Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Edited by The
Wireless Internet Institute
1.BookFrontPages 11/19/03 9:50 AM Page 1
The Wireless Internet Opportunity for Developing Countries is co-published by the Information for
Development Program (infoDev) of the World Bank; the United Nations ICT Task Force; and the
Wireless Internet Institute (W2i), a Division of World Times, Inc., to build on the momentum set by the
conference of the same name cohosted by the Task Force and W2i at UN Headquarters in New York on
June 26, 2003.
This reference document serves as a basis for seminars and roundtable discussions to be held at the
World Summit on Information Society in Geneva in December 2003 and provides a multi-annual living
knowledge base with ongoing updates in both electronic and printed form.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing form the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to
the Wireless Internet Institute, A Division of World Times, Inc., 225 Franklin St., 26th Flr., Boston, MA
02110, USA: www.w2i.org.
The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this document are entirely those of the
authors and the Wireless Internet Institute, and should not be attributed either to the World Bank, its affil-
iated organizations, or members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent; or to
the United Nations ICT Task Force, its members, or subsidiary bodies.
This book is distributed on the understanding that if legal or other expert assistance is required in any
particular case, readers should not rely entirely on statements made in this book, but should seek the serv-
ices of a competent professional. Neither the Wireless Internet Institute, the UN ICT Task Force nor the
World Bank accepts responsibility for the consequences of actions taken by those who do not seek nec-
essary advice form competent professionals on legal or other matters that require expert advice.
ISBN 0-9747607-0-6
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Contents
v Welcoming Message from the Secretary General
Kofi A. Annan
vii Acknowledgements
xi Preface
xiii Executive Summary
Introduction
1 The wireless Internet opportunity for developing countries
By Mohsen Khalil
Technology Primer
7 On spectrums and standards, architecture and access points
By Kevin C. Kahn
Regulatory Environment
17 A global standard meets local policies and politics
By Axel Leblois
19 Voice-over IP in potentia
20 FCC regulates the technology
21 Microsoft chief reports on WRC-03
Remote Regions
43 Rising to the challege
3Linking Everest, Khumbu Region, Nepal
47 Rainforest IP
3Xixuaú-Xipariná Ecological Reserve, Jauaperí River, Brazil
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Shared Access
69 Scaling Africa’s ivory towers
3Partners in Education, Saint-Louis, Senegal; Njoro, Kenya
73 Village replication
3Sustainable Access in Rural India, Tamil Nadu State, India
Adaptive Technologies
79 Off the map
3DakNet, Karnataka State, India
83 Beyond ‘off the shelf ’
3Jhai Remote IT Village Project, Vientiane, Laos
Rebuilding Nations
89 Wi-Fi Wild West
3Internet Project Kosovo, Pristina, Kosovo
93 Picking up the PCs
3UN Development Program, Kabul, Afghanistan
99 Guidelines to Countries
Vendor Resources
107 Understanding the wireless Internet value chain
By Amir Alexander Hasson
119 Glossary
125 Index
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THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
WELCOMING MESSAGE TO “THE WIRELESS INTERNET
OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES” CONFERENCE
New York, 26 June 2003
It gives me great pleasure to send my greetings to the Wireless Internet Institute, the
United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force, and all
other organizers and participants in this conference on wireless Internet opportunities
for developing countries.
As you know well, the swift emergence of a global “information society” is changing the
way people live, learn, work, and relate. An explosion in the free flow of information and
ideas has brought knowledge and its myriad applications to many millions of people, cre-
ating new choices and opportunities in some of the most vital realms of human endeavour.
Yet too many of the world’s people remain untouched by this revolution. A “digital
divide” threatens to exacerbate already-wide gaps between rich and poor, within and
among countries. The stakes are high indeed. Timely access to news and information
can promote trade, education, employment, health, and wealth. One of the hallmarks of
the information society—openness—is a crucial ingredient of democracy and good gov-
ernance. Information and knowledge are also at the heart of efforts to strengthen toler-
ance, mutual understanding, and respect for diversity.
Wireless technologies have a key role to play everywhere, but especially in develop-
ing countries and countries with economies in transition. With considerable speed and
without enormous investments, Wi-Fi can facilitate access to knowledge and informa-
tion, for example by making use of unlicensed radio spectrum to deliver cheap and fast
Internet access. Indeed, it is precisely in places where no infrastructure exists that Wi-
Fi can be particularly effective, helping countries to leapfrog generations of telecommu-
nications technology and infrastructure and empower their people.
For this to happen, however, we urgently need to reach a clear understanding of Wi-
Fi’s development potential, identify the obstacles, and develop a realistic plan of action
that would bring together all stakeholders—governments, the private sector, civil socie-
ty—in a coherent, synergistic, and sustainable endeavour. This conference offers a valu-
able forum for doing just that. Your recommendations will also help guide the work of
the UN Information and Communication Technologies Task Force. I wish you every
success and look forward to working with you on one of the leading development chal-
lenges of our times.
Kofi A. Annan
v
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Acknowledgements
The publishers—the Information for Development Program (infoDev),
United Nations ICT Task Force, and the Wireless Internet Institute (W2i)—
wish to acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for their
contributions to “The Wireless Internet Opportunity for Developing Countries”
conference, research, and publication program.
CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
vii
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CONFERENCE FACULTY
FIELD PRACTITIONERS
Intel Corporation
Nomadix
Radiant Networks, Plc.
Telesym, Inc.
Tropos Networks
Vivato, Inc.
