The East African

The pastoralist regions of East Africa have been variously described as vast, pristine swathes of land, teeming with wildlife and livestock amid nature's unspoiled beauty; or drought-prone hardship areas, marginalised by successive governments, a conflict-ridden zone. But James Nguo wants to add another adjective to this standard narrative: Tech-savvy.

The region's satellite television market is set for a new wave of competition as new players enter the market.

Last week, Kenyan-based Wananchi Group announced it had received a $57.5 million boost from an international consortium of investors, kick-starting the firm's ambition to launch satellite television services as it expands operations into Africa.

Kenyans replace their mobile phone handsets more often than their counterparts in Uganda and Tanzania, a new survey by TNS International shows, signalling that East Africa's biggest economy could be more savvy to emerging trends in the ICT industry.

Kenyans expect to pay less ($53) for their next mobile handset compared with Tanzanians ($58) while Ugandans expect to pay the least amount of money ($45) for their next mobile device purchase.

Use of plastic cards to purchase goods and services in East Africa is on the rise, as consumers shift from cash and cheques, latest statistics show. However, the value of the transactions is way below that of leading economies in Africa.

After over six years of boardroom talk on implementation of mobile number portability, Kenya's mobile telephony scene looks set to roll out the system beginning Friday (March 25,2011).

The plan has been subject to intense debate between industry regulator, Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) and the four main mobile phone operators--Safaricom, Airtel, Orange and YU--who are likely to see their operational environment greatly unsettled by the development.

The number of mobile phone subscribers in Kenya has grown to 22 million people, according to the Communications Commission of Kenya quarterly report for September 2010. The rise, attributed to price wars that pushed calling rates down, is the highest in the past three quarters. In June last year, Kenya had 20.1 million subscribers.

Kenya has the highest number of people accessing Internet facilities and services within the East African Community. According to a study conducted by TNS Research International in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu from September to November 2010, out of a population of 40 million, about four million (10 per cent) have access to the Internet.

Nairobi — Globetrack International will launch a social media monitoring service, following the rising uptake of social media and the Internet in Kenya.

Established mid this year, GTI -- a local media monitoring company -- becomes the first company in East Africa to operate a social media monitoring system. It covers over 150,000,000 blogs, 25,000 user forums/message boards and review sites, 95 per cent of video content and more than 450 video sites.