ISPs and consumer protection in West Africa Archibald Worwui

ISPs are doing very good job in providing internet access Don’t be carried away please!!!!!!!!

Areas of interest Effect of Internet on socio-economic activities ISPs (Internet Service Providers) Arrival of ISPs into the region Contributions of ISPs Challenges facing ISPs in west Africa Consumer Issues with ISPs Rising to the Issues Discussion

Arrival of ISPs in the West Africa 1st Stage mid 90s – 2000 – Dial-up – Lease lines 2nd stage 2000 – 2008 – DSL – SHDSL, etc 3rd stage Till – Wireless – Broadband – Rapid increase in laying of undersea cable – Forming regional service providers – Telecom deregulation

Effects of internet on socio- economic activities in West Africa New economic activities (new industry) New business model Lower cost of communication Increase interactions between social grouping All aspect of life in West Africa In short revolution and life changing

ISPs Connectivity An Overview Culled from wikimedia

Contributions of ISPs Africa 560 public ISPs covering all major towns ISPs + Technology = Access to Internet Internet + Education = Great Opportunity

Challenges facing ISPs in west Africa High cost of bandwith Rapid changing of technology and it associate continuous investment Competition in the ISP market Telcom monopoly (backbone provider and ISP) Delay is supply line of necessary equipment Lack trust among local ISPs High cost of imported equipments Foreign exchange restriction and fluctuations High taxes

Challenges facing ISPs -2 Lack of local IXPs in the region Lack of education (high illiteracy rate) – Low target market – Few highly qualified technical personnel Limited technical capacity High level of brain-drain

Looking forward Number initiative to overcome this challenges – AfrISPA (ISPs Association in Africa)ISPs Association in Africa – ATU (Africa Telecom Union)Africa Telecom Union – PAVIX – ISPs coming together to provide undersea cables – More linearization of the Telecom industry – Training – Introduction of ICT in to the primary education system

Characteristics ISPs Industry Internet access market is primary consumer market It is important to have effective consumer protection ISPs are mostly self- regulating industry Consumer do not have much control on sensitive personal information

Consumer Issues with ISPs Poor service quality Billing problems Poor technical supports Dodgy adverts with so much technical terms which consumer do not understand Pre-dispute mandatory arbitration clauses Long time to resolve connectivity problems Inadequate explanation of interruption problem Weak signal

Consumer Issues with ISPs -2 Poor customer relationship Control over information provider by the consumer after it life period Ethical issues More……………………………………..

Rising to the Issues Legislation- government set of the roles of the game – Develop user policy – ISPs services policies Formation of public services regulatory bodies – PURA Consumer parliaments Formation of consumer association – CAFON, GNAC, CPAG – Organizing interaction between consumers and ISPs

Discussions ?? ??? ????

Still Asking? Thanks What is the promise and the danger of the Internet? – Hubert Dreyfus, Professor of Philosophy