Kigezi High School - School Based Telecentre (Kabale)

1) Kigezi/Kabale area

Location

  • 450 km from Kampala (borders with Rwanda)
  • Altitude: 1200-2300m
  • GPS: S01° 19' 34" x E30° 2' 20"

Local conditions

  • Kabale district: 500 000 people
  • Kabale municipality: 40 000
  • Clostest town:
  • Temperature: 15-20 degrees all year long
  • Landscape: hilly (no mountains)
  • Rain season: March - May, light rains: September-December
  • Main source of income: peasant farmers, wine production, furniture manufacturing, footwear production, coffee processing, printing,brick making, metal fabrications, wolfram mining, tin and stone quar rying.
  • ICT
    • 3 mobile operators
    • fixed telephony

2) Telecentre: Organization and Business Model

  • Location: Rugarama hill, 3km from Kabale town

History

  • In operation for 4 years

Contact Person

Name: Asaph Arinaitwe
Age: 32 years
Position: Manager
Languages: English, Rukiga, Luganda and Kinyarwanda
Employment:Full time
Email:
Phone:

Employees

  • 5 people (2 female)

Services (offered today)

  • Computer training
  • Internet/Email
  • Library service
  • Photocopy
  • Printing
  • Telephony
  • Most beneficial: computer training, internet/email
  • Least beneficial: printing and telephony
  • Major source of income: Shs 5000 per studnets/term (ICT fund)
  • Shs 70000: ICT training during holidays

Target groups

  • Serves mainly the 900 students and 54 teachers of the school

Internet access

  • PC's: 24 computers (15 are networked)
  • Internet access: Yes
  • ISP: AFSAT communications Ltd
  • Access method: VSAT
  • Cost: $250 /month
  • Bandwidth: N/A
  • Other ICT equipment:

3) Telecentre Environment

  • Access to roof top: Yes
  • Secure storage: Yes
  • Thefts: No
  • Shares premise: N/A
  • Masts:
    • MTN (200m)
    • UTL (4km)
  • Location: 3km away from Kabale town

Power

  • Primary source: Hydro electricity
  • Alt. source: generator
  • Load shedding: every night

4) Partners

Partner PC's Estimation Kachwekano Kigezi Comment
Uganda Collega of Commerce 40 185 000 4 km 2 km NLOS
Kabale Secondary School 14 37 000 4 km 2 km NLOS
St Maria Gorotti SS 3 111 000 4 km 4 km NLOS, Rushoroza Hill
St Maria Gorotti PS 3 37 000 4 km 4 km NLOS, Rushoroza Hill
St Mary's Collage 10 37 000 4 km 4 km NLOS, Rushoroza Hill
Hornby Highschool 10 N/A N/A 2 km LOS to Kigezi
NAADS 1 37 000 4 km 2 km LOS to Kachwekano
Lake Bunyonya Development Company 1 37 000 LOS to Kachwekano, located on island in the lake
Bubaara SS 14 37 000 10km 3 km NLOS
NARO 16 74 000 0m LOS to Kachwekano, 20m

Other potential partners:

  • Africa College of commerce
  • Africa2000 Network
  • Bishop Kivengere Muyebe
  • Bishop Barham University College
  • Bubaare S.S
  • Bushara Island Community tourism centre
  • Care
  • College Butobere
  • College Kigezi
  • Edirisa Byona Magara
  • Kabale Trinity College ICT Centre
  • L. Bunyonyi Dev’t
  • NARO
  • National Teachers College Kabale
  • National Agency Advisory Service
  • Prime West
  • St Maria Goretti Primary School
  • St Mary's College
  • Voice of Kigezi

5) Questions

  1. Internet access: What bandwidth do they have in Kigezi Telecentre?
  2. Power backup: How are the telecentres and partners equipped in termsof UPS’s?
  3. Radio tower in Kachwekano:
    • Who is the owner of the radio tower (contact person, email)?
    • How high is the tower?
    • What is the deal they have with MTN for renting the mast? For how long? Do they have the the sole right to the mast?
  4. Cartography: We would like you to take a detailed map of the Kabale area and point out
    • All partners (also the ones that were not visited but were identified in the report)
    • The 2 Telecentres
    • The radio mast + the 2 GSM masts
    • All clear LOS between partners, telecenters and masts