Joint submission to public consultation on Kenya's Revised National Broadband Strategy

Kenya is currently in the process of adopting the 2018-2023 National Broadband Strategy, with the aim of providing equitable access to secure broadband for all citizens. The Communication Authority of Kenya invited stakeholders drawn from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia to provide their views, suggestions and recommendations on the Revised National Broadband Strategy (Download PDF 177KB). The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) in collaboration with Rhizomatica, the Internet Society (ISOC), the World Wide Web Foundation/Alliance for Affordable Internet, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa, Tunapanda Institute and Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) submitted their commentary on the proposed strategy. Some of the recommendations included in the submission were:

• Having a consistent definition of local bottom-up citizen models.

• Licence exemption or reduced regulatory fees for non-profit telecommunications cooperatives.

• Building capacity for local communities to be actively involved in the deployment and maintenance of broadband infrastructure.

• Adopting dynamic spectrum licensing such as TV white space technology.

• Adoption of open government data principles in telecommunications and internet infrastructure.

• Mainstreaming gender-responsive approaches to capacity building and innovation.

Read the full submission here.

Read also "Kenya National Broadband Strategy: APC and partners advocate for bottom-up, community-driven approaches to bridge connectivity gaps" here.