Sarbuland Khan, Director, Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, United Nations
Sergei Kambalov, Deputy Executive Coordinator
Samuel Danofsky, Program Manager
Maria Lehtinen, Special Assistant to the Director
Enrica Murmura, Media and Outreach Officer
Daniella Giacomelli, Program Manager
Julianne Lee, Senior Policy Advisor to the Chairman
Linda Sanchez, Administrative Assistant
INFODEV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
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Preface
he promises of wireless Internet technologies have generated much interest on
xi
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Executive summary
he Wireless Internet Opportunity for Medical band (ISM) at 2.4 Ghz; and a newer allo-
xiii
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Because many developing countries are adoption of new regulations supporting license-
advanced in the adoption of wireless cellular exempt bands and their free use for commercial
telephony, the topic of the future convergence purposes.
between IEEE 802.xx standards and cellular stan- Even where license-exempt bands are author-
dards of the International Telecommunication ized, additional regulations still limit its use. Some
Union (ITU) is obviously important. The 802.16 countries impose license fees on individual equip-
standard, or WiMax, was defined for broadband ment for hotspots and access devices. In the
distribution to fixed points on reasonably large- absence of a clear regulatory framework support-
channel allocations, whereas mobile telephony ing competition in telecommunications, access to
standards are designed to transport voice on nar- an Internet backbone may be made either impossi-
row bands. Both, however, are evolving toward ble or cost-prohibitive by incumbent telecoms or
each other’s position: 802.16e supports some through licensing by regulatory authorities.
form of nomadic applications while 3G, with a In this context, voice-over IP is perceived as
high level of mobility, offers mid-bandwidth data potentially disruptive and has triggered forceful
services. 4G and 802.20 may still be at the con- opposition from the governments of many devel-
ceptual level, but developing countries will need to oping countries. For the purpose of bringing
remain well informed in order to optimize existing wireless Internet to underserved areas, however,
infrastructure, given that these technologies will VoIP may play a very positive role in providing
continue to evolve. inexpensive telephone access and helping local
Amid the fast pace of technological advance, wireless Internet service providers to benefit from
regulatory authorities are faced with a number of higher traffic.
issues. Defining international unlicensed bands in The IT industry views the June 2003 decision
support of wireless Internet and other applications of the World Radio Conference as a long-term pos-
has been long and arduous, but the process has itive impact, opening an unlimited field of oppor-
come to fruition thanks to the active role of several tunities—a win-win on a worldwide basis for serv-
key constituents including the US Federal ice providers, hardware and software companies,
Communications Commission, the European and most importantly customers.
Union, the ITU, and the IT industry. The 2003 Today’s wireless economics are already com-
World Radio Conference decision to allocate the pelling: Wireless local loops are about one third
2.4-Ghz and 5-Ghz bands to license-exempt appli- the cost of copper or fiber land-line service, while
cations, as voted on by participating countries, was packet-based broadband computer networks cost
a landmark for future universal adoption. Today, one ninth of land-line service. Ease of set-up, use,
41 percent of developing countries have regula- and maintenance are affordable for both users and
tions supporting license-exempt bands, compared providers. Tests in rural settings show that a $30
with 96 percent among developed countries. And wireless PC card can provide good connectivity up
many developed countries, including the United to a half-kilometer radius with line-of-sight and up
States and the European Union, have regulations to 20 kilometers with antennas and repeaters. And
that now support the commercial use of license- Wi-Fi access points can be purchased for $80.
exempt spectrum. Developing basic asynchronous services may be
One of the issues among developing countries is the best starting point for rural connectivity,
the delicate transition from telecom monopolies to including voice messaging, e-mail, and batch
free competition and a deregulated environment. downloading.
Legacy infrastructures, old regulations, lack of MIT Media Lab researchers have developed
competition, the wish to preserve monopolies’ and demonstrated a combination of wireless tech-
cash flows, and political issues related to control nology and asynchronous delivery that brings the
over information all contribute to the slow the cost of asynchronous Internet service by two
orders of magnitude below land-line expenses. Headquarters on June 26, 2003, dozens of case
These observations suggest that developing-coun- studies were gathered, of which twelve are collect-
try governments should adopt regulatory frame- ed here to showcase some of the variation in oper-
works that support independent wireless Internet ating environments, sizes, business models, and
service providers and that do not restrict voice- purpose.
over IP applications. Whether motivated primarily by development
The inspiring mobile-telephony success story objectives, for profit, or by the challenges of
of GrameenPhone in rural Bangladesh shows how deployment, the field practitioners in these pio-
entrepreneurial villagers can be recruited to adopt neering case studies share the goal of bridging
a technology that provides them greater connectiv- the digital divide using broadband wireless tech-
ity and therefore economic opportunity on a whole nology. Each found a unique solution for over-
new scale. GrameenPhone has built the largest cel- coming roadblocks.
lular network in the country, in numbers of sub- The case studies analyzed for this compendium
scribers, with investments exceeding $300 million appear in five categories revealing core aspects of
and a subscriber base of more than one million. Its wireless broadband deployments in developing
rural program is available in more than 35,000 vil- countries:
lages, providing telephone access to millions while 3Remote Regions provide the harshest environ-
fostering a generation of village micro-entrepre- mental test of the technology and of the implemen-
neurs. GrameenPhone is an example of how wide- tation models (pp. 43-50).
spread connectivity can dramatically unleash 3Wireless Internet Service Providers are prima-
human potential and increase productivity. The rily driven by profit but can also contribute to
model may be applicable with limited variations to regional development (pp. 53-66).
wireless Internet services that generate local 3Shared Access provides connectivity to regions
employment and ownership. that cannot afford individual access (pp. 69-76).
Experienced industry leaders, however, point to 3Adaptive Technologies rethink off-the-shelf
the many obstacles encountered by start-up wireless solutions to overcome local limitations (pp. 69-
Internet service providers in developing countries. 85).
