Hi Arsène, This article has a very provocative headline… and the article itself advocates for a regulatory environment where Nation-States can single-handedly determine what content should be zero-rated, and what should not be. That's what I'm uncomfortable with. Toll-free data has the potential to lead to censorship. Buzzfeed published a very good article, which I've linked to below, which offers a comprehensive overview of Free Basics and what makes it controversial, audacious, and yet well-intentioned. I am comfortable saying I do not like Free Basics because of what it is backdoor net neutrality, and not because it is an initiative of Facebook or because it's trying to get more users online. I want more people to be able to use and access the Internet — the full Internet, that is. http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/how-facebooks-plan-to-give-the-world-free-mobile-internet-we#.wdeewyMpO Best wishes, Ayden Férdeline On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 5:21 PM, Arsène Tungali < [log in to unmask] > wrote: Hi colleagues, Just wanted to share this with you and invite you to subscribe to oafrica (if not yet) to receive updates about ICT in Africa. My friend Tim is doing a great job gathering all these at one place. I want to specifically highlight this article about Facebook and free basics because i found it interesting in the debate about net neutrality and zero-rating: http://www.ictworks.org/2016/ 01/14/be-honest-you-hate-free- basics-because-its-facebook/ I will be happy to hear your thoughts! Happy week start! Arsene ----------------- Arsène Tungali, Executive Director, Rudi International www.rudiinternational.org Founder & Director, Mabingwa Forum www.mabingwa-forum.com Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo Phone: +243993810967 2015 Mandela Washington Fellow | ICANN Fellow | ISOC IGF Ambassador | Activist & Youth Leader Sent from my iPhone (excuse typos) Begin forwarded message: From: oAfrica < [log in to unmask] > Date: January 31, 2016 at 11:27:47 PM GMT+2 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: “General Africa ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016” plus 8 more stories - Online Africa Reply-To: oAfrica < [log in to unmask] > “GENERAL AFRICA ICT HEADLINE ROUNDUP, OCTOBER 2015 – JANUARY 2016” PLUS 8 MORE STORIES - ONLINE AFRICA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * General Africa ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 * Algeria ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 * Angola ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 * Benin ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 * Botswana ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 * Burkina Faso ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 * Burundi ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 * Cameroon ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 * Cape Verde ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 General Africa ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:27 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. GENERAL AFRICA * Uber Wants To Conquer The World, But These Companies Are Fighting Back (Map) – Forbes Smile Telecoms Raises $365M To Expand Its Broadband Coverage In Four African Countries | TechCrunch Is this box the future of internet in Africa? – CNN.com Konga: The Emergence of an African Technology Powerhouse What If Everyone Had Free 2G Mobile Internet Access? | ICT Works Africa’s anticipated internet boom could disappoint – Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Infographic: what’s next for Africa’s mobile economy? – Blog – MEF Using Smartphones to Fight Africa’s Second Greatest Killer | ICT Works The Role of Connectivity in Emergencies: A Case Study of Ebola | ICT Works Zero Rating: A Modest Proposal | Many Possibilities Be Honest: You Hate Free Basics Because It’s Facebook | ICT Works 5 Africa Tech themes to Watch from 2016-2020 — Savannah Fund Netflix Launches In 130 New Countries, Including India But Not China | TechCrunch The year in African tech hubs Masiyiwa talks of new fibre optic cable to connect many African ports | Zimbabwe Daily News Project Link: A Deeper Dive | Many Possibilities Telecoms: Making way for Data, the future king | East & Horn Africa Microsoft launches fund to improve access to affordable Internet in underserved markets The African Internet Governance Forum: Continued Discomfort with Multistakeholderism 5 African tech hubs you didn’t know about The Rhetoric of Ecosystems: Who do African tech entrepreneurs really need? | VC4Africa Still space for more startups in Africa’s fintech space BRCK Education Kio and Kio Kit Launch | BRCK 7 predictions for the African tech startup space in 2016 African