Dr. Raphael Mmasi
2 August 2006
column
Kigali — Information Technology revolution began long time ago in the developed economies, yet Internet in Rwanda was established in July 1999. At that time there were only two Internet Service Providers (ISPs) namely Rwandatel with dial up network of 256 kbps and Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management (KIST). Rwanda has come a long way since the first Internet.
During the mid 90's Rwanda saw mushrooming of establishments of many ICT companies whose objectives were from trading of IT products, training, desk-top publishing, web publishing and consulting. Most of these companies did not focus on Internet development; they can be characterized by low investments, few skilled human resources and unfocussed market area.
The broad and prevailing use of the Internet Protocols has triggered the process of the convergence of telecommunications, multimedia, and entertainment systems. Today, it is possible to make telephone calls, listen to radio, watch TV, and share music, over the Internet. In the field of traditional telecommunications, the main point of convergence is the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Researchers have established that the growing of VoIP is based on lower price, the possibility of integrating data and voice communications lines as well as the use of advanced PC based tools. While technical convergence is going ahead at a fast pace, its economic and legal consequences will require some time to evolve.
At the economic level, convergence has started to reshape traditional markets by putting companies previously operating in separate domains into direct competition. It remains to be seen who is going to take lead in Rwanda in this increasingly convergent market, telecommunications companies, such as MTN Rwandacell, Rwandatel, Artel or ICT companies, such as Terracom, ISPAD.
The same applies to the multimedia market, although in this field a few companies have reacted to the challenge posed by convergence by developing both IT and media/entertainment or forming partnership. The Japanese company that deals with design and manufacturer of entertainment gadgets known as Sony is one that has developed both ICT and media/entertainment capabilities. Similar experiences envisage for Rwandan a mobile assembling company to merge or forge partnership with one of the existing telecommunication companies for provision of multimedia services. However, the legal system is slow to adjust to the changes caused by technological and economic convergence. Each of the above segments: telecommunications, media/entertainment, and ICT, has its own special regulatory framework which is not in place in Rwanda. The question for discussion is will new regulatory regime be developed that focus mainly on the Internet? Should the regulation of convergence be carried out by RU RA or by self-regulation?
In many countries, broadband Internet has been introduced via cable networks (remember last week we discussed the issues over net neutrality). This is especially true in U.S. where cable Internet is much more prevalent than ADSL, the other main Internet broadband option. What are the risks associated with this convergence?
Some parties argue that the cable operators' buffering between users and the Internet could challenge the end-to-end networking principles. The main difference between the traditional dial-up and cable is that cable is not regulated by so called "common carrier" rules. These rules, applicable to the telephony system, specify that access should be non discriminatory. Cable operators are not subject to these rules, giving them complete control over their subscribers' Internet access. They can block the use of certain applications and control access to a certain materials. Surveillance possibilities and consequently the ability to violet privacy are much greater with the cable Internet since access is controlled through a system similar to local area networks, which provides a high level of direct control of users.
Without a secure and reliable Internet, Rwandans will continue to be reluctant to provide confidential information online, such as credit card numbers. The same applies to online banking and the use of electronic money.
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