Today at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, Microsoft announced
a new pilot project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Microsoft will work in
collaboration with the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology
(COSTECH) and local Internet service provider UhuruOne to provide
affordable wireless broadband access to university students and faculty.
The pilot will target The University of Dar es Salaam, among others,
and we expect that tens of thousands of Tanzanian students and faculty
members could take advantage of the integrated solutions available
through the project.
Information communications technology (ICT) holds enormous potential
for many aspects of development, but is particularly key to education.
Use of ICT in schools and universities can increase productivity, enable
individualized and peer-to-peer learning and more easily adapt to meet
the needs of learners with disabilities. It is particularly critical in
emerging markets as it can level the playing field, enabling access to
resources, such as international research and books, which would
otherwise be difficult for either students or teachers to attain.
Broadband Internet is therefore becoming an increasingly crucial
component of high quality learning.
However, affordability remains a formidable barrier to broadband
access in many parts of the world. Low-cost products and services
represent a substantial opportunity. In Africa, broadband remains
unaffordable for more than 80 percent of the population. Reducing the
cost of broadband access will mean hundreds of millions more Africans
will get online.
Microsoft’s new project in Dar es Salaam will showcase one method of
addressing ICT access in higher education. Through the pilot, UhuruOne
will offer students and faculty low-cost wireless connectivity enabled
by TV white spaces,
along with Windows 8 device and service packages. TV white spaces, the
unused portions of wireless spectrum in the television frequency band,
can be used to provide affordable broadband through dynamic spectrum
access techniques. This technology has a wide range of potential
applications, including better in-building coverage, enhanced hotspot
access, increased bandwidth for mobile traffic offload and wide area
broadband access.
The new pilot in Tanzania closely follows another white spaces project in Kenya, Mawingu, which launched in February as part of Microsoft’s larger 4Afrika initiative.
In the Mawingu pilot, Microsoft is working with the government of
Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communications, Indigo Telecom Ltd.
and Adaptrum to deliver low-cost wireless broadband access to rural
locations previously lacking even reliable electricity. The pilot uses
TV white spaces and solar-powered base stations to deliver broadband and
enable new opportunities for commerce, education, healthcare and
delivery of government services.
Both of these pilots are unique in their focus on the commercial
feasibility of delivering broadband access using white spaces and in
fostering the development of new business models.
The innovation seen in the pilots is only the beginning of what is
possible through dynamic spectrum access. In current models of spectrum
regulation, most of the radio spectrum needed to operate wireless
devices is held exclusively by a limited number of private company
licensees and government agencies, resulting in a perceived spectrum
shortage or “crunch.” A more flexible and modern approach to spectrum
management would enable the use of technologies like dynamic spectrum
access to make more efficient non-exclusive use of spectrum, increase
available bandwidth and reduce its cost, and speed the process of
introducing new wireless technologies.
Fortunately, regulators worldwide – in the U.S., the United Kingdom,
Canada, Finland, Singapore and beyond – recognize the potential inherent
in technologies like dynamic spectrum access. These countries and more
have taken the first steps toward enabling use of TV white spaces on a
license-exempt basis and unleashing the benefits that widespread access
to fast and affordable broadband could bring.
No comments:
Post a Comment