News from Sunday, October 18th, 2009 and Monday, October 19th, 2009:

1. Internet costs in East Africa will decrease once competition increases following the connection to the SEACOM cable next month:
   Why Internet costs remain high despite SEACOM {East African Business Week}
2. High volume users, in addition to small business and even individuals will see reduced rates this month:
   Dar first to lower Internet rates in EA {The East African}
3. In the next five to seven years, all homes in Africa may have been connected with cheap broadband and internet access as well as other new offering like HDTV and IPTV:
   ITUapproves G.hn as standard for wired home networking {Vanguard}
4. A number of blockages are emerging that need to be overcome if Africa is to take full advantage of its new bandwidth assets:
   Lower bandwidth prices: what can be done? {MyBroadband.co.za}
5. Emirates Telecommunications Corp. plans to spend $825 million on investments in Libya where it’s bidding for a license as part of a plan to double subscribers by 2012:
   Etisalat Eyes $825M Libyan Investment, Expansion {Wall Street Journal}
6. IT staff are upgrading their training to match new technology in Africa, and the demand for personnel is high:
   Rush to roll out fibre optics training {Business Daily Africa}
7. Deadlines for goals established at the Connect Africa Summit in 2007 are coming up: What needs to be done?
   Adding flesh to EA’s fibre backbone {The East African}