The privately-owned newspaper The Post in Zambia is taking significant steps to make technological advances. The most recent measure towards improvement is not only for the publication itself but for the entire nation. The latest stage in this major project launched two years ago, is to implement a nationwide Internet Service Provider (ISP) project.
The Information Technology (IT) department at The Post estimates that the service will reach 500,000 to 1,000,000 of the countrys ten million inhabitants in the future. It specifically hopes to connect people in rural areas to the rest of the world via the Internet.
Chris Tshani, one of the members of the IT department, explains that most Zambians in remote areas arent currently connected to the Web for two reasons. First, the cost is too high. Also, the four existing ISP services currently available in Zambia havent been able to reach them yet. The departments new ISP service hopes to change all that through two initiatives. The first is to set up Internet cafés with competitive rates in remote areas of the country where Zambians still without service can go.
Vision goes beyond newspaper production Offering IT training is another initiative the department will undertake to reach its goal of making Internet access available in more parts of the country. In some places the training will be free of charge. According to Salome Kalokoni who also works at the IT department, the vision of The Post goes beyond newspaper production, allowing for such an additional undertaking as the new ISP project.
If we have the capacity and ability to contribute to the development of our nation it would be criminal to just sit back and watch it being stagnant in areas that local people can help develop. We are basically giving back to the community who has supported us since inception, she explains.
Fred Mmembe, editor of The Post, notes how important it has been for the newspaper to make improvements, such as the new ISP project, only as its means and successes have grown to accommodate them. Kalokoni agrees. This project involves huge amounts of money. Expensive material, both hardware and software, need to be procured. Its a commitment that the company has made to bring about diversification and will be executed at a pace our finances allow, she says.
A project spanning over several years In total, the project to upstart the new ISP service will cost an estimated US$100,000. This includes payment for licensing, equipment and training. Tshani says the department is not currently receiving any monetary support from outside sources for the project and has planned on exclusively funding it themselves. However, considering the considerable amount the project entails, the group is planning to look for outside support in the future.
The idea for starting the ISP project was born in March 2003. Reporters covering stories from rural areas were experiencing difficulties in sending their stories to the newspaper. This resulted in numerous backdated articles and reports. In the fall of 2003 the newspaper decided to implement a private network via satellite to combat this problem. However, in order to take advantage of having such a complex system at their disposal, the paper wanted to do more. We decided to share our Internet infrastructure with the public by providing a service that will add value to the lives of our remote communities, Kalokoni says.
Technical details towards seeing the project through are falling into place. The Post received approval to become an Internet provider on 3 November 2004. Kalokoni also points out the majority of the operations logistics are currently set up. The department is now waiting on the necessary groundwork to be put into place before executing the project.
At the newspapers headquarters in Lusaka, the IT department has already set up a building for Internet cafés. The group hopes to begin construction on an additional site in other parts of the country. According to Kalokoni, the cafés will be different from others in the city. Most Internet cafés are connected through wireless links, lease lines via copper cables and dial-up telephone lines through other ISPs. Our setup will be different in that we will connect directly to our own satellite, she explains. This will enable faster and a higher number of connections. Kalokoni says access will also be affordable. The estimated cost per minute for future customers will be one American cent.
The newspaper expects several gains An exact date has not been set for when the project will actually be up and running. However, January 2005 is the estimated start up period. Ultimately, the operation will be long term and ongoing. Progress will continue to be made according to the availability of funds.
The Post expects several gains for setting up the network, which the ISP project operates through. In getting more news from rural areas, the reason for which the network was originally launched, the publication hopes to increase circulation and advertising. Zambian people like to know what’s happening in the rural areas. That’s where there are agriculture, cultural, tourism activities, Tshani explains. Since its August 2003 inception, Kalokoni and her IT colleagues have received considerable praise for their work from groups such as the Non-Government Organizations Coordinating Committee (NGOCC). This has been in connection to both the recent ISP project and also to its offering of such services as free IT consultations to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country.