There are two things that 680 hotel is known for; insecurity and poor service; now I have a third; harassment.

About three years ago, a friend was visiting town and I recommended 680 hotel, but he lost his valuables, I later came to learn that if you want to be mugged or to lose your valuables, book at 680.

So, I disliked the place and hasn't been there since.

But when GG asked me to meet her there, I thought it was a good idea, they have a coffee shop down stairs; so I thought it was a good idea; I was wrong.

For some reason the watchman at 680 hotel waited till our meeting was done and before GG could even take ten steps, he came on to me and suggested that I move to another restaurant. He picked me out of a crowd and wondered why so I asked what rationale he had used.

I have never been hounded by a watchman at a Cafe; I would have expected that in one of those down town joints I frequent but not at a three star hotel in town.

The most annoying thing was the watchman started interfering with my laptop, grabbing it and in the meantime attracting some attention. I must have looked out of place, a hooker or something like that.

You can imagine GG at the stairs calling me wondering what was happening to me; 680 hotel has no internet and there is nothing that would have kept me idling there; its not my kind of place.

Anyway, so I went to the front office and talked to a guy called Patrick Kivoo, the manager or something like that. He started saying how there was break down of communication blabla...

From the experience, I understood why the hotel is so insecure; they have their priorities messed up; if you have rungu-wielding watchmen harassing customers, what do you expect?

Bit up to now, I have not understood what I did or did not do; I bought, no one said spend more and I didn't; but that was the first time I was embarrassed.

So much for big hotels....

KTN Bloggers Roundtable meeting with Larry Madowo, Moses Kemibaro and Rebecca Wanjiku from Moses Kemibaro on Vimeo.

(If you don't have background information on domains, start with the other posts below)

The debate over the uptake of .ke domains has been going on for a while and has been dominated by the issue of cost. Yes the domain is expensive; 3,000 Kenya shillings per year ($40) is expensive compared to $10 for a .com, .net .info etc.

But is the cost the real issue? Are there other problems within .ke and management at KENIC that make it hard for people to take up .ke? Is Kenic's marketing structure flawed in as far as promoting the uptake of domains is concerned? (Read about Paul in a separate post on why PS Ndemo should convert his soldiers first).

My questions may look obvious but it is hard for me to believe that Paul Kukubo, CEO of Kenya ICT Board, maintains a .com because he can not afford 3k per year, Moses Kemibaro sits on the Kenic board and operates a .com.

I was shocked when he told me that he sits on the Kenic board; my visits to Kenic site are more for the WHOIS data and news. I was shocked because sitting on the board means that you are for the idea of marketing .ke.

How then do you market .ke when you maintain and drum up support for a .com? I recall a huge row some years back when a young man in the US turned up for a Coke job interview or something like that, wearing a Pepsi labeled shirt and he was turned away. It may be the wrong comparison but how do you sit on the board of an organization whose "goods" you don't support.

I am sure Kemibaro is not the only board member who operates another domain other than .ke but that amounts to double speak. I am sure we have heard of politicians complaining about our education system and how it makes kids this and that but their kids go to the international schools which don't have the same problems with our schools.

So, the next time you complain about politicians and their perfect act of doublespeak, remember they are not the only ones; there are others who can do it better.

I know its easier to defend this and say people have liberty to buy whatever domains they like and according to their interests and that is ok; but how do you convince me to buy something you are not convinced about?

If the real issue is cost and Kemibaro and Kukubo can not raise 3k per year for a domain, then the guys at Kenic board should change their marketing structure. If selling through registrars is hindering the uptake because Kenic can not sell directly, then let it be that people can buy directly from Kenic, which will force registrars to focus more on the Value Added Services instead of domains as source of profits.

I have never understood the Kenic logic; Kenic has 11,000 or so domains, if they sell at Ksh. 2,300 thats 25.3 million per year and if 10 million goes to registrars, then Kenic remains with 13 million for its annual operations.

The rate of internet users in Kenya is growing and I think the numbers have grown from the projected 3 million users two years ago. This is also likely to drive up awareness on websites and domains.

Assuming Kenic decides to sell to consumers directly or conduct a campaign with registrars to sell the domain at Ksh 150 ($) and allow registrars to make money building websites and hosting? Assuming out of the more than 3 million users, we can convince 1 million with other domains and others who don't have to buy a .ke, that would be Ksh. 150 million, which is more than what Kenic is making right now.