These include operating in areas with low dispos- 3Rebuilding Nations can draw from the models
able income, low initial demand for wireless servic- above to rebuild a communications infrastructure
es because of a small PC base, difficulty aggregating and jumpstart social and economic development
local demand, and limited financing options. A pri- (pp. 89-95).
mary question, therefore, is how the revenue/cost While examining these case studies, analysts of
equation is solved. Moreover, despite favorable reg- the Wireless Internet Institute confirmed key
ulations and stated support for ISPs, incumbent analysis offered by experts on a more “macro”
telecoms may create significant hurdles with preda- level:
tory pricing, untenably high bandwidth rates, denial 3In most areas, there is simply no wired alterna-
of interconnections for long periods, delays in tive available either for geographic and social envi-
repairing leased lines, or failure to meet contractual ronment, economic, or maintenance reasons.
levels of services. Similar issues are encountered in 3Most case studies show early adopters innovat-
developed countries, but in developing countries ing as they set-up their network.
ISPs have less economic and legal leverage. 3Inter-connection equipment and service to a
Case studies of field deployments of wireless backbone are a major expense.
Internet networks raise the many issues discussed 3In remote areas, power supply remains a difficult
above in a multiplicity of operating environments. issue.
In the run-up to the UN ICT Task Force and 3Explaining the benefit of broadband and getting
Wireless Internet Institute conference held at UN the “buy-in” of local communities is crucial and
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xv
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demand aggregation is often necessary, including bypass the regulatory environment altogether
through community centers or kiosk models. when the authority is not too aggressive. Still oth-
3When people connect to the Web, they want to ers engage in the bureaucratic process, seeking
communicate, and e-mail and voice and video mail required permissions and even trying to form
are the most popular uses of wireless broadband alliances with incumbents.
networks in the developing world. 3Authorities may be more convinced by projects
3The Internet’s biggest advantage over other com- with a social-development outcome.
munication technologies is that it can provide an Local governments are encouraged to develop a
array of solutions and products for e-governance, greater awareness of the potential benefits of wire-
e-health, e-education, and e-commerce. less Internet connectivity, to foster local initiatives,
3Incumbent telecom operators in the developing and carefully adjust their regulatory frameworks,
world guard their terrain carefully. Rural areas are taking into account worldwide standards, barriers
marginal markets for incumbents, so entrepre- to competition, local Internet backbone access
neurs may face few initial barriers, whereas in conditions, and the monitoring of early wireless
cities, the entrepreneur is likely to face the incum- Internet experiments.
bent and regulatory authority head on. Entrepreneurs and field practitioners looking
3Different responses to these entities, however, for resources or simply seeking assessments of
present varying risks. Some operators choose to industry and technology trends will find an analy-
directly confront telecom operators and authori- sis of the wireless Internet value chain followed by
ties, lobbying against them domestically and inter- a directory of firms and technologies. For ongoing
nationally, which can lead to confiscations, project online updates to this book, visit and contact the
termination, and even criminal charges. Others Wireless Internet Institute at w2i.org.w
INTRODUCTION 1
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Global connectivity is on the rise, thanks largely to cellular technology. In 2001, the number of fixed lines and
the number of cellular lines crossed. Since then, we have had more mobile phones than fixed lines. The growth
rate of mobiles is significantly higher than fixed lines. The blue dots on the map show all the countries and
regions where there are more mobile phones than fixed lines. Today, there is more mobile telephony in devel-
oping countries than in industrialized countries.
Although it has mostly been concentrated in the industrialized world, there has been an explosion in Internet
growth. You can see almost exponential growth in Internet users, and in almost every single country today there
is some form of Internet connectivity.
The access gap is narrowing, but the information gap is widening. In terms of telephone connectivity, the gap
between the high-income countries and the middle-income countries is narrowing. But if you measure the gap
by connectivity of Internet hosts, the gap is widening in a very serious way.
The Internet access gap is widening, which is very concerning. Although the gap has been narrowing among
regions of the developing world, access has been concentrated in the 10 largest economies. There are serious
gaps between different regions. For example, the gap between East Asia and South Asia is huge. There are
huge gaps between rural and urban (improving somewhat) and between the educated versus not educated.
INTRODUCTION 3
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SOURCE: PYRAMID
The growth rate of mobile phones is expected to be significantly higher than fixed-line growth. We’re approach-
ing a point where for every fixed line in Africa, we have two cellular lines, at least. If you compare this with
North America, it’s the opposite.
Among the Least Developed Countries, we have experienced a 50- to 70-percent compounded rate of growth
for mobile phones on an annual basis. That’s great news. Much more was done in the past 10 years than over
the previous 50 years, and much more can be done, but the challenge is how to do it. On the Internet, though
the growth rate is high, we’re starting from an extremely low base.