tech startups funded in excess of US$185.7m in 2015 12 African startups to watch in 2016 No matter where Netflix goes in Africa it will run into these two problems – Quartz Is Africa Hiding the Next Mark Zuckerberg? The Future of Tech Talent – WSJ The Saga Behind The Jostle For dotAfrica – Long March To Africa’s Digital Presence Arab Internet Governance Forum 2015: What Remains? Views From The 23rd AFRINIC Meeting Held At The Republic Of Congo How Social Media Is Used For Election Campaigns in Africa Towards The Next Billion – Notes from The Annual Round-Up 2015 Public-Private Partnerships in Africa Could Be Improved By Startups The Risks Of Saviour Language In The African Tech and Startup Ecosystem How Digital Literature Can Affect The Culture Of Writing, Reading And Publishing Across Africa How The Internet Is Advancing A New Wave Of Thought Leaders In Africa Africa achieves only 20% broadband penetration, 85% mobile network coverage: AU The year in African incubators The year in African startups events African startups named among 100 most inspiring uses of tech VC4Africa launches open data on African startups | VC4Africa Exits of startups in Africa: inspiring examples… Who’s next? | VC4Africa Orange acquires Airtel’s units in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone SEACOM fibre services ‘turning tide for African business’ E-agriculture: How ICT is taking farming into the future ITU recognises African Presidents for ICT development Le projet “Central African Backbone” gagne du terrain – Afrique IT News Orange : Résultats positifs en Afrique – Afrique IT News MTN : Chiffres clés au 3e trimestre 2015 – Afrique IT News Résultats moroses pour Airtel Afrique – Afrique IT News Microsoft : Une nouvelle directrice pour porter l’initiative ‘4Afrika’ – Afrique IT News In Silver Spring, Maryland, a Shared Office Space Aimed at the African Tech Community – CityLab Facebook’s Free Basics is no charity | TechCentral African startups are defying the global tech slowdown – Quartz Here are the most recent African innovations you should know about – Ventures Africa Mobile Tower Sales Generate $4B In 4 Years In Sub-Sahara | AFKInsider September in Africa: Tech news you shouldn’t miss October Tech in Africa: All the news you shouldn’t miss November Tech in Africa: November news roundup December Tech in Africa: All the news you need to know from December COMESA and Microsoft collaborate to promote access, skills and innovation in 19 African Countries WhatsApp now free – CNBC Africa The Potential Problems And Profits For Netflix In Africa | TechCrunch How The Internet Is Advancing A New Wave Of Thought Leaders In Africa Viber launches public chats in Africa Is Africa Leading the Innovation Revolution? | Naadiya Moosajee Greater global interest in Africa’s tech ecosystem – MEST – ITWeb Africa VoD – 4G-LTE Has Been Launched in 24 Countries! and Netflix Takes the Continent By Storm – allAfrica.com Two views on the Data Revolution | Open Data The sweet and sour bits from the East African internet freedom report; where Kenya, Rwanda lead and Burundi trails | MG Africa Africa’s digital future won’t start until we fix this – CNN.com C’est en Afrique que la croissance des start-ups est la plus forte | Slate Afrique Africa on the cusp of a tech boom | TechCentral Think Africa’s economic boom is over? The tech space is about to prove you wrong – Memeburn The Internet Isn’t Available in Most Languages – The Atlantic Carence d’enseignants de TIC dans les universités d’Afrique From Abidjan to Kigali: My Walk to Transform Africa | Alliance for Affordable Internet 7 Predictions for Broadband Access in 2016 | Alliance for Affordable Internet Which person your African country googled the most; no home advantage here | MG Africa E-learning for Africa held back by power shortage – BBC News 20 striking facts about digital, mobile and tech in Africa; including the ‘dictator’s dilemma’ | MG Africa WhatsApp, YouTube, and BitTorrent rule the Internet in Africa Africa to reach one billion mobile broadband subscriptions by 2020 SES Empowers Africa with Launch of High-Speed Customisable Broadband Service Africa struggling to break the shackles of digital poverty – ITWeb Africa Google says Loony broadband balloons are ‘nearly perfect’ • The Register Eutelsat steps up African broadband plans with new-generation High… – Eutelsat Corporate High-speed mobile puts Africa and India on fast track – BBC News Six trends in Africa’s ICT for 2016 | ITWeb What If Everyone Had Free 2G Mobile Internet Access? | ICT Works Facebook Continues Africa Domination With 2G News Feed E-learning and the tale of blackouts – Success | The Citizen African journalists must do more to protect themselves online | IJNet Smart Africa: Venture capitalists aim to tap mobile