Internet resellers and consumers’ perception Of submarine fiber optic cables in tanzania

A large percentage of the developing world, particularly in Africa, is still without fiber optic connectivity. The purpose of this research was to explore the perception of both internet resellers and consumers in Tanzania market in relation to adoption of Submarine Fiber Optic Cables (SFOC) in the Country. The objectives were: to examine the perceived operational cost benefits, to evaluate the perceived reliability of the technology and also to evaluate the perceived usefulness. The analysis used the Dependent and Independent variables in creating a Model that explains the relationship between the factors; Operational cost, Reliability and Usefulness of technology against the dependent variable “Adoption of technology”. Empirical results show that both internet resellers and consumers agree with the fact that SFOC technology is reliable, useful and has brought a relief in operational cost. To establish this fact, the researcher performed a regression analysis to ascertain the level of determinacy of the above variables in adoption of new the new technology. The results indicated that, to both internet resellers and consumers at all three variables; operational cost, reliability and usefulness are positively related to “Technology Adoption” variable at 95% confidence interval. Also, more than one third of respondents reported not to have heard any policy governing ICT industry. They were even skeptical about its availability that the attribute “Policy Availability” received very low score as compared to other attributes. It is concluded that both internet resellers and consumers prefer, in the order of reliability, operational cost benefit and usefulness as the main factors for adoption of new technology in developing countries. The study recommends more TCRA involvement in disseminating ICT policies to stakeholders, especially on effective cost structure and the proper way to overcome a major challenge of last mile connectivity in the market.