TECHNOLOGY PRIMER
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W
ireless technology is revolutionizing
the way in which PCs, PDAs, and other uses of radio where significant chance of interfer-
similar devices access the Internet at high ence between different radio users would exist if
speeds. This is happening both in the last 100 control is not exercised. For example, TV channels
meters where it provides a mobile alternative to are allocated so that multiple broadcasters do not
Ethernet, and in the longer-reach access networks operate so near to one another that receivers would
where it complements technologies like DSL and see their reception garbled.
cable modems. This primer provides a technical For some types of radio use, requiring licenses is
overview of the various wireless technologies cur- too cumbersome, so many national regulators have
rently or soon to be in use, how and in what spec- also defined unlicensed or license-exempt bands.
trum they operate, and where they each fit in a To maintain order in such bands, there are gener-
larger Internet-access architecture. ally rules limiting the power and other technical
properties that a radio operating in the bands can
Basic Spectrum Issues use. Because of the typical low power used, users
The radio spectrum is used by a wide variety of are expected to be able to use such bands either
users ranging from consumer radio and television, without mutual interference or by managing any
to weather and aircraft radar, to data communica- interference among themselves without govern-
tions. Ranges of frequencies are assigned to vari- mental legal help.
ous uses based on history, technical properties of The most commonly discussed unlicensed
the various frequencies, and other considerations. band, available virtually worldwide today, is in the
Because radio waves do not respect national bor- vicinity of 2.4 GHz. This band is often called the
ders, international agreements attempt to harmo- Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) band because
nize uses across multiple countries where conflicts its initial allocation was to allow radio emissions by
could occur or where there is benefit using com- various sorts of equipment. This is the band that is
mon equipment. For this primer, we are interested being used today for Wireless Local Area
in the use of frequencies for short- to medium- Networks (WLAN) according to the IEEE
range data communications. 802.11b/g standards and branded by an industry
To control how various bands are used, national group as Wi-Fi.
regulations have commonly required licenses for Another commonly discussed set of bands are
operators to be permitted to use particular frequen- in the space between 5 GHz and 6 GHz where
the IEEE 802.11a standard is defined to operate.
Kevin C. Kahn is an Intel Fellow and Director of the The unlicensed allocations in this band have
Communications and Interconnect Technology Lab, been the subject of recent international harmo-
Corporate Technology Group, Intel Corporation. nization efforts through the ITU at the 2003
TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 7
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World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC- collisions that require stations to waste time
03). (For more information, see www.itu.int/ retransmitting their information. The combination
ITU-R/conferences/wrc/wrc-03/index.asp.) of these managed and unmanaged periods, howev-
er, creates a stable system that allows all the net-
The Technology Lineup work users to fairly share the limited capacity of
802.11 the channel.
In the 802.11 family, the main standards are
The major standard body for defining unlicensed designated 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11g. These
wireless communications schemes is the IEEE differ primarily in their definition of what PHY is
where these standards are part of the 802 series of used, though each expects to operate using about a
standards. The best known of these wireless stan- 20-MHz wide channel. The first version to be
dards today is the 802.11 series which describe deployed operated in the 2.4-GHz band and was
WLANs. These radio systems allow communica- designated 802.11b. The 802.11b standard
tions within a relatively small area, typically within defines operations at several different data rates,
about 100 meters of a central access point (AP). ranging from 1 Mbps up to 11 Mbps in each chan-
A typical use of 802.11 today would be to place nel. How much data you can successfully transmit
APs strategically around an office, each connected through a channel is primarily related to how
to the wired Internet, and thus allow any PCs or strong the signal is compared with the background
other data terminals in the area to get access to the noise. This is similar to how well you can hear
network. These APs may be deployed privately someone talking being a function of how loud they
and secured so that only, for example, employees speak compared with how noisy the environment
of a business can use them, or they may be is. When the signal-to-noise ratio is good, you can
deployed publicly in a common place such as an achieve the higher data rates. Note that the farther
airport or train station where any users may use away from a transmitter a receiver is located, the
them (either for free or for a service charge). weaker the received signal will be. Thus poor sig-
Any wireless data communications standard nal-to-noise ratios can be the result of interference
primarily consists of two layers. The first is a defi- or simply that the source is distant.
nition of a protocol that lets stations using the The 802.11b PHY was designed to allow
radio channel know when it is their turn to trans- devices to efficiently share spectrum and to
mit and how actual data is packaged with informa- improve on earlier transmission schemes that had
tion about who it is for and where it starts and inferior performance in the presence of radio inter-
stops in the signal. This layer is called the Media ferers (noise) and reflected signals (called multi-
Access Control layer, or MAC. Below this layer is a path). The 802.11b PHY uses a scheme called
definition of how an actual radio signal is modulat- Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) to
ed to encode information on it, which is called the transmit signals over the air. DSSS provides some
physical layer, or PHY. protection against interferers such as the radiation
For 802.11, the MAC is optimized for a set of from microwave ovens or 2.4-GHz cordless
equally important systems as one typically finds on phones. 802.11b’s lower data rates (1 Mbps and 2
a local area network. A central AP manages the col- Mbps) use a technique called Barker coding in
lection, giving each station that needs to send conjunction with DSSS which can work in poor
information a turn to do so. Since the AP may not signal conditions; whereas 802.11b’s higher data
always know that a remote system needs a slot, rates (5.5 Mbps and 11 Mbps) use an alternative
there are also periodic times when any station may technique called Complementary Code Keying
transmit without permission. Because multiple sta- (CCK) in conjunction with DSSS.
tions may decide independently to do so at the There are only a limited number of distinct 11b
same time, this sort of transmission is subject to channels available because typically this band is
less than 100MHz wide and other radio alloca- capabilities being built into more consumer
tions on either side mean that it isn’t practical to devices. For example, all mobile PCs that use
expand the band internationally. To make available Intel® CentrinoTM Mobile Technology come
more WLAN capacity, regulators have agreed to equipped to access the network using 802.11. We
allocations between 5 and 6 GHz. 802.11a is a ver- are also beginning to see PDAs and even phones
sion of the standard designed to operate in these that use 802.11 to communicate.
bands, and it is now beginning to come on the mar- While 802.11 standards are designed technical-
ket. This version of the standard also differs from ly for short-range operations, some users have cre-
the 802.11b standard by using more advanced ated somewhat nonstandard equipment that is
PHY techniques that allow it to have a maximum capable of longer-range operation of up to multiple
data rate of 54 Mbps. A more recent standard kilometers. The required modifications include
called 802.11g applies similar advanced PHY special antennas, boosted power output, and
techniques in the 2.4 GHz band to achieve opera- changes to detailed aspects of the data encoding to
tion up to 54 Mbps. Looking past 802.11a and allow for the longer time taken by signals that need
802.11g, work continues in the standards body to to travel such distances. A better and standardized
look at even more advanced PHY techniques to solution to longer-range data communications can
continually improve the robustness and speed of be found in a parallel standard that has recently
WLAN systems. been developed, IEEE 802.16.
