Comments on: Snapshot: Mobile Data Costs in East Africa

By: Silvestre Boit

Silvestre Boit — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:03:48 +0000

What is the best ISP to connect me to internet in remote areas of Kenya and what about the cost per month.

By: Suggested Reads On Mobile Marketing « Merrybubbles

Suggested Reads On Mobile Marketing « Merrybubbles — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 06:41:09 +0000

[…] but not least: Snapshot: Mobile Data Costs in East Africa, by White […]

By: McTim

McTim — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:47:04 +0000

@Richard von Kaufmann; The mobile operators connect to SEACOM (or TEAMS or EASSy) via fibre. They either do it in Mombasa at the landing station if they have the infrastructure there, or its hauled to Nairobi via 3rd party fibre, then the interconnect is done at various places around town.

Yes, they are all licensed, (which cost millions of USD) but the days of JamboNet are over. Anyone can have a gateway to the world now. Of course, if you are SEACOM/TEAMS/EASSy, you have to pay to lland in Kenya, which is just crazy IMHO.

The bottom line is that all the prices we are talking about in this thread are per-bit pricing, which is antithetical to the Internet Model that has caused such phenomenal growth in the last 20 years. It’s the telco model, where the focus is on “billable events”.

By: HASH

HASH — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:22:27 +0000

@Nishant, the numbers change rapidly, as do the packages, so I’m not surprised that you’re seeing better choices by now. Thanks for updating on the price.

By: Nishant

Nishant — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:56:23 +0000

Your numbers for Tanzania were off. I was able to get a 2GB bundle from zantel over the summer for 10,000 tsh; good speeds and it was valid for a week. that makes 8GB monthly for 40,000, a bit improvement over what you have written.

Zain also offers a 3gb weekly package for 15,000, ie the same pricing.

By: HASH

HASH — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:16:05 +0000

Not sure Keitai, only Facebook and the operator would know that and no one is releasing any data.

By: Spreading Mobile Data Into Africa Is Getting Better | Gizmodo Australia

Spreading Mobile Data Into Africa Is Getting Better | Gizmodo Australia — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 01:59:27 +0000

[…] will mean big things for citizens trying to pull themselves out of poverty and political turmoil. [White African via The Atlantic and Bill […]

By: keitai

keitai — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:55:48 +0000

Related question, how widespread “facebook zero” usage is?

By: Global Voices in English » Africa: Mobile data costs in East Africa

Global Voices in English » Africa: Mobile data costs in East Africa — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:51:57 +0000

[…] Erik analyses mobile data costs in East Africa: “Mobile data access charges have fallen drastically in the last several years in East Africa, in large part to the SEACOM undersea cable arriving and increased competition between operator.” […]

By: HASH

HASH — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:05:36 +0000

Yohana, you’re right, I forgot to edit that part out. I meant to leave the “unreliable” part in, and remove the cost section. I’ll fix that now…