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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>This might be of interest to some; mainly colleagues from Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Fahd Batayneh<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>ICANN<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Sent:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Tuesday, August 30, 2016 3:57 PM<br><b>Subject:</b> Press Release: Internet Society Study Points to Reasons for Slow Internet Growth in Africa<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center;background:white'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Internet Society Study Points to Reasons for Slow Internet Growth in Africa</span></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center;background:white'><b><i><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'> </span></i></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center;background:white'><b><i><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Launches “Promoting Content in Africa” at African Peering and Interconnection Forum in Tanzania</span></i></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center;background:white'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'> </span></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>[Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – 30 August 2016]</span></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'> – Internet access and availability are not enough to get people online, says a new Internet Society study released today at the African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) taking place 30 August - 1 September in Tanzania. The “Promoting Content in Africa” report reveals that while significant improvements have been made in Internet infrastructure, most notably in mobile networks, Internet adoption rates are slowing in many countries because users lack compelling reasons to connect.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>According to the study, content and services are the main factors in making the Internet desirable, especially when the subject matter is relevant and in a language that users can easily understand. A lack of local content and services is affecting the number of new online users in Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, local language content is key to bringing new users online, as many are not comfortable reading in English or French. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>“Promoting Content in Africa” outlines the barriers to the development of local content and offers recommendations to improve local content availability and distribution. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>In the Sub-Saharan countries studied by the Internet Society, the majority of international and locally developed content is hosted outside the country, typically overseas. This results in slow Internet speeds and higher access costs. In Rwanda for example, of all websites using the .RW domain name, only a small fraction are hosted in Rwanda. The majority of sites are hosted in Europe and the U.S. Hosting content locally is key to making the Internet faster and more affordable for users.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>As mobile financial services are becoming increasingly available in the African continent, monetizing mobile content is still a major challenge. “Faster and better Internet access can help entrepreneurs create new local content including services and apps, but developers face barriers when it comes to payment mechanisms in order to monetize content,” said Bastiaan Quast, Internet Society Fellow and co-author of the report. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>The region faces a combination of barriers, including the inability to pay and receive payments for mobile apps, which serve as a major channel for content distribution in most African countries. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Detailed results of the report will be presented at the seventh annual AfPIF which begins today in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Hosted by the Internet Society in partnership with the Tanzania Internet Service Providers Association (TISPA), the event serves as a platform to expand Internet infrastructure and services across Africa by bringing together key players to address the opportunities in interconnection, peering, and traffic exchange on the continent. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Internet Peering is a business relationship whereby two Internet service providers agree to provide access to each other’s customers at no cost. Internet users throughout Africa benefit from peering, which enables faster and more affordable access.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>“Removing barriers to content availability and distribution will have significant impacts on the Internet ecosystem in Africa. It will help to make existing international content more accessible,” explained Dawit Bekele, Internet Society Regional Bureau Director for Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>“AfPIF is the only event in Africa focused on building the Internet by building relationships. It plays a key role in bringing together different parties to increase local traffic exchange across the continent,” he added. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>AfPIF aims to build cross-border interconnection opportunities by facilitating discussions on Internet infrastructure challenges including capacity building, development of Internet Exchange Points (IXP) and local content.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Previous editions of AfPIF have been held in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Morocco, Senegal and Mozambique. Last year’s event featured 232 participants from 57 countries and an online participation of 978 people in 77 different countries.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>The “Promoting Content in Africa” report can be accessed here: <a href="http://www.internetsociety.org/promotingcontentinafrica" target="_blank"><span style='color:#0000E9'>www.internetsociety.org/promotingcontentinafrica</span></a> (English)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/fr/SusciterlinteretpourlesdonneesenAfrique" target="_blank"><span style='color:#0000E9'>https://www.internetsociety.org/fr/SusciterlinteretpourlesdonneesenAfrique</span></a> (French)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Visit AfPIF 2016 websites both in <a href="http://www.internetsociety.org/afpif-2016/home" target="_blank"><span style='color:#0563C1'>English</span></a> and <a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/afpif-2016-fr/" target="_blank"><span style='color:#0563C1'>French</span></a></span><u><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#0563C1'>.</span></u><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>About the Internet Society </span></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>The Internet Society, <a href="http://www.internetsociety.org/" target="_blank"><span style='color:#0563C1'>www.internetsociety.org</span></a>, is the trusted independent source for Internet information and thought leadership from around the world. It is also the organizational home for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). With its principled vision and substantial technological foundation, the Internet Society promotes open dialogue on Internet policy, technology, and future development among users, companies, governments, and other organizations. Working with its members and Chapters around the world, the Internet Society enables the continued evolution and growth of the Internet for everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Media Contacts:</span></strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'> Betel Hailu, <a href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','hailu@isoc.org');" target="_blank"><span style='color:#0563C1'>hailu@isoc.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Allesandra deSantillana, <a href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','desantillana@isoc.org');" target="_blank"><span style='color:#0563C1'>desantillana@isoc.org</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>