Telecoms raise Sh2.6b to bridge digital-divide

Players in the telecommunications industry have raised Sh2.6 billion so far in the Universal Service Fund (USF) meant to bridge access gaps to ICT services across the country.

According to the Communications Authority (CA), the contributions to the universal service fund have been trickling in from  operators after several challenges at the onset.

“We now have Sh2.6 in the fund and by the end of this year, we project to push this figure to Sh4 billion,” stated CA Director General Francis Wangusi.

The authority is however dismayed at the slow process of mobilisation of funds, particularly given the initial demand for services that necessitated the setting up of the fund.

According to a recent study by the CA, 16 per cent and 88 per cent of sub-locations do not have access to voice or data services respectively.

 

Mobile network

This translates to about 4.48 million Kenyans without access to a mobile network and an additional 29 million who cannot access the Internet - either through broadband or through mobile phones.

Some of these areas with access gaps can neither sustain the demand nor supply for IT services and therefore, there is no impetus for service providers to invest in those regions.

The Government says it will require some $169 million (Sh14 billion) and a further $687 million (Sh57 billion) to set up base stations to be able to provide voice and data services to these locked-out areas.

CA put in Sh1 billion as seed money into the fund in the financial year 2013-2014 but the rate of contribution from other operators has been wanting hampering the growth of the fund.

“We are concerned that given the amount of money we have and the rate at which the collections are trickling in, we might take more than twenty years to hit our target,” said Wangusi.

“Initially, there were some challenges from some players in the industry to contribute but we have seen this improve in the past and we are still engaging those who are not making their contributions to do so.”

The Universal Service Fund was put in place in 2013 and mobile phone operators are required to contribute 0.5 per cent of their annual gross revenues to the fund.