The 802.11 standards committee also defines
other aspects of the standard in associated specifi-
802.16
cation such as 802.11e which will describe quali- As with 802.11, 802.16 is actually a family of
ty-of-service enhancements and 802.11i which standards, some completed and some still in
will improve security protocols. progress. This family also has an associated indus-
As 802.11 systems have become increasingly try group, WiMax. The original 802.16 standard
available and useful, we are now seeing 802.11 defines a MAC suitable for an access system based
TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 9
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at a central base station and serving multiple users GHz and 3.4 GHz in various countries that are
scattered over a relatively large area whose radius licensable for use with an access data service.
can be many kilometers. This version of the stan- 802.16a looks to be a good choice for these sys-
dard also defines a particular physical layer (PHY) tems as well. An operator licensed to have exclu-
that is suited for use in bands between 10 and 66 sive use of part of one of these bands could offer
GHz. The standard is optimized for providing an broadband wireless access in more densely popu-
access service to, for example, an entire building lated urban or suburban areas without interfer-
where multiple systems within the building can all ence concerns.
be attached to the single building transceiver. One key issue for wireless access systems such
It is helpful to think of 802.16 as an alternative as 802.16 is whether they require line-of-sight, or
to a wire or fiber for delivering an Internet connec- LOS, between the receiver and the base station or
tion to a site. Unlike 802.11, this standard does not whether near LOS or non-LOS is sufficient.
narrowly define the frequency bands that should Ideally, LOS would not be required, but the reality
be used nor limit the channel width. It can there- is that radio waves are always attenuated when
fore accommodate whatever bands, licensed or passing through obstacles so that non-LOS per-
unlicensed, that may be available to an operator. formance will always be poorer than LOS per-
For example, with a 20-MHz channel available and formance. For good performance, the best design
a strong signal between the base station and will be an end station that mounts at least the
remote site, the capacity can be as high as 96 Mbps antenna on the outside of the building facing gen-
while a 28-MHz channel in a similar situation erally in the direction of the base station. While
could achieve over 130-Mbps. On the other hand, possibly complicating installation slightly, this will
remote sites at the fringe of reception of a base sta- assure the best range and performance for an
tion might only be able to achieve a 32-Mbps 802.16 deployment.
capacity. Of course, as a multipoint system expect-
ed to serve many customers, these capacities must
3G and beyond
be shared across all the served users. It is worth briefly relating these data communica-
Another member of this standards family, tions standards with the evolution of conventional
802.16a is optimized for operation in frequencies cellular telephony as it adds data communications
between 2 and 11 GHz. It is also yet more flexible services. 802.16 starts from the premise of deliver-
in channel width choices, including channels as ing broadband data to fixed points. For example, it
narrow as 1.75 MHz to allow it to be used where generally assumes a reasonable wide channel alloca-
only small allocations are available. This version is tion. To this it is adding mobility capabilities via
attracting considerable commercial attention now 802.16e, which will allow it to support at least a
because this range covers a number of attractive nomadic model; that is, one where an end station
bands found around the world. doesn’t move much while operating but may move
First, the unlicensed bands described earlier around between sessions. It has also been adding
fall into this range. 802.16a systems are long- support for narrow channels. Higher degrees of
range systems and therefore at first look do not mobility will also require considerably more sup-
appear attractive for use in unlicensed bands port for handing active connections off between
where interference among competing operators base stations. On this infrastructure, one can then
could become a problem. However, particularly in think about running Voice-over Internet packets, or
rural and developing markets it is likely that there VoIP, to provide standard telephony service.
will be sufficient unlicensed spectrum and little 3G cellular systems start with the premise of
enough competition for it that operators may find delivering highly mobile voice services and
its use quite reasonable. increasing narrow- to mid-bandwidth data servic-
There are also commonly available bands at 2.5 es. Their infrastructure is optimized for high
mobility including high-speed handoff. Data serv- wired parts of a deployment. Wireless systems
ices are carried over a somewhat more complex have a number of advantages of which the two
technical structure designed for these needs. most notable are the portability of the end systems
For the immediate future, what infrastructure to and the ability to deploy without extensive laying
deploy will be determined by previous investments of physical wires or fibers. It is important to real-
in infrastructure (e.g., an existing 2G cellular sys- ize, however, that wireless systems pay for these
tem) or the specific needs (e.g., good data services advantages: They will never be as high perform-
to remote rural areas with little mobility needs). ance as a fiber deployment. Consequently, it is best
Looking forward, 4G systems are at this point pri- to see wireless systems as complementing rather
marily just a name. A good working assumption, than replacing wired ones.
