Microsoft Battles Low-Cost Rival for Africa
By STEVE STECKLOW
WINDHOEK, Namibia -- Microsoft Corp. sees sub-Saharan Africa, among the poorest places on earth, as one of the last great computing frontiers. It wants to make its Windows software a fixture there.
To that end, it has established a presence in 13 countries, donated Windows for thousands of school computers, and funded programs for entrepreneurs and the young. It also has used aggressive business tactics, some aimed at its biggest threat in the region: Linux, a Windows alternative that costs little, and sometimes nothing at all.
In Nigeria, Microsoft proposed paying $400,000 last year under a joint-marketing agreement to a government contractor it was trying to persuade to replace Linux with Windows on thousands of school laptops. The contractor's former chief executive describes the proposal as an incentive to make the switch -- an interpretation Microsoft denies. In Namibia and Nigeria, where it has sought government contracts, the company hired family members of government officials. Microsoft says they were qualified.
In Namibia, only about 200 of the country's 1,600 schools have even a single computer.
The software giant describes its efforts in Africa as a way to bridge the "digital divide" -- the gap between computer use in rich and poor countries. In the nearly 50 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, roughly 750 million people have access to about 10 million computers, Microsoft estimates. In many of those countries, less than 1% of the population uses the Internet at all.
Critics say Microsoft's efforts to outflank Linux are steering cash-strapped governments away from the cheapest, most sensible solution. They say Microsoft has been locking African government agencies into costly, multiyear agreements to license its software. "African governments cannot afford long-term licensing contracts," says Nnenna Nwakanma of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa, a Ghanaian-based nonprofit. The money, she says, would be better spent on training people to use computers and fostering homegrown software development.
Microsoft says its pricing in Africa is fair, and that the company is investing heavily in community projects across the continent. "We believe we can help improve the lives of millions of people and potentially grow our own business in the long term," says Thomas N. Hansen, Microsoft's general manager for the region.
Some of Africa's poorest countries also have discovered that they can't meet the terms of a special $3 Windows package for "underserved" students around the world, announced last year by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. For governments to be eligible, they have to buy at least 10,000 computers that students get to keep -- an expensive proposition for cash-strapped countries. To date, Microsoft says only four countries have qualified -- Libya, Egypt, Russia and Mexico.
Efforts have been under way for several years to bring computers to Africa's masses. Computer makers, including the U.S. nonprofit One Laptop Per Child, have developed low-cost laptops for poor nations. Most can use either Windows or Linux operating systems.
Linux is "open source" software, meaning its coding is available for anyone to modify. A number of software companies sell their own versions at low prices, or even give them away and offer technical support, for a fee.
In developed nations such as the U.S., Microsoft doesn't see Linux as much of a threat to its commanding market share in software for desktop and laptop computers. But in Africa, where resources are limited and no system has completely taken root, it does.
To save money, some countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana, have begun using open-source software such as Linux in some government ministries or schools. "Many education budgets in Africa are seriously constrained," says Dorothy K. Gordon, director general of an information-technology institute in Ghana. "At the moment, there are very, very sound, robust open solutions out there."A study by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which helped fund SchoolNet, found that by 2003, it had connected 112 schools to the Internet, sometimes using solar energy. SchoolNet "has pioneered affordable strategies and solutions for schools," the report said.
In 2002, SchoolNet held discussions with Microsoft about installing Windows and Office on low-cost laptops for teachers, but the talks ended without agreement. SchoolNet's Mr. Komen says that the following year, Lizzie Range, then a Microsoft regional academic program manager, "offered me a trip for fishing in Montana." He says he believed it was to be free and was meant to co-opt him. He said no. Ms. Range referred questions to Microsoft. The company says Ms. Range, who owns a Montana fishing lodge, had suggested Mr. Komen "should consider visiting the lodge" if he was in the U.S., but "no all-expenses-paid trip was offered, suggested or intimated."
