29 September 2009
editorial
Nairobi — When the undersea fibre-optic landed at the Kenya coast two months ago, there was high expectation that it would lead to efficient and cost-effective Internet connectivity.
Although it is too early to make a critical assessment, consumers have no reason to smile yet.
As we published in our business segment, "Smart Company", yesterday, there is no trickle-down effect and by the look of things, it may a little longer before consumers reap dividends of expanded bandwidth and increased speed associated with the fibre-optic.
Yet, prior to that, consumers were made to believe that the undersea cable would be the surest answer to encumbrances wrought by terrestrial connectivity.
With the slow pace of price change, experts and consumers are beginning to ask tough questions.
Why can't the prices go down? Are Internet service providers forming a cartel to keep the prices high?
Maybe investors into Seacom and the East African Marines System can explain the variables at play.
But one of the unspoken reasons is their desire to recoup their investment by keeping the prices high.
The essence of technology is to make life easier. This is what the fibre-optic cable was meant to achieve.
Internet is a key driver of business, and since access has been made easy through the fibre-optic option, the service providers must just reduce costs for the end-users.
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