however, is that 4G systems will be a marriage of Ideally, fiber would be deployed as deeply into a
the best attributes of 3G cellular and packet-based deployment as affordable and practical. Whenever
wireless access systems. new “wires” need to be deployed to carry data,
There is still uncertainty about where such stan- fiber systems are clearly the right choice. Wireless
dards will be developed. Data standards have been would then be used to extend this connectivity to
defined to data mainly in IEEE while cellular stan- a larger number of locations and to ultimately con-
dards have come from the ITU. A new group with- nect end systems to the network. However, sensi-
in the IEEE, 802.20, has begun to look at highly ble deployments will utilize good copper connec-
mobile systems from a data-centric view. At this tions that may already be in place to feed wireless
point, it is too early to decide how 802.20, contin- systems, and wireless access systems may well feed
ued improvements to 802.16, and various possible locations such as offices that may have an internal
3G follow-on standards will relate to one another. wired Ethernet system in place. Thus, most real-
One other trend worth noting is toward end- world deployments will use both wired and wire-
user devices that can interact with multiple types less technologies in a cost-effective mix to reach
of networks. Clearly, PCs are intelligent enough the most users.
devices that they can easily support multiple
radios or flexible radios that will permit them to
Mesh and multi-hop approaches
communicate using multiple standards, choosing Up to this point, wireless systems have been dis-
the best available network be it 802.11, 802.16, or cussed as consisting of base stations or access
a wide-area cellular technology such as GPRS. points (APs) that feed a collection of end systems.
Smaller devices including PDAs and voice hand- But more complex wireless systems make good
sets will also evolve to support multiple networks. sense as well. For example, a simple case would
For example, a carrier may support a handset that consist of an 802.16 wireless-access system with
uses Voice-over IP (VoIP) over 802.11 if it finds an antenna on the side of a building that is wired to
itself in a place where such a WLAN is present but an 802.11 AP inside the building with which end
switch to a standard cellular mode otherwise. systems communicate.
Considerable technical work is still required to A more complex example is a multi-hop 802.16
define the standards needed to make smooth tran- system. Rather than feeding an 802.16 base station
sitions across such disparate networks work well. directly with a fiber, one might feed it with a link
from another 802.16 base station. Of course, care-
System Architecture Issues ful channel selection is required so that the feeder
Wired versus wireless options signal from the first base station does not interfere
with the distribution signal sent from the end base
Any wireless access network eventually gets station, but such a system might avoid consider-
connected to the wired Internet, so it is important able construction of fiber links when serving
to understand the role of wireless with regard to sparsely populated areas. Technical considerations
TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 11
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will limit the effectiveness of this approach. into future standards. In a mesh design all, or at
Increasing the number of hops will add to the net- least very many, end-point nodes also act as relay
work latency seen by the end systems which can points to other end-point nodes. Essentially traffic
eventually adversely impact some applications to many users is carried through radios at their
such as voice. neighbors’ homes. This reduces the number of
In designing multi-hop links that will carry explicit base stations that are needed by turning
latency sensitive traffic, one needs to define an every end point into a sort of mini-base station. For
acceptable latency budget and then compute the cases where the end points to be served are very
latency added for each relay point. Generally, a sparse, this may reduce deployment costs by elim-
few hops can be tolerated without unacceptable inating central base stations in favor of adding
degradation to voice traffic (i.e., latencies worse small incremental costs to many user stations. For
than what is experienced by cell users or general more dense deployments, mesh systems can
VoIP users today). The specific limits will depend increase reliability and capacity because there may
on the specifications of the actual equipment, be many traffic paths back to the Internet.
however. Another limiter to multi-hop deploy-
ments is that the traffic from outlying base stations
An example total architecture
will fan in eventually to a common link to the We can summarize much of the discussion
high-performance fiber backbone, and the total above by considering a figure (above) that illus-
capacity of the common links can eventually limit trates many of the deployment options. Any real
total system performance. deployment may only use a subset of the cases
An even more complex system architecture that illustrated, but all the cases will likely appear in
may be appropriate for some deployments is a some deployment.
mesh network. Such designs are still in the The effective combination of 802.16, 802.11,
research stage today but will likely be incorporated and fiber and wired infrastructure can support a
wide variety of cost-effective Internet access rang- development. For example, while mobility may not
ing from traditional office access to remote agricul- be important to providing access to the residents
tural and community systems supporting rural of a farm, it may be important to the visiting busi-
development. It is worth noting that while the nesspeople who are negotiating for the exports of
mobility benefits of wireless access may be viewed their crops or the introduction of new economic
as mainly of interest as a luxury for developed development projects to the area.
economies, they may be beneficial even in devel-
oping economies as a way to support such activi-
Future Directions
ties as development construction, outdoor indus- Radio technology and standards are still very
tries such as farming, drilling, or mining, or even much in a period of active and successful develop-
roving governmental services teams for things like ment. The performance of the technologies is still
medical outreach. limited by the amount of cost-effective computing
power that can be applied to the problem. The
The Importance of Standards problem of reconstructing a data stream from a
Standards are discsussed at length above, and it received encoded radio wave is one that is solved
is quite important to realize how important stan- with complex signal processing mathematics. As
dards actually are. First, standards create a way for processors get faster, more complex algorithms
the best technical ideas from academic and indus- become cost effective and the performance of digi-
try developers to be combined and amplified. The tal radio systems improves. While there are cer-
process of creating the standard subjects the pro- tainly theoretical limits to such improvements,
posed ideas to broad review and generally results today there is still quite a way to go to reach them,
in considerable technical improvements on any and therefore we should expect continued tech-
individual company proposals. nology evolution.
Of great importance to purchasers of the ulti- For example, the 802.11 group has begun dis-
mate equipment, standards generally result in cussions regarding the next generation of the
much lower costs much sooner. This is because family of standards in a workgroup called
the existence of a standard creates a common mar- 802.11n. While it is too early to know what the
ket into which competing companies sell. performance improvements will be, it is reason-
Furthermore, the size of that common market is able to expect that the group will target transmis-
larger than any submarket based on proprietary sion speeds above 100 Mbps and/or improve-
approaches would be. In the high-technology ments in the range over which transmissions at
world, costs are strongly a function of volumes so high speed can occur. In addition to continuing
the creation of a single high-volume market leads to increase the complexity of the PHY encoding
to much lower costs than a fragmented market schemes, there are also entirely new techniques
would. Standards also permit higher degrees of becoming available, such as “smart antennas”
integration of equipment, which also contributes that will use processing power to benefit applica-
to lower costs. tion performance.
