PM Mbabazi advises on broadband internet access

By Raymond Baguma  
                              
Access to broadband internet and satellite services should be prioritised because it will lead to greater economic growth in the East Africa region, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi has said.

He said that unlike in the past where access to broadband was desirable, today it is a must in developing countries because it is an enabler for access to services such as e-health, distance learning, e-government, tele-marketing as well as for residential and community internet access.

This was in Prime Minister Mbabazi’s speech read by the minister of ICT Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda on Monday at the opening of the East African regional conference on broadband and satellite communication at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

The 5-day conference organised jointly by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), the ministry of ICT and the East African Communications Organisation (EACO), was attended by over 250 delegates from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

Present was the Burundian minister for ICT Leocadie Nihazi, the director general of the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) Maj. Francoise Regis Gatarayiha. Also present was the Permanent secretary of Kenya’s ministry of communication, science and technology Dr. Floren Turuka, and Ambassador Bruce Madete from the ICT ministry of Kenya.

Mbabazi said that improving the Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in the country could assist in enhancing the possibility of attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. He noted that ICTs are penetrating sub-Sahara Africa at a high rate and provide a backbone on which most businesses depend to provide goods and services.

The Executive Director of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) James Saaka said that Uganda has 4.8 million internet users by December 2011 with an internet penetration of 3.2 internet users per 100 users.

Saaka also said NITA-U is in the process of setting up the national ICT backbone infrastructure with phases one and two having been completed.

He said the third phase will commence next financial year to connect Mutukula and south western Uganda.