I know this sounds like a long shot but its doable. South Africa (.za) has more than a million domains .co.za has more than 600,000 domains and the others in education sector are growing by day. (Will look for actual stats from SA; will ask for someone to comment).

Back to the issue of .ke, i recall two weeks ago when i was in Seoul for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numebrs meeting (ICANN), I met Sammy Buruchara, Kenic board chair and as you can read, I discussed issues about what affects Kenic and whether the cost is the real issue.

According to Sammy, cost is not the real issue; consumers are willing to pay more but the techies who sell the domains make cost an issue so that they can make more money and he had a point.

Look at Kemibaro, he has his company that does web development among other things. If you walk to his offices and you want to buy a .ke but you are feeling the overall cost is going to be so much, he is likely to tell you; this domain is so expensive, look at me, I operate a .com and its cheaper.

Maybe Kemibaro will say that he bought the domain ages ago and that is his brand, which is true but there is something they call redirecting to another page, which I think does not affect the original brand.

Maybe am harping on Kemibaro's case and I should just let it go, but I thought its better to just use his example because he is famous :) but the point is the same if it was someone else.

Recently, my contact at Google made a comment that made more sense than anything else that day. I was writing about Kenya's drive towards local content and the source argued that most of Africa's domain registries view themselves as businesses instead of public service. In this respect, the source felt that domains should cost a dollar or two.

The argument was that if we are searching for content in Kenya, then the pages with .ke appear first on the page. So, if you were searching about registrars in Kenya, the ones who have .ke websites are likely to come first, though that depends on other tech factors, like there was a time one of my pages was not appearing on google and the techie was giving me a long story but he had not done it right.

So, buying a .ke has its advantages in the search but am sure you will find other posts on why you should buy domains useful.

Ends

Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication has a very huge task of convincing Kenyans that the country's technology sector can be as good as the west, that we do not need to look further for exceptional services.

The PS has a Jambo.co.ke account that works, not like other officials that use yahoo, he responds to questions sent via email, and participates in technology forums for the youth and talks to them as a lecturer, not a technocrat.

But the PS has one problem, he is busy preaching technology to others and has forgotten to convert his soldiers, the people working under him.

The PS has been keen on the issue of virtual national resources and why Kenyans need to take up their online rights. one of the resources is the dot ke domain. It is the equivalent of a flag on the internet, alerts people of your nationality or where you operate the services. For instance, www.capitalfm.co.ke shows that Capital is Kenyan, though it is addressing a global audience online.

Some countries like the United Kingdom have managed to convince most corporations to take up dot uk. There are 6 million dot uk domains while Kenya has a paltry 9,000 registered dot ke users.

That is the reason why Ndemo is working hard to promote the uptake of dot ke in every sector.

The PS has been quoted saying that the government is ready to subsidize the acquisition of .ac.ke and .sc.ke accounts for academic institutions if the cost of the domains is reduced.

The PS has gone further to encourage Kenyans to buy the dot ke domain in order to build Kenya.

But Ndemo's message on the dot ke domain is fatally defective because he is yet to convert those under him who are still operating dot com accounts. Let the PS and his officers demonstrate the faith they have in these resources before converting the public.

For instance, Paul Kukubo, CEO Kenya ICT Board, who is supposed to be Ndemo's interpreter of the technology gospel operates www.paulkukubo.com while Al Kags, a program officer at the board operates www.alkags.com.

Picture this; Ndemo at a public meeting, telling people the essence of buying local domains and promoting local businesses, and Kukubo takes the stand and convinces you that a dot ke is as good as a dot com.

The question is: why is he not using it?

Last month, the Kenya ICT board held a one day meeting on local content, dubbed "Tandaa".

The meeting brought together the government, ICT technology experts and the public to discuss issues of generating local content and developing the local technology capacity.

Few days before the meeting kicked off, there were questions raised about the ICT board's decision to host the www.tandaa.com content abroad. How can the board encourage people to host locally while it has no faith in local hosting services?

Kukubo defended the decision, saying that if any local host was willing to give free hosting, the board was willing to migrate the site to a local server. He further argued that to develop locally, you do not need to host locally, arguing that even the laptops and email applications we use are manufactured elsewhere.

The defense merely philosophical as it sounds, does not address the root of the issue.

How does a board, tasked with marketing Kenya as a technology destination, opt to host abroad? Why then do we have the board if not to demonstrate Kenya's ability to perform like other countries?