For communications gear, particularly mobile Radios that use the spectrum in different ways
equipment, standards are critical to allowing users are also being considered. One example is a tech-
to move around countries and the world while still nique called Ultra Wideband, or UWB. In this
having their equipment work correctly. While this approach, vast bands of spectrum are used at
may not seem to be of direct importance to the use extremely low power to transmit information very
of communications equipment to connect the citi- fast but only over very short distances. The
zens of developing countries, it will in fact enable approach allows multiple uses of the same spec-
those citizens to more easily become part of the trum since this UWB signal is so weak that exist-
world economy and benefit from the resulting ing users of the spectrum see it as a small amount
TECHNOLOGY PRIMER 13
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of noise that can be ignored. In other schemes, riences. For example, it will become possible to
smart or agile radios are being considered that can build phones that can seamlessly roam from 802.11
listen to spectrum bands to see if they are current- systems to 802.16 systems to cellular systems. This
ly in use by their official owner, and if not, oppor- could permit a single handset to operate with a
tunistically use them to transmit data. Such radios business as an extension but then behave as a cellu-
could allow much more total efficiency in the use lar phone when its user departs the building.
of spectrum than our more typical fixed alloca- About the only thing that is certain about the
tions permit. Many of these new radio approach- directions radio technology will take over the com-
es, however, will require that regulators redesign ing years is that it will become increasingly digital,
their spectrum regulations to be more flexible. It increasingly “smart,” and continue to change. The
will be critical for regulators to understand how biggest impediment to the deployment of these new
they can accommodate such radically new technologies may well be the inadvertent barriers
approaches lest these radios be precluded from created by old regulations that preclude deploy-
operating in their countries. ment. The technology challenges will therefore be
Closer to the application layers, there is also shared among the technologists, the regulators, and
much work ongoing in providing better user expe- those who wish to deploy useful technologies.w
REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT
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1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 17
I
nternational institutions and national gov- new wireless Internet service providers to operate.
ernments regularly publish announcements The pressure exerted by such organizations to
about the attribution of spectrum portions to limit the access to new technology and service
certain applications and service providers. Beyond providers is, in some cases, encouraged by political
the simple sharing of a limited spectrum, however, restrictions on information access. In most cases,
the challenges facing wireless technology imple- the result is a wireless market strewn with proce-
mentation in the developed and developing worlds dural hurdles that can prevent new actors from
involve many different actors. These include gov- entering the field.
ernments, regulatory agencies, local governments,
and in many developing countries, incumbent tele-
Unlicensed Spectrum
com monopolies. Only 41 percent of developing countries allow
unlicensed use of wireless Internet devices and/or
Incumbent Telecoms spectrum, compared with 96 percent of developed
While developed countries have started or countries (see Table 1). Most newcomers to the
completed deregulation of the communications telecommunications field in emerging economies
markets, many emerging economies still run their face red tape and then a series of fees to obtain
telecom networks through a single, often state- licenses for equipment and/or spectrum use. For
owned organization. These monopolies are the example, countries charge license fees for hotspot
de facto sole providers of technology, transmis- equipment or sites and one-time or annual license
sion, and content. fees for access-point devices.
Over the years, these organizations have invest- Most researchers, analysts, and entrepreneurs
ed heavily in wire and cable communications infra- see the need for a comprehensive regulatory
structure and are not yet ready to support wireless framework for using limited spectrum. Presently,
initiatives, much less to open the way to what may the unlicensed wireless spectrum was set around
be perceived as potentially disruptive low-cost the 2.4-Ghz band. In June 2003, the
competition. This protective stance is often exac- International Telecommunications Union made
erbated by financial constraints because wire and available the 5-Ghz band for license-exempt tech-
cable infrastructure have been financed through nology deployment.
debt. Quite often, incumbent telecoms also main- The 900-Mhz band, unlicensed in the United
tain tight control of national Internet backbone States, is presently used by the international GSM
wireless phone standard, used in Western Europe
Axel Leblois is Co-Founder of the Wireless Internet and in many developing countries.
Institute and President of World Times, Inc. Within those internationally defined zones,
*Based on the proceedings of “The Wireless Internet Opportunity for Developing Countries” at UN Headquarters on June 26, 2003
REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT 17
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Voice-over IP in potentia
A
lthough the issue of voice-over IP is not more efficient (lower bandwidth required),
specific to the wireless Internet, it lower-cost networks. Examples include Chad,
deserves special attention. The develop- Egypt, Venezuela, South Africa, and Nigeria,
ment of voice-over IP has been extremely rapid with many more in transition. Countries are tak-
in most developing countries, driven by inter- ing a further step by allowing the licensing of IP
national traffic bypassing traditional circuit- telephony providers. An example is India, whose
switched accounting and international settle- regulations once prohibited most commercial
ments. Consequently, many telecoms have been forms of voice-over IP to protect its telecommu-
initially concerned about related losses of rev- nications industry. The net result of these trends
enues, especially where international calls sub- is a likely rapid expansion of voice-over IP in
sidize local traffic. This explains the very strong developing countries both from an international
opposition to voice-over IP expressed at multi- traffic and domestic network standpoint.
