African IT center looks to adopt usage pricing model

The Community Wireless Resource Centre (CWRC) at Makerere University is looking at a new business model for charging telecenter users. The payment model is based on usage of the limited available bandwidth, according to the center's employees.

Heavy users are being subsidized by those who use less bandwidth, since all of them pay an equal amount of money, said Dorothy Okello, a lecturer at Makerere University. Telecenter users and partners have not been trained in ways to manage bandwidth to reduce costs, she said. Okello spoke at last week's conference on telecenter sustainability issues in Lusaka.

There are hurdles to changing the current telecenter business model and expanding the centers, Okello added. Telecenters lack a way to determine how much bandwidth is being used by each of their clients. Another challenge is the hilly terrain that obstructs line of sight wireless links at local telecenters.

The CWRC has established community wireless networks in the districts of Lira, Wakiso and Kabale. The telecenters serve as communications hubs for partners and clients. There are seven partners in Kabale and three partners each in Lira and Nabweru. The partners include educational institutions, district offices, small scale enterprises and health institutions.

The CWRC also offers radio services, radio broadcasting, computer training, photo copying, arts and crafts, telephone services, a library and printing services. Engineering students help troubleshoot the CWRC's wireless network, which has been operational for a year.

Participants at last week's conference raised a variety of issues. Nabweru Community Multimedia Center Manager Ivan Gaayi Kibirige said one challenge the center faces is that the wireless equipment they are using is not available locally.

Meanwhile, Jean Ouedraogo, a consultant from Mali, called on ISPs (Internet service providers) in Africa to make the Internet less expensive in rural areas. He noted that rural people spend twice as much on access compared to what people in urban areas are spending. But, he noted, people in rural areas use twice as much airtime.