Mobile firms urged to wait until 2015 for frequencies

The Mobile telephone companies demanding for TV stations to release the frequencies they currently use to broadcast should wait until the legal deadline in 2015.

Reacting to Tuesday's call by Safaricom asking TV broadcasters surrender the 700MHz frequency to allow it to deploy 4G services, the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) says it is the only authority mandated to make such a call.

"Only the CCK has the statutory mandate to assign spectrum and to recall frequencies," a statement signed by CCK Acting Director General, Mr Francis Wangusi, read in part.

The 4G services offer a higher Internet speed access than the current platform. It is also the latest mobile broadband technology being deployed worldwide.

As a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Kenya is bound to adhere to the June 2015 date set as the global deadline for the switch-over of TV broadcast from analogue — that uses the 700MHz frequency to digital.

"Therefore the demand for broadcasters to surrender frequencies in the 700 MHz band immediately to mobile operators cannot be justified at this point," Mr Wangusi added.

"In any case, even the 2012 national deadline for migration to the digital TV broadcasting is not cast in stone.

"As has happened in other countries, the deadline could be postponed if there are challenges in achieving it," he said.

The 2012 deadline was recommended in order to give adequate time to address any challenges that may arise before the 2015 deadline.

By NATION REPORTER

Kenyan firms urged to host data locally

As Kenya counts losses arising from cable cuts that happened three weeks ago, companies have been advised to use local hosting for their websites and data.

This, it is hoped, will help reduce disruption of their services.

The cuts have forced Kenyans to endure slow or completely no access to their emails and websites, since most firms are hosted by companies abroad.

"If we were hosting most of our traffic locally, we would not be having such a big slowdown and it would be a better experience for the end-user than the mess we are in now," says Mr Barry Apudo, a senior technical officer at Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya.

By being hosted abroad, it means internet traffic has to use international fibre cables such as the Seacom, Teams and Eassy, which connect the country to the other regions of the world.

"Hosting locally is better because the host company can manage and service the data centre better. Companies that host locally must be encouraged.

Part of this process includes having as much local content as possible and digitising and automating processes within the private and public sector," said Kenya ICT board chief executive Mr Paul Kukubo.

According to the Information and Communication permanent secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo, Kenyans should start promoting local hosting of traffic by embracing local e-mails instead of the normal yahoo or google addresses.

Currently, most local websites are hosted abroad with only 14,000 .ke domains.

According to the regional development manager for Internet Society in Africa and chief technical officer at the Kenya Internet Exchange Points Mr Mwangi Michuki, the country has enough capacity to host all local websites.

By CHARLES WOKABI

Social media has changed the rules

The one thing we should have anticipated was that social media would revolutionise the way content was gathered and distributed.

Since everyone has an opportunity to create and distribute content, anyone can become a private media house. One distributor could easily reach one billion people in a matter of minutes.

But with this great opportunity came great irresponsibility. Initially, the masses started interacting with social content, outstripping access to pornographic sites, which until then were the most visited sites worldwide.

Today, here we are, sitting in a world where communicating with a country's leader is as easy as typing an SMS, and better yet, the leader responds.

President Paul Kagame has proved that social media is beyond the control of aloof media advisers who sometimes rely on other ways of controlling their communication channels.

Having an online alias means you can be anyone and you can abuse the system. Politicians, public... on social media, they are equal.

With the run-up to the elections, social media managers are the new media gurus, not that there is a course called social media at any university or college.

Do not get me wrong; it is a reputable job, but it is proving to be one of the toughest around. Why? Control.

Social media is worse than a bush fire in the savannah during a drought.

Once it starts, it is nearly impossible to stop until it runs its course, and the damage it leaves in its wake is far more dangerous than all other forms of media put together on any single day.

The distribution system that is social media is extremely effective; it leaves very little untouched once it is out in public.

The general unwritten disclaimer basically ensures that if you are wrong, you will certainly be punished.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the famous 16th century banker, once made a statement that basically determined how mainstream media has been perceived over the past century in Africa, and more specifically in Kenya.

He admonished his children that if they could not get the general public to love them, the next best option was to get the public to fear them.

The rule persisted from the 1700s until the 20th century. This rule, and others like it, have however since changed.

The 21st century ensured that everything belonging to the last century remained there.

Politicians may attempt to control mainstream media, censor it, and influence content, but that control is more likely to ruin than benefit them.

One thing is certain: social media has certainly created bolder and more voracious activists who have no fear of self-expression and who will not hesitate to publicly vanquish an opponent.

Social media is steadily forcing politicians to relinquish control of all forms of media, since they are learning that an iron fist is less useful than actually doing their jobs.

As is being proven across the world, and soon in Africa, politicians who are not cautious about where they tread will be judged on social media, and in many cases the judgment will be harsh.

There are an estimated 1.8 million people on Facebook in Kenya, according to Safaricom. A rather impressive figure, but there needs to be a realistic perspective into who is doing what where.

The perspective, in my opinion, is that even if the number of users doubles, it is still far below the 40 or so million Kenyans who are primarily served by mainstream media.

During the launch of Google+ Hangouts in Nairobi a few days ago, Ms Martha Karua, the MP for Gichugu, said social media is playing a key role in her campaign and her communication with her constituency, and that if someone lacked the ability to attend a rally, they could watch it live online.

Admirable? Yes. Realistic? Unfortunately not, considering the generally limited access to computers, the Internet, and the finances to remain online for hours.

Social media has, unfortunately, created what I imagine to be an apathetic social system. There seems to be a ranking based on criteria like alliances, schools of thought, and wealth.

The antithesis in this column is that mainstream media remains king and has a wider reach, even though it lacks interactivity.

Social media has a long way to go before it becomes the mainstream, which means that lessons can still be learned.

By KAHENYA KAMUNYU