Today situation is much polarised, countries which announced to install open source delftwares are increasingly ended up with signing on the side with Ballmer...
source:
*online.wsj.com/article/SB122332198757908625.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs_slideshow
By STEVE STECKLOW
WINDHOEK, Namibia -- Microsoft Corp. sees sub-Saharan Africa, among the poorest places on earth, as one of the last great computing frontiers. It wants to make its Windows software a fixture there.
To that end, it has established a presence in 13 countries, donated Windows for thousands of school computers, and funded programs for entrepreneurs and the young. It also has used aggressive business tactics, some aimed at its biggest threat in the region: Linux, a Windows alternative that costs little, and sometimes nothing at all.
In Nigeria, Microsoft proposed paying $400,000 last year under a joint-marketing agreement to a government contractor it was trying to persuade to replace Linux with Windows on thousands of school laptops. The contractor's former chief executive describes the proposal as an incentive to make the switch -- an interpretation Microsoft denies. In Namibia and Nigeria, where it has sought government contracts, the company hired family members of government officials. Microsoft says they were qualified.
In Namibia, only about 200 of the country's 1,600 schools have even a single computer.
The software giant describes its efforts in Africa as a way to bridge the "digital divide" -- the gap between computer use in rich and poor countries. In the nearly 50 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, roughly 750 million people have access to about 10 million computers, Microsoft estimates. In many of those countries, less than 1% of the population uses the Internet at all.
Critics say Microsoft's efforts to outflank Linux are steering cash-strapped governments away from the cheapest, most sensible solution. They say Microsoft has been locking African government agencies into costly, multiyear agreements to license its software. "African governments cannot afford long-term licensing contracts," says Nnenna Nwakanma of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa, a Ghanaian-based nonprofit. The money, she says, would be better spent on training people to use computers and fostering homegrown software development.
Microsoft says its pricing in Africa is fair, and that the company is investing heavily in community projects across the continent. "We believe we can help improve the lives of millions of people and potentially grow our own business in the long term," says Thomas N. Hansen, Microsoft's general manager for the region.
Some of Africa's poorest countries also have discovered that they can't meet the terms of a special $3 Windows package for "underserved" students around the world, announced last year by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. For governments to be eligible, they have to buy at least 10,000 computers that students get to keep -- an expensive proposition for cash-strapped countries. To date, Microsoft says only four countries have qualified -- Libya, Egypt, Russia and Mexico.
Efforts have been under way for several years to bring computers to Africa's masses. Computer makers, including the U.S. nonprofit One Laptop Per Child, have developed low-cost laptops for poor nations. Most can use either Windows or Linux operating systems.
Linux is "open source" software, meaning its coding is available for anyone to modify. A number of software companies sell their own versions at low prices, or even give them away and offer technical support, for a fee.
In developed nations such as the U.S., Microsoft doesn't see Linux as much of a threat to its commanding market share in software for desktop and laptop computers. But in Africa, where resources are limited and no system has completely taken root, it does.
To save money, some countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana, have begun using open-source software such as Linux in some government ministries or schools. "Many education budgets in Africa are seriously constrained," says Dorothy K. Gordon, director general of an information-technology institute in Ghana. "At the moment, there are very, very sound, robust open solutions out there."A study by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which helped fund SchoolNet, found that by 2003, it had connected 112 schools to the Internet, sometimes using solar energy. SchoolNet "has pioneered affordable strategies and solutions for schools," the report said.
In 2002, SchoolNet held discussions with Microsoft about installing Windows and Office on low-cost laptops for teachers, but the talks ended without agreement. SchoolNet's Mr. Komen says that the following year, Lizzie Range, then a Microsoft regional academic program manager, "offered me a trip for fishing in Montana." He says he believed it was to be free and was meant to co-opt him. He said no. Ms. Range referred questions to Microsoft. The company says Ms. Range, who owns a Montana fishing lodge, had suggested Mr. Komen "should consider visiting the lodge" if he was in the U.S., but "no all-expenses-paid trip was offered, suggested or intimated."
Today situation is much polarised, countries which announced to install open source delftwares are increasingly ended up with signing on the side with Ballmer...
source:
*online.wsj.com/article/SB122332198757908625.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs_slideshow
