Africa - Offline And Waiting for the Web

The nytfeed provides us with an article about the current state of internet connectivity on the African continent. Only 4 percent of Africa's population has regular access to the internet, with most of those people living in North African countries, or the country of South Africa. This might seem like a market ripe for development, but the article explains that there are numerous difficulties involved getting an infrastructure project off the ground. "Africa's only connection to the network of computers and fiber optic cables that are the Internet's backbone is a $600 million undersea cable running from Portugal down the west coast of Africa. Built in 2002, the cable was supposed to provide cheaper and faster Web access, but so far that has not happened. Prices remain high because the national telecommunications linked to the cable maintain a monopoly over access, squeezing out potential competitors. And plans for a fiber optic cable along the East African coast have stalled over similar access issues. Most countries in Eastern Africa, like Rwanda, depend on slower satellite technology for Internet service." The good news is that, of course, progress is being made. Just ... slowly.

Comments

humorectomy

[Gary W. Longsine]

Moderators, you have clearly had your humor removed. Was it a tragic accident, or a government experiment that made you so flat? Oh, wait... perhaps it was that the intended humor wasn't very funny. Overrated is more appropriate than Troll.

Re:About South-Africa, Internet Boom

[jez9999]

As a SA citizen, could you tell me why it is that your president continues to support Robert Mugabe's evil regime? Are you people of SA in the know about it, and if so, why do they not get rid of him?