which enhances cross-border infrastructure and the East
African Communication Organization (EACO), which works
to strengthen cooperation between all member counties [31].
Despite all existing challenges, we believe there are strong
indications including the will of the people that once all
necessary steps are implemented, the East African Cable
System (EASSy) project will be a boon for the region [31]. As
echoed throughout previous sections, some of the most
important factors that determine the unaffordability of
broadband in the region are: lack of broadband network
infrastructure, lack of market competition, and lack of
purchasing power. The overall current EAC’s economic
structure can also be better positioned to enjoy the benefits of
the broadband networking and the related applications, partly
through the improvement of primary and secondary levels of
education across the region. There is no question that the
improvement in the broadband networking space will benefit
the commonwealth of the region in terms of increased GDP or
increased demand for broadband based services. However, to
allow this to happen, EAC members need a robust common
strategy for overall economic development both in short and
long run planning.
Where X1, X2, and X3 are the independent variables, including
but not limited to the increase or decrease of investment in
network infrastructure and the expenditure in education, then
C is the constant that shows the current value of GDP per
capita. a, b, and c are the coefficients that show the strength of
the impact of the variable on the dependent variable,
everything else equal.
Such a model could then help the governments of the EAC
countries and the interested regional and international
organizations to isolate and evaluate the effect of the
investment in the broadband networking. The dependent
variables could also be the total GDP or equal to employment
rate of any single EAC member. In addition to the
establishment of a mathematical model, future research should
also strive to study the experiences of the European Union
(EU) in terms of the integration of cross-border
telecommunication regulations as a paragon for the EAC.
Other examples that are worth examining are those of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),
the Eastern Caribbean Telecoms (ECTEL), which have
attempted to create regional regulatory frameworks. At the
time of this study, none of the EAC member countries were
inclined to give up their sovereignty over telecommunications
and broadband access. Nevertheless, further integration of the
EAC’s telecommunications industry and regulation bodies
would result in an economy of improved scale for all EAC
members.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We wish to acknowledge and appreciate the professional
guidance received from Dr. David Reed and Dr. Martin
Taschdjian throughout the process of this research. Also,
special thanks go to our field research assistants in the EAC;
Ms. Janvière Uwurukundo, Mr. Arsene Twizeyimana, and Mr.
Gilbert Ngiruwonsanga, for their assistance in gathering
primary data used in our statistical analysis.
VI. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH
A. Current Situation:
In our research, we examined the digital divide in the EAC
from an interdisciplinary perspective, concentrating on
technology, economy, and policy. Developed countries like the
United States, Canada, and other Asian countries have
recognized the importance of information and communication
technology through which they are not only leading the world,
but also creating job opportunities for the general public.
Among other things, we analyzed how globalization is creating
differences between the wealthy and poor and how the
8
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