KARISIMBI PROJECT SOON TO SET DIGITAL

KARISIMBI IN NEXT YEARS NEW PROJECT

iN one of the next years Karisimbi project soon to be set digital next year as an attempt to improve information around the area is alleged that this new project it would assis tourists who visit the area for its mountain gorill treking in the virunga ranges near parc de-national ALI, RWANDA - Rwanda's Karisimbi tower project is set to go digital by March next year, the coordinator has revealed. Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital format.
"We have finished the pilot phase of digitization and we are now going into the final phase", Mr. Agustin Iyako, project coordinator told East African Business Week in Kigali.

He said the digitization is set for March next year while Communication Navigation Surveillance -Air Traffic Management (CNS-ATM) needs thirty months to be in place. CNS-ATM requires about $80million investment to satisfy Comesa region.
However, digitization and content development for Rwanda can be calculated in phases depending on the need of the project.
Karismbi project is an ICT infrastructure on the Peak of Karisimbi Mountain at 4,507 meters above sea level in Rwanda's Northern Province.
The project was put in place by the government in 2005 to enhance electronic communications and broadcasting capabilities in the country and in the neighboring countries.
The infrastructure seeks to provide low cost, high-capacity communications capability for both rural as well as urban areas, and expand coverage for mobile phone, Internet, TV and FM radio coverage and access.
One of the crucial tasks of the project is to provide sky safety and surveillance capability through a Communication Navigation Surveillance - Air Traffic Management (CNS-ATM), already endorsed by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in 2006.
The success of the project could mean lowering the cost of international bandwidth from about US$3,500 per megabyte/month to only US$1,500 per megabyte/month.
However, the officials say that the project can provide an output of about 30 to 40Mbps of bandwidth. Once fully operational, it is expected that the cost of communications in Rwanda will come down on average by of about 50%.
With the help of the project, a number of selected rural schools and hospitals have been connected with Digital Video Broadcast Return Channel Terrestrial (DVBRCT) and Broadband Internet services as a proof of concept.
Through the project, various e-application services on its network like virtual tourism, e learning, e-health, e-commerce, e-government, tracking and surveillance of goods on transit are expected to be available.
Currently the tower has been light up and other supportive infrastructure like houses and helicopter pad for landing are in place. By partnering with COMESA, the coordinator is optimistic that the project stands more chances of being financed on the regional level.