How can the board convince a local or multinational corporation to host locally while it has no faith in such services or does not see the need to encourage people to host locally?

Even if the board was hosted free, it should be its primary mandate to insist that any hosting must be local, that is the only way services can improve. Not unless the board expects the hosting services to grow overnight without being tried and tested.

In the US, where hosting services are cheap, people started with trial and error and finally they perfected the services. When will Kenya grow if no one wants to give local techies business?

It has been argued that the techies have to prove their ability before Kenyans can have faith that services are consistent and stable. But who will give them the chance to prove themselves if the ICT marketing agency is shipping services abroad.

The messages are contradictory and it is better if the PS ensured that the whole ministry and all attendant agencies are sing from the same hymn book or reading from the same script.

Charity begins at home!

Ends

Background on domains...... I wrote this article earlier this year.....

A domain name is a label separated by a dot, which allows internet users to easily find and communicate with web sites and other Internet Protocol (IP) based communication services.

A domain can use first level extensions e.g. country code Top level Domain (ccTLD) like .ke for Kenya or a generic TLD (.com, .net, .info .org etc).

Domain names are a superb marketing tool, a method to pass information about the business or service being offered. A domain name is a highly valuable resource for any company. Internet domain names are registered on a first-come, first-served basis by registering authorities, such as Kenya Network Information Centre, which administers the .ke name space.

Domain names have become more interesting to marketers because of their advertising and marketing potential, rather than just being used to label internet resources; they are now used in ways that are harmful to some businesses.

For instance, one can register www.moral.co.ke as a pornographic site, which would be contradictory to the known meaning of the word moral. Similarly, one can use a name that is more famous as a domain to drive visitors to the site.

As a result, large corporations use their trademark or brand name as a domain name because it helps customers remember it easily and distinguish it from a competitor’s product, which reinforces brand identity.

Because domain names are registered on the basis of first come, first served, registering authorities do not question whether a proposed domain name will cause likely confusion with another’s brand or trademark. For instance, Verizon, a large international technology corporation revealed that it spends up to 77 million Kenya shillings ($1million) in registering and safeguarding their domain.

This has allowed some unscrupulous people to take advantage of the ignorance and to register domains that are not related to them and drive up traffic in the process infringing on trademarks, trade names, brands or copyrighted characteristics of a company.

Some of the domains are registered with the intention of later selling them or transferring the domain name to another owner for valuable consideration; or simply to engage in unfair competition and misleading advertising by associating their own product or service with a better-known brand.

What would happen if someone registered a domain in the name of your business, then five years from now, the business is a large entity but unable to trade online in its trademark because it is owned by another person?

This would result in a domain name dispute which would be a big concern for a business. It is just like a trade mark that is protected under the Copyright Act of Kenya. Domain name disputes nevertheless remain complex and require separate regulations.

For instance, popular online auction site EBay is engaged in a protracted legal tussle trying to reclaim www.ebay.com.vn , which is registered by an individual.

Jennifer Lopez has also filed a dispute at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) seeking to get back www.jenniferlopez.org from one of her fans.

South Africa is perhaps one of the leading cases where the government had to result to international measures to get back www.southafrica.com which was registered under an individual.

Under Article 30 of the Law on Intellectual Property, which took effect on July 1, 2006, such acts as registering or possessing the right to use a domain name identical or confusingly similar to a protected trade name or mark of another, for the purpose of benefiting from or prejudicing the reputation and popularity of the respective trademark, trade name or geographical indicator is viewed as an act of unfair competition.

Ends...

Technology companies, just like other companies, hire Public Relations agencies to manage their press relations. Just like in other parts of the world, major brands in Africa prefer to deal with major PR brands, which is understandable.

But what is not understandable is the behavior of these PR companies towards journalists. The same PR company, but if a PR executive based in Europe or US gets in touch, the approach is different.

For instance, most of PR execs based in Nairobi or J'burg tend to favor print to online media. To them, you are more of a journalist if you work for a newspaper but if your audience is online, they don't consider you a real journalist. By the way, print journalists are not asked for bios, I have asked a number of them, mentioning the agencies, just to compare the treatment and approach.

Thats understandable, I stopped fighting that because its only a matter of time. Its got to do with the maturity and evolution of media as a sector, which is determined by other factors.

