The New Times (Kigali)

Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremye, together with visiting Chinese official, Li Yuanchao, yesterday launched a state of the art e-Learning facility at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).

The laboratory was established at a cost of US$ 500,000 (approx. Rwf 300 million) donated by Chinese IT giant, Huawei. The facility enables students to follow lectures, communicate and see each other in several locations. One can also record the whole lesson and follow it afterwards.

The long awaited liquidation process of Rwandatel's assets that are to be put up for sale in order to pay off its debts has attracted a number of big players from the market, including the firm's former majority share holders, LAP Green, a top official has disclosed.

Internet users are set to enjoy cheaper rates as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) promised to slash interconnectivity fees during the first half of next year, a move that underlines the growing competition.

Rwanda has the highest internet charges in the East African region even after the landing of undersea fibre optic cables. Sam Nkusi, the Executive Chairman of Altech Stream Rwanda, told The New Times, that Rwanda needed an affordable pricing and true broadband, predicting that subscription fees would go down in first quarter of 2012.

Owners of blackberry phones in the country cannot enjoy the full potential of smart phones until the handset maker, Research in Motion (RIM), awards a license to the service provider, MTN Rwanda.

Some of the features that are inaccessible to BlackBerry users in Rwanda include watching videos online, Flash players and AppWorld that gives subscribers access to several applications and downloads.

So far there are about 5,000 BlackBerry users subscribed with the local provider of BlackBerry services, MTN Rwanda.