tech wave – FT.com * Algeria ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:24 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. ALGERIA * ARPT invites bids for 4G auction ARPT to accelerate 3G deployments Doro enters Africa with Algerie Telecom – Telecompaper Le régulateur s’exprime sur la hausse des tarifs de communication – Afrique IT News Construction de deux câbles sous-marins avec l’Espagne – Afrique IT News [Algérie Télécom] Plusieurs lignes d’abonnés 4 et 8 Mbit/s Bridées à 2 Mbit/s … Que se passe-t-il ? – AndroiDZ SumVoices: Problems Without End In Algeria’s Internet Coupure du câble sous-marin: fin des travaux de réparation et rétablissement du trafic de la bande passante * Angola ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:20 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. ANGOLA * Negócios de Software: Um podcast temperado à maneira angolana KiandaHub seeks funding to become centre of Angola’s startup community Angola’s Movicel expands LTE to third province Multitel completes Luanda TD-LTE rollout with Telrad President Dos Santos Wants Dictatorial Control of the Net – President Dos Santos Wants Dictatorial Control of the Net Serviços de internet registam melhorias em Angola AFRINIC realiza workshop sobre implementação de internet de alta velocidade em Angola Administrator Wants Schools With Classrooms Connected to Internet * Benin ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:19 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. BENIN * Benin Telecoms launches country’s first LTE network Commercial ACE services officially launched in Benin MTN et Ericsson veulent connecter les zones rurales – Afrique IT News Mobile money : Le Bénin vise 12 % d’utilisateurs en 2019 – Afrique IT News #RendezNousLeBJ : quand des usagers réclament une meilleure gestion du .bj Première édition des assises nationales du numérique 10 applications béninoises qui ont marqué l’année 2015 Canal + signe avec la société d’électricité pour distribuer l’Internet – Afrique IT News Lla dynamique d’Internet passe par la fibre optique – RFI Isocel lance « Isospot », un accès Internet haut débit via un réseau Wi-fi | CIO-MAG Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision du Bénin (ORTB) – Internet : le Bénin met en exploitation un deuxième câble sous-marin 4ème Forum sur la gouvernance de l’internet au Bénin : Le Fgi déterminé à améliorer l’accès et la qualité de l’internet à tous * Botswana ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:14 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. BOTSWANA * BoFiNet completes network expansion Botswana Government establishes ICT Sector Committee Botswana urged to rethink cyber security threats * Burkina Faso ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:13 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. BURKINA FASO * Alcatel-Lucent, Burkina Faso to apply cloud networking for digital public services Lancement cette semaine du projet G-Cloud – Afrique IT News Le projet d’infrastructures de communication exécuté à 79 % – Afrique IT News La résistance aux putschistes passe aussi par Internet – Rue89 – L’Obs Burkina Faso, the rapid growth of the network SNI: La 11ème édition, un succès BurkinaVote 2015 | Observation Eléctorale en Temps Réel * Burundi ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:12 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. BURUNDI * Burundi: SOS Media Burundi’s Dangerous Reporting Mission – allAfrica.com L’ONATEL lance le projet Internet ADSL 2+ La mobilisation contre Nkurunziza continue sur Internet * Cameroon ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:06 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. CAMEROON * Nexans delivers submarine fibre optic cables to West-Africa Huawei Marine is contracted to build Cameroon-Brazil trans-Atlantic submarine cable to connect Africa to Latin America Nigeria-Cameroun submarine cable goes live MTN launches 4G in four cities Cameroon to impose 2% tax on mobile services in 2016 Telecoms operators owe XAF176bn in unpaid taxes J’ai essayé l’internet 4G de MTN Cameroon | Le Mobile Au Kamer Spacecom, Ringo launch hybrid broadband in rural Cameroon – ITWeb Africa * Cape Verde ICT Headline Roundup, October 2015 – January 2016 Posted: 30 Jan 2016 01:05 PM PST A recap of national ICT headlines from the past 4 months. CAPE VERDE * ANAC paves the way for 4G in Cape Verde with consultation Cabo Verde vai passar a ter um protocolo de Internet mais alargado Cabo Verde entre os melhores países lusófonos no acesso à Internet – Expresso das Ilhas * You are subscribed to email updates from oAfrica . To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now . Email delivery powered by Google Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States