Internet in Kenya

As my reader may be aware, we have had a broadband connection problem since I arrived in Kenya. We had had a telephone line and broadband installed not too long ago, but as the cables are copper and unprotected, someone stole a length of cable along the road. It took Telkom 10 days to find the fault and it still hasn't been resolved. In fact since the problem occurred, more cable has been stolen (it makes very good washing line!).

Telkom have been sort of helpful - they have lent us a dongle whcih we have to charge up. But it is only offering a maximum speed of 236kbps, as against the Safaricom dongle we borrowed, which boasted 7.2 Mbps - big difference!

Oh how I miss my "no limit, flat rate" account at home!

Of course, as the dongle connection is not flat rate, we are being very careful  about how long we are connected. This means that apart from emails, we are doing little via the Internet. We pass a comment ot two on Twitter, just to let the world know we are still alive!

Oh well, I suppose we ought to be thankful for any sort of connection.

It Can Only Get Better Part III

I have just heard that down the road from our cyber café, which will soon have to close, another IT consultancy has shut up shop and ceased trading, and its premises are available.

We have put in a bid on the place. After all, people that go there expect to find a computer geek, so we hope that we will pick up custom from the previous trader.

We are also going to start a "college" for people who are terrifed of computers, as well as office services such as typing up documents and spreadsheets.

Oh well, here's hoping!

Contact Lost

It is a few days now since I have had any contact with antone in Kenya. This is unusual. I usually have contact with Vincent in Kisii at least three times a week. I usually get an email from Nairobi, and Mzungu Chick usually posts something in her blog.

But, nothing!

I know it has been raining hard in Nyanza Province, and that may have kept Vincent at home (he has to go to a cyber café to contact me). Then again, I heard a rumour that the cyber café that he works in is closing down - no more free Internet!

So I really don't know what is going on in Kenya, at grass roots level, at the moment. Still, no news is good news - isn't it?