One of the things that baffles me about the Ugandan ITC space is the lack of collaboration among the people and businesses here. In an area where internet costs are high, IT resources are low and educated workers are sparse, there’s not a whole lot of communication between the various groups. Even among NGOs and foreign groups, everyone operates in their own little worlds, hoping no one tries to push them off the island like it’s “Survivor”.
The number of co-op spaces for businesses is virtually non-existent. I only know of one (the name eludes me), and it’s particularly good. For only a few hundred dollars a month a start-up has access to a registered address, an internet connection, a computer, fax machine and printer, a phone number and secretary who will forward calls, shared office space, and a communal conference room. The group also offers advice for incorporating a business in Uganda as a local or foreign group. For a little extra, they’ll set up an entire office operation for you, including registering all the proper documents with the government. It’s a great idea that’s very popular among start-ups in the west, especially in San Francisco, CA and Boulder, CO.
What I’d like to see here is a Co-Op organized primarily out of the need for a fast internet connection. For about $3000 a month, you can purchase a 1MB or 2MB connection here in Uganda. Alternatively, you’ll pay as much as $900 for 256kbps. I know for a fact there are few businesses paying this much for their connections so to me it would make sense for them to partner with a other groups to get something faster by pooling expenses. The faster the connection, the more businesses you can include to cover the costs.
Is it worth it? Not for every business, but there are a few internet entrepreneurs here that could greatly benefit from it. Beyond that, the big networks here MTN, UTL, Zain, Infocom, I-Way and Datanet could make big names for themselves by sponsoring or subsidizing such a space. Not only would they be garnering goodwill from the business community but such a move would be seen as progressive and innovative, making their services more sought after by the public at large. It’d be a PR move of epic proportions. The headlines would read “Company X Makes Internet More Affordable Through Internet Co-Op”, “Company X Supports Grassroots Initiative for Entrepreneurs”, “Company X Supports Uganda Startups With Internet Co-Op”. It’d become a place where local business groups would be dying to get into.
Unlike the number of cybercafe’s and businesses which do exist here (in spades), this would be a closed environment where the costs are covered by the few businesses that use it. Because there’s no ‘revolving door’ of users, each business would use the space because it would be secure. Having computers would be negligible, let the users bring their own. Put a cap on the number of people from each group who can use the connection and schedule specific times for massive uploads or downloads. There’d only be a need for one or two full time employees. A secretary for answering the phones and a network administrator for policing bandwidth, combating viruses and thwarting hackers. Everything else would belong to each business using the space, they’d pay their own staff, they’d buy anything the co-op didn’t supply and they’d pay their rent upfront to avoid problems with cash flow.
Those features alone would be worth at least $1000USD (1.6m UGX) a month or more to a business in Uganda. It’d be a godsend for anyone here doing anything with the internet. Any takers?
About the author: Jonathan Gosier is a software developer, writer and social entrepreneur. He currently lives in Kampala, Uganda where he incubates and invests in East African entrepreneurs as the CEO of Appfrica Labs. He's also a TED Fellow.
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Dreaming of an Internet Co-Op
One of the things that baffles me about the Ugandan ITC space is the lack of collaboration among the people and businesses here. In an area where internet costs are high, IT resources are low and educated workers are sparse, there’s not a whole lot of communication between the various groups. Even among NGOs and foreign groups, everyone operates in their own little worlds, hoping no one tries to push them off the island like it’s “Survivor”.
The number of co-op spaces for businesses is virtually non-existent. I only know of one (the name eludes me), and it’s particularly good. For only a few hundred dollars a month a start-up has access to a registered address, an internet connection, a computer, fax machine and printer, a phone number and secretary who will forward calls, shared office space, and a communal conference room. The group also offers advice for incorporating a business in Uganda as a local or foreign group. For a little extra, they’ll set up an entire office operation for you, including registering all the proper documents with the government. It’s a great idea that’s very popular among start-ups in the west, especially in San Francisco, CA and Boulder, CO.
What I’d like to see here is a Co-Op organized primarily out of the need for a fast internet connection. For about $3000 a month, you can purchase a 1MB or 2MB connection here in Uganda. Alternatively, you’ll pay as much as $900 for 256kbps. I know for a fact there are few businesses paying this much for their connections so to me it would make sense for them to partner with a other groups to get something faster by pooling expenses. The faster the connection, the more businesses you can include to cover the costs.
Is it worth it? Not for every business, but there are a few internet entrepreneurs here that could greatly benefit from it. Beyond that, the big networks here MTN, UTL, Zain, Infocom, I-Way and Datanet could make big names for themselves by sponsoring or subsidizing such a space. Not only would they be garnering goodwill from the business community but such a move would be seen as progressive and innovative, making their services more sought after by the public at large. It’d be a PR move of epic proportions. The headlines would read “Company X Makes Internet More Affordable Through Internet Co-Op”, “Company X Supports Grassroots Initiative for Entrepreneurs”, “Company X Supports Uganda Startups With Internet Co-Op”. It’d become a place where local business groups would be dying to get into.
Unlike the number of cybercafe’s and businesses which do exist here (in spades), this would be a closed environment where the costs are covered by the few businesses that use it. Because there’s no ‘revolving door’ of users, each business would use the space because it would be secure. Having computers would be negligible, let the users bring their own. Put a cap on the number of people from each group who can use the connection and schedule specific times for massive uploads or downloads. There’d only be a need for one or two full time employees. A secretary for answering the phones and a network administrator for policing bandwidth, combating viruses and thwarting hackers. Everything else would belong to each business using the space, they’d pay their own staff, they’d buy anything the co-op didn’t supply and they’d pay their rent upfront to avoid problems with cash flow.
Those features alone would be worth at least $1000USD (1.6m UGX) a month or more to a business in Uganda. It’d be a godsend for anyone here doing anything with the internet. Any takers?