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IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2010AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ACCESS AND USAGE OFTHE INTERNET IN KENYARuth Diko Wario and Theo McDonaldDepartment of Computer ScienceUniversity of Free StateABSTRACTPrevious studies on Internet activity in Kenya were mostly concerned with numbers: how many hosts, how many users orsubscribers and how much bandwidth. Little is known about what Kenya users actually do on the Internet, their usagepatterns, and interaction between Internet governing frameworks and policies, services and usage demographics andbehaviours. This study is intended to answer these questions and to lay a foundation for future studies in terms of accesstechnologies and behaviour patterns of the Kenya Internet population. It provides a basic understanding of the KenyaInternet market to institutions involved in the development of the Internet market. It thus facilitates the development ofsound policies that will drive Kenya’s information economy. As an outcome of the study a profile of the characteristics ofa typical Internet user in Kenya will be provided.KEYWORDSInternet access technologies, Internet usage patterns, Internet user profile, Kenya1. INTRODUCTIONThe use of the Internet was first initiated by the military and academics. It has now, in a short while,progressed from being a scientific means of communication to the main method of exchanging informationfor almost everyone (Attaran and Vanlaar, 2000). As a growing and rapidly diffusing technology, the Internetis an innovation that promises to become the economic reinforcement for all successful countries in the newglobal economy (National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 2006). Understanding whois connected to the Internet and how it is being used is critical to the development of sound policies in thisarea (National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 2006). What is currently facinggovernments and non-governmental organisations alike is the challenge to expand the connectivity of theInternet in their different countries to even grassroots level.Previous studies (Centre for Democracy and Technology, 2000; Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and Adeya, 2002),however, revealed that several factors contribute heavily to this challenge. These include the poor state of theunderlying telecommunications infrastructure, high telephone call charges, high Internet Service Providers’(ISP) charges, advances in access technologies, policies and regulations around Internet market development,and income and socio-economic status. The majority of African countries do not possess basic infrastructure.In some cases, efforts have been made, but proved to be insufficient. In others, technological infrastructure isobsolete as a result of the rapid developments of digital technologies (Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and Adeya, 2002).The objective of this study was to investigate the Internet access technologies available in Kenya and theInternet usage patterns among Kenyan users. The goal was to establish a profile of a typical user, his/herperception of the Internet and what the future holds for the Internet in Kenya. This study is intended to lay afoundation for future studies in terms of access technologies and behaviour patterns of the Kenya Internetpopulation. It provides a basic understanding of the Kenya Internet market to institutions involved in thedevelopment of the Internet market. It thus facilitates the development of sound policies that will driveKenya’s information economy.The rest of the paper will be structured as follows. In the next section background information of how theInternet developed in Kenya will be provided. That will be followed by the methodology used in conductingthe research. Consequently the results of the study will be provided and discussed.57