Loki
09-23-2013, 11:00 PM
Microsoft beams Internet into Africa -- using TV 'white spaces' (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/23/tech/innovation/microsoft-beams-internet-into-africa/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews)
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130913164309-microsoft-white-spaces-kenya-story-top.jpg
(CNN) -- Step into any major urban center across Africa and you'll have no problem accessing your favorite websites, catching the latest news online or sending your friends an e-mail.
Step outside the city, however, and you'll soon have to say goodbye to the world (wide web).
Take for example Limpopo, a rural province in the northern part of South Africa, one of the country's poorest regions. "There is just no connectivity whatsoever," says Mahlo Mokgalong, a professor at the University of Limpopo, located outside the city of Polokwane.
"From the area where I am," explains Mokgalong, "the nearest Internet café will be 30 kilometers (away) -- there are even some people who travel 50 kilometers or so to get to the nearest Internet facility."
But all this could soon change.
Limpopo has been selected by Microsoft for the latest trial of an initiative using white spaces technology -- the unused channels in the broadcast TV spectrum -- aiming to bring broadband with speeds of up to 2 Mb per second to under-served rural communities.
The 12-month pilot project, which will become operational in October, will use the relatively new technology and solar-powered base stations to get five secondary schools in the province online -- all located within 10 kilometers of the university, which is used as the project's hub.
Mokgalong says the pilot will benefit both pupils and teachers.
"Their lives are going to be made easier," he says. "Some of the schools in the area have a shortage in terms of materials," adds the professor. "So it will definitely benefit the learners in those schools and expose them to computer usage."
Unused spectrum
But what is this experimental technology and how does it work?
Put simply, TV white spaces refers to the unused frequencies that are lying idle following the migration of TV broadcast from analogue to digital -- previously, these were kept clear to avoid interference with neighboring channels.
The low-signal frequencies, from around 400 megahertz to about 800 megahertz, can penetrate walls and other obstacles more easily than the traditional broadband technologies. They can also transfer data traveling longer distances before they need to be reboosted, up to 10 kilometers, which means that fewer towers or base stations are needed to cover a wider area.
All potential users need is a device with Wi-Fi capability, such as a mobile phone, a PC or a tablet, that will connect to a Wi-Fi access point that, in turn, is connected to a white space base station.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130913164309-microsoft-white-spaces-kenya-story-top.jpg
(CNN) -- Step into any major urban center across Africa and you'll have no problem accessing your favorite websites, catching the latest news online or sending your friends an e-mail.
Step outside the city, however, and you'll soon have to say goodbye to the world (wide web).
Take for example Limpopo, a rural province in the northern part of South Africa, one of the country's poorest regions. "There is just no connectivity whatsoever," says Mahlo Mokgalong, a professor at the University of Limpopo, located outside the city of Polokwane.
"From the area where I am," explains Mokgalong, "the nearest Internet café will be 30 kilometers (away) -- there are even some people who travel 50 kilometers or so to get to the nearest Internet facility."
But all this could soon change.
Limpopo has been selected by Microsoft for the latest trial of an initiative using white spaces technology -- the unused channels in the broadcast TV spectrum -- aiming to bring broadband with speeds of up to 2 Mb per second to under-served rural communities.
The 12-month pilot project, which will become operational in October, will use the relatively new technology and solar-powered base stations to get five secondary schools in the province online -- all located within 10 kilometers of the university, which is used as the project's hub.
Mokgalong says the pilot will benefit both pupils and teachers.
"Their lives are going to be made easier," he says. "Some of the schools in the area have a shortage in terms of materials," adds the professor. "So it will definitely benefit the learners in those schools and expose them to computer usage."
Unused spectrum
But what is this experimental technology and how does it work?
Put simply, TV white spaces refers to the unused frequencies that are lying idle following the migration of TV broadcast from analogue to digital -- previously, these were kept clear to avoid interference with neighboring channels.
The low-signal frequencies, from around 400 megahertz to about 800 megahertz, can penetrate walls and other obstacles more easily than the traditional broadband technologies. They can also transfer data traveling longer distances before they need to be reboosted, up to 10 kilometers, which means that fewer towers or base stations are needed to cover a wider area.
All potential users need is a device with Wi-Fi capability, such as a mobile phone, a PC or a tablet, that will connect to a Wi-Fi access point that, in turn, is connected to a white space base station.