What I have never understood is when a PR exec gets in touch with me, pitches the idea of the client doing this or that, then demands that I give them my bio if I need to interview the client. As a sign of good faith, I usually respond and say I work for the IDG News Wire, which publishes online and give the URL.

What is shocking is that if you are in PR in J'burg and your client is coming through Nairobi, you are likely to contact your local office and they will give you names and am sure they have reasons to give you such names.

If you get my name, the first thing you do is probably search it and you will pull up my blogs and everything else that I have done, which is mainly online. What then do you require my bio for? If its anything journalistic, you will get it online.

What else am I supposed to give you? That before I came to technology eight years ago I was a in print? That when I was born everyone in Giathi village celebrated with three ululations befitting a girl, according to Kikuyu customs? How I went to kamuchungwa-ini secondary and later to college and how it was such a big thing in my village that they held overnight prayers? That I have had to struggle to make it in journalism? That I merit tto interview your client because my star will shine after that?

I am sure none of that information is important to whether I grasp the issues at hand or not, whether I write a story or not, but you demand it anyway. So I will ask again, how does information which is not related to what am going now help your client.

One thing I don't ignore is that in this era of fake journalists and extortionists, it will be unfair to expose your clients to people who are of questionable character. And there many in Kenya and other countries as well.

Sample this; Isaac, a PR guy from Bertolli and Associates in Nairobi called me once saying that Microsoft, was doing something with bloggers bla bla bla and I said yes, a blogger. Then the guy wanted me to give him a bio of how long I have been blogging and stuff like that, which is available on the blog. I asked the guy whether he had bothered to look up my name and he said no; and all the info he needed was just there. I don't think they ever organized anything, but that was very annoying.

I have seen PR companies discriminate against the media house, if they don't consider your media house big enough or with the right audience, you don't get the interview or to attend the press conference. And this, they don't hide, they will not start a press conference unless a certain media house is present, which is more like the political days of KANU and politicians could not start unless KBC was present.

Back to my subject on bio, I have had a chance to work with some of the huge PR companies out there, and believe me, the style is different. They usually search online to see who is in what region and may of help to their clients and they get in touch, mainly through my email, which is the contact page.

Out of the over 10 PR firms that I have regularly dealt with, who got in touch through referrals, none ever asked for my bio. Either because they had seen the stories and where they were published or for whatever reason.

I guess what am saying in so many words is that, as a PR exec. it is important to do your research, know about me before you get in touch, you will find so much info about me online than you want to know.

I do not tell me that your client wants to know who they are dealing with coz am sure the reason you were engaged is mainly to connect them with journalists. So once you prove am one, go ahead and if am not a real journalist to you, don't email me because I may not help advance your client's agenda.

Am not saying you don't have a right to know, but its also fair when you use the online tools that help you vet me. Like if you click on about on this site, you will get more info about me, but if you got in touch before reading it, you are likely to ask me same questions and before that, just ask; how does this info help my client determine whether to give the interview or not?

Besides, where possible, and where topics are not complicated, I like doing my interviews via email. That way, I can demonstrate that I do not have to meet your client, if your fear is that my morals are questionable.

But that is for the PR execs who feel my history will help their clients. For the others who want to alert me about upcoming events and possible interview opportunities, you can drop an email; rebecca@wanjiku.co.ke

What comes into your mind when you hear the term "bridging the digital divide"? I bet its the idea of connecting rural schools with computers, government policy , mobile phones for the poor, huge donor funding and that kind of stuff.

Well, the same term appeared in the ICANN strategic plan and was quickly shot down. Why? After all, there is no argument that there exists a gap within ICANN, between the developed and developing countries, especially in Africa.

The term bridging the digital divide has political connotation within the ICANN community and evokes memories of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) where the International Telecommunications Union discussed ways of taking over management of the internet from ICANN as a way of giving power to the governments.

So, you will understand the ICANN faithful when they say that the term should belong to other circles and not the mainly technical and business oriented group.

After all, most of the people who attend ICANN meetings have all the internet infrastructure needs and the idea of an unconnected business in Giathi village in Gatundu, where I come from, does not resonate with them.

Maybe the idea of a country not having an internet exchange point or a non performing country code Top Level Domain e.g ,ke. .ug, .za seems remote, but these are realities in Africa.

I think the gap within ICANN for instance within the ccTLDs can be bridged through sharing resources and ideas. I recall Michuki Mwangi explained to me that Kenya got copies of root zone files because of his contacts within ICANN.

