"There is no Such Thing as the Digital Divide in Africa"
Tectonic's Alastair Otter today looks at the challenges of deploying wireless technology in Africa, specifically at the future for advanced technologies like WiMAX in rural deployments.
At the African WiMAX and CDMA Forum yesterday, Malcolm Brew of the Ugandan WISP Bushnet tried to put a positive spin on things. "There is no such thing as the digital divide in Africa," he said. "All the technology, like GPRS, is already here. Where there is a divide is in the content that is available to users."
Current wireless technology, Brew says, is sufficient to address Africa's needs — without waiting for WiMAX. "WiMAX is not the answer yet. It may be soon, but right now it is also not fast enough or able to broadcast far enough," he says.
The point, Brew says, is that it's too soon for a rural provider like Bushnet to take a risk on new technologies. "In the big cities like Johannesburg and Lagos there is enough money to make mistakes; it's easy to swap out units and fix problems," he says. "But in the rural areas you only get one shot at making it work. There isn't enough money to make mistakes. In most cases there just isn't any money at all."
gv said:
Apr 27, 06 at 6:08 amMalcolm Brew talks as if the Digital Divide is merely a “Last mile” problem. What about the millions who don’t have computers, reliable electricity or even the literacy to use them? And what about the high cost of the intercontinental connections? These are all Digital Divide issues too
Jeff Goldman said:
Apr 27, 06 at 10:45 amI absolutely agree — Brew’s attitude seems ridiculously optimistic — though I do understand his concern that it’s risky to deploy new technologies in rural Africa, where older solutions are likely to be more reliable.