On November 6, co-hosts Ambassador King and Kenyan Ambassador Tom Mboya Okeyo welcomed ITU’s Phillipa Biggs, who briefed a gathering of Geneva ambassadors on the Broad Band Commission’s recently published Broad Band Report. Ms Biggs, an author of the Report, noted that most broad band development in Africa is taking place through mobile networks. She anticipated that new satellites coming online in 2014 would help improve mobile access and lower costs in land-locked African countries. Several guests described the powerful impact of innovative applications, such as mobile financial services for the unbanked in Kenya, and use of a cell phone app to identify counterfeit medicine. One participant noted that Africa was ahead of the curve on mobile payment and reducing roaming charges – more people were banking online in Kenya than in Switzerland.