Michuki met root operators and was able to get the root zone files, which is probably why internet in Kenya is faster than in Uganda, even though we both have the fiber optic connectivity.

Michuki also benefitted from training offered by the Brazilian tech team, the guys who operate the .br registry. The Kenic infrastructure, which is open source, has heavy contribution from Brazil.

So, can the actions of Hartmut Glaser in Brazil, who invited Michuki be termed as bridging the digital divide? I think so.

In my opinion, ICANN community needs to do something, and am sure so many people here would help if they knew about the challenges and ways their technology share can help.

The problem is in the political correctness of the term "bridging the digital divide". Maybe they can come up with another term but the experiences can yield greater benefits if taken seriously.

Of course, for the global community to help, African internet infrastructure must rise from the chaos. The ccTLDs must resemble a sense of normalcy. They must sort out the issues of who operates the domains and have operational registries. Then we can start talking about ways of improving the services.

Perhaps that is the reason why we do not have many Africans contributing in the public forums; because of the apparent gaps.

Political terms or no political terms, something needs to be done. I will not stop saying that Africa needs to act but so is the global community.

Ends

The other day someone commented on my facebook status that Kenyans love free things, just because I suggested that the big hotels should emulate high level restaurants and give free wi fi.

I could not answer the guy because I knew he would engage me in a long winding argument over why I should pay for internet. I would have told this guy how in Bangkok, you can catch free internet virtually everywhere including one provided by the city council. But I thought I should just shut up.

Forget about free wi fi and think of the many times you have tried to use the GPRS and it just failed because of congestion within the city; and it is the same old story.

Then I met this guy from DataDyne and we got into the discussion of where he could get free wi fi, I noticed that he needed more hotspots beyond Java upperhill and fairview. He actually suggested that this could be valuable info for tourists and other business visitors as well as those of us who love free stuff.

So, we can count down the places I know.

If you are in Westlands,

Alan Bobbe's Bistro at Andrews Apartments- Rhapta Road

For me, the Andrews Wi fi is the most stable, of course the place is very nice and Alan Bobbe's offers gatronomic cuisine which is pricy too. The place is quiet and I think they have too much bandwidth, but am not saying they should strangle it (Kunyonga).

If you have a free afternoon and would like a treat of good food and flawless internet, Andrews is the place. www.andrews.co.ke

Sarit Center

Dormans coffee house

This is on the basement on the extreme corner from Java or safaricom advantage customer care.

This wireless is password protected but you can always set you laptop to remember the network and you don't have to keep entering the password. It is super fast and stable, except in the late afternoon, when you have solar outage; common is satellite connections.

Dormans staff are basically nice and will always welcome you with a smile even when they think you are just there because of the free wi fi. With time, you also get to know the regular customers who are always there with their laptops, and with time, you start saying hi to each other and behaving like you actually know each other.

By the way, Dormans serves very nice Cafe Mocha.

Rating- ****

Java Coffee house

This is next to Safaruco customer care on the basement. The wireless is open to anyone, so your info can be susceptible to preying eyes and other malicious people, that is if you have super sensitive data.

The wi fi used to be very nice and stable but for the last three months, either they reduced the bandwidth or reconfigured their network. The network has IP address issues and at times some people access the internet and others can not.

It is frustrating when you can see others surfing and there is no way in for you. You start asking the waiters and they say the person incharge is away, which is usually a lie or a way of telling you to get off their back.

This has been a constant problem that I could see a couple of other tourists migrated to Dormans where the network is stable.

Besides, Java switche off the wi fi at about 12.30 to 2.30 to keep off idlers and serve serious spenders, which makes commercial sense but woe unto you if you were in the middle of the sentence or trying to attach a large document. Dormans is open through out.

Rating **

Westgate Shopping mall.

There are Java and Dormans Coffee houses with internet and the network is the same as above.

There is also the network known as Westgate, which is not protected but is usually up and down.

In the Central Business District

None of the Java or Dormans Coffee houses in town give free internet, for obvious reasons.

The Mug- Kaunda Street

This is probably the most stable because it does not keep going down and is not password protected.

Rating ***

Lifestyle Lounge- Monrovia street, opposite Nakumatt Lifestyle

This is bottom of the crap, can not stay up for five minutes and when it goes away, its off for about 20 minutes.

If you can, avoid this place, only for emergency internet usage.

