The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) plans to increase broadband access in the country to 20 per cent by 2017.
Speaking on Tuesday, CCK director general Francis Wangusi said currently only three per cent of the population has access to broadband, making it difficult for the government to implement its agenda.
“This has hindered many development objectives and so the government has set a target of 20 per cent broadband access by the year 2017,” Wangusi said
Wangusi was speaking at the event which included more than 100 delegates discussing the role of women in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and to encourage the development and use of ICT.
Former Ministry of Information and Communication permanent secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo said that achievement of gender parity in ICT is being hindered by cultural practices.
“The real problem is subtle discrimination against girls and women across the society. As a result women remain under-represented across the ICT sector,” Ndemo said.
He added that lack of ICT-oriented women means girls lack role models.
“We have therefore made deliberate efforts to support girls to uptake ICT in schools,” he said.
Wangusi noted the country’s fixed telecoms infrastructure is minimal compared with the size of the population.
He said that wireless technology is easy to deploy, but speeds achieved are usually lower than those of fixed lines and most of the country has been connected to the national fibre network.
According to Wangusi, one of the options is to use proceeds from the Universal Service Fund (USF), which will receive 0.5 percent of revenues from of licensed telecoms operators.
The CCK will also inject seed capital of US$11.7 million. According to the CCK, currently men’s access to ICT is 50 per cent more than women’s.
