2.2 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) In Kenya the information and communication technology usage profile has been dominated by the telephone, fax, postal services, television and community radio. Until 1997 this infrastructure was controlled and owned by the government. The government gradually has been reducing its control over this infrastructure by liberalising the market for television and community radio broadcasting. By 2002, there were eight television stations as compared to one a decade ago. Community radio broadcasting has also been liberalised but only FM stations are permitted to broadcast in the liberalised market. The government still holds a strong grip on the telephone, postal and electronic infrastructure. It has split the telecommunication and postal service organisation into three organisations, namely, the Postal Corporation of Kenya (Posta), Telkom and the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK). Telkom controls all telecommunication traffic in Kenya. Safaricom and Kencell, providers of cellular mobile telephone services, are, however, challenging Telkom’s dominance. In 2002, Telkom had a total of 330,000 telephone connections in urban and rural areas and the ratio of urban to rural connections was 60:40 despite the fact that 80% of the population of Kenya is located in rural areas. About 70% of the telephone connections were based on analogue technology and the remaining connections were based on digital technology. Although the IMF and the World Bank have emphasized the need to privatise Telkom, the Kenyan government has been procrastinating. The current supply of telephone lines is but a drop of water in the ocean in a country with a population of 30 million people. Besides, the existing telephone lines are congested, unreliable and very expensive. Telkom suffers from bureaucratic inertia and the process of obtaining a telephone line is protracted and difficult. According to Kane (2001), the cellular phone industry has managed to connect 70% more subscribers since it began operating in 199? than Telkom had achieved in the past thirty years. Another key player in the telecommunication sector is the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). Its purpose is to licence and regulate the communications sector in Kenya (http://www.cck.go.ke/aboutcck/director.htm. CCK began operating in February 1999. Its role is to promote the development of telecommunication and postal services and to ensure universal access to communication facilities. It also serves as the regulatory body for the communication sector by awarding licences, regulating pricing, establishing interconnection principles and managing the radio frequency spectrum. Electronic communication using computer networks began to gain ground in Kenya in the 1990s and have expanded rapidly. However, computer-based communication depends on the availability of the 8