Rating *

Ngong Road

Java Upperhill

Java Junction

Dormans Junction

I am planning to use Google maps for easier location but if you have other places you have visited and experienced their Wi fi, please leave a comment and will benefit all the others interested.

There is no doubt that Equity bank revolutionized banking and the way customers are treated. It made ordinary men and women believe that they can own bank accounts and they do not need special permission to talk to the manager.

I think it also came at a good time when people wanted hassle-free loans. For many of us who fear giving matrimonial title deeds as collateral, Equity said that even the chicken and the cows qualified as collateral.

But now the bank has moved into the more sophisticated area of e-banking. Many Kenyan banks misunderstand or mislead us to believe that receiving SMS alerts translates to e-banking.

So, being the member I am, I finally got tired of queuing for an hour or taking time to dash to the bank when I can get the same service on the internet. So I applied for e-banking services and filled the form.

The strange part is that after two months, Equity had deducted the annual fee for e-banking but I could not access the service. They had not sent me the password. By the way, the e-banking am talking about is just the one that allows you to check balances online and monitor transactions, I am hoping I will be able to do that.

After making trips to the bank to check on it, it has left me bitter, wondering why Equity is bothering about sophisticated services it can not deliver.

I think it is only fair if the bank stops struggling to offer what it can't. For the other basic services, the bank has no problem, but for e-banking, I guess the bank should leave it out.

I guess they should say like Safaricom; if you are frustrated, just move on to the next provider!

Ends

It is a month since the SEACOM cable went live.

The cable company had promised how the cable was going to make bandwidth cheaper but when pinned down to explain how exactly the cost would come down, SEACOM executives rebuffed "uninformed" consumers asking them to ask their ISPs about connectivity and costs. It is ironical that a company hypes up issues and when pinned down, it points to another party.

But what SEACOM did not tell Kenyans who may not understand the tier system was that when the cable goes live, SEACOM would be the big boy at the highest level, interacting with the public data operators and big telcos and not the ordinary kenyans with limited technology knowledge.

What SEACOM did not tell us was that they are investors who are out to recoup their investments and did not care about incessant questions directed at the wrong party- after all, it is my ISP that provides the last mile solution and not SEACOM.

That is why even if the costs have not exactly come down, you can not question SEACOM because they are not involved in how you put your food on the table, whether the ISP overcharges you or does not deliver what is promised, there is nothing you can do.

Yes, KDN and Access Kenya have taken time to say how the bandwidth has come down. KDN Butterfly allegedly dropped by 90 percent and Access Kenya doubled subscribers bandwidth at the same cost. This is good news, if only you are in areas where you can access butterfly or are within the Access Kenya network.

For many people who are in diaspora, this blog post may seem unfair given that SEACOM and the others have touted this as a new era for Kenyan internet users, but on the ground, the situation is different- try using the GPRS or 3G service offered by GSM companies, its slow and where it works, its fast and you pay through the nose because the costs are still high.

You may not understand why people are bitter about the providers yet Michael Joseph, the chair of TEAMS has already indicated that the costs are not coming down soon. But that is not the story we were hearing for the last two years; they were all saying how bandwidth will come down to $ 400 per MB.

This is not a problem of the the common people who may not understand technological jargon and all that other garbage that is camouflaged as working for the consumer but in essence does not, it is a concern for techies too.

Last week there was a bitter discussion on most Kenyan technology and policy mailing list, with people wondering whether the Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Information and Communication should be compelled to resign after it became clear that the cost and quality of connectivity was not improving.

You could tell from the discussions that these comments were by people who had endured bitter disappointment by Kenyan providers. They argued that the reductions were mainly targeted for the Media, that is likely to report anything without actually testing.

There was another group that argued that you can not blame the PS for the failing of the private sector and that the cables are home, where it was promised and that the issues of cost were merely details.

One thing that you can not dispute is that the Skunkworks mailing list, which had the most discussions is the best testbed; after all, it is composed mainly of techies, the guys who will tell you whether the bandwidth quality and cost has changed to the better.

So, when the techies say they are not happy with the status of the connectivity, who can dispute? The manager who does not know the difference between the bits and bytes per second?

For the Kenyans in diaspora, enjoying the best connectivity out there, you can continue saying how it has all improved but listen to the guys who actually man the pipes and are expected to make sure the connectivity is uninterrupted.

For the interested choir members, you can continue singing how the cost of bandwidth has come down, but ask the purported beneficiaries whether the benefits are accessible to a few or to all,

Ends