ple occasions by certain developing countries. Although the debate on voice-over IP in the
At the same time, others have concluded that context of wireless Internet has not yet
voice-over IP could yield significant savings in emerged, it seems that well-designed local reg-
hard currency if national telecoms use the serv- ulatory frameworks supporting the deployment
ices of international voice-over IP operators. of voice-over IP by local wireless Internet serv-
This strategy would eliminate the settlement ice providers could potentially accelerate both
rate balancing tariffs, saving around 50 percent the availability of telephony in underserved
of the cost of terminating international calls. areas and vastly improve the economics of wire-
Voice-over IP technology has been adopted less Internet by adding voice to data traffic.w
by several developing-country telecoms to build —Axel Leblois
REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT 19
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cal knowledge necessary for implementation and still pretty much undefined. The legal and economic
maintenance. This is particularly true in remote framework for existing providers and newcomers to
underserved areas where the expertise to sustain a develop those systems should comprised of incen-
working system may be unavailable. Technical tives for sustainable and financially sound programs.
education programs should be delivered by A competitive regulatory environment, free
providers on an ongoing basis, in cooperation with access to spectrum within guidelines, alliances
international institutions and regulatory bodies. between private sector and government bodies,
Last but not least, guidelines are needed to help and between incumbent telecommunications
assess the economic sustainability of wireless providers and newcomers, and an international
Internet access systems. Today’s last-mile solutions agreement on the basic framework available to
can bring access to the most underserved and poor wireless Internet systems can nurture the develop-
areas. The financing of such networks in itself does ment of the networks and further bridge the digital
not constitute a major obstacle to implementation, divide. Multi-partner discussions are strongly
but the financial aspects of content sale and use are encouraged, lest the market take the lead.w
I
n the United States, regulation of the wireless when there’s someone else in the neighborhood,
Internet now focuses primarily on technolo- in order to avoid interference from someone else
gy standards. If manufacturers, practitioners, that you might be receiving.
and entrepreneurs adhere to technical stan- “You must stop your operation if notified by
dards designed to deal with interference, no the FCC that your device is causing harmful
approvals are required to operate equipment. interference. From a regulator’s perspective,
You can buy it, take it out of the box, turn it on, it’s not only important to establish the base-
and use it. At the same time, because operators line rules for the technology, but you also
have no vested rights to continue operation, need—and this is important around the
this constitutes a nonexclusive use of the radio world—to be able to detect people who are vio-
spectrum. lating those technical rules, and have the abil-
At “The Wireless Internet Opportunity for ity to enforce those rules so you can put them
Developing Countries” conference at UN out of business. None of this works unless peo-
Headquarters on June 26, 2003, Robert Pepper, ple adhere to these rules, and then they can
Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy at the operate on an unlicensed basis—easy entry,
FCC, touched on the dynamics of unlicensed easy exit—using declining-cost technology
spectrum, technology regulation, and markets. based on global standards.
“Because of the newer technologies, you can “You also must receive authorization before
do a lot with unlicensed spectrum. Under our marketing or importing these devices into the
rules, you may not cause harmful interference. United States. This all goes to the notion of reg-
And you must accept interference from some- ulating a device, and not regulating spectrum
body else. As a result, the technology companies or use of spectrum. We permit very flexible use
are continuing to develop increasingly robust of that spectrum as long as your devices adhere
technologies that are smart enough to know
3
T
he 2003 World Radio-communication
Conference finished its nearly month-long ses- al applications.”
sion in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 4, and Q. Do you expect this decision to benefit
took an enormous step forward in promoting unli- developing countries as well?
censed wireless broadband data services. A. Certainly. Unlicensed wireless technology
At the WRC-03, delegates harmonized preexist- can help developing countries implement
ing, regional allocations of unlicensed spectrum in Internet networks very quickly, and that has sig-
the 5-Ghz band, creating a greatly expanded, glob- nificant implications for accelerating the growth
al allocation of 455-Mhz of spectrum for use by of information systems in those nations. We are
unlicensed wireless networking devices. This deci- also seeing rural and suburban applications in
sion should significantly broaden the opportuni- developed nations taking advantage of Wi-Fi. Wi-
ties for people to access information using unli- Fi is a technology with broad potential around
censed devices, such as Wi-Fi wireless LANs. It is the world, and we think the WRC agreement
also likely to enable faster deployment of wireless underscores that.
data services in locations where dial-up access is Q. Why did the US government and technol-
not practical. ogy companies come together on this issue?
The WRC’s recent vote was the culmination of A. Everybody had a clear sense from the start
a cooperative effort between US government offi- that allocating spectrum to unlicensed wireless
cials and more than 2,500 delegates from countries connectivity would have a very positive impact on
around the world. Representatives from compa- accelerating the delivery of broadband networks
nies such as Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, and data worldwide. This was a goal that both gov-
and Cisco worked very closely with US officials in ernment bodies and the private sector felt was
the months leading up to the WRC to create a worth achieving, and one that we all worked
framework for spectrum allocation that met the together on.
concerns of incumbent users, reflected global con- Q. Is the WRC decision binding?
siderations, and enabled a global market for unli- A. Yes, in the sense that any spectrum used con-
censed broadband equipment. sistent with this new primary allocation receives
In the case of the radio spectrum and the United worldwide interference protection. And equally
States, Microsoft and its technology-industry part- important, the WRC decision is a strong signal to
ners will support the FCC as it codifies the WRC governments globally that they should implement
decisions and allocates the US radio spectrum. As this decision on a national level. We believe that
this process is mirrored around the world, it will most of them will.
help make possible consistent availability of unli- Q. In the developing world, isn’t the cost
censed radio spectrum that will enable people of devices and wireless data services still a
worldwide to access the Internet and to communi- consideration?
cate locally and globally. A. It certainly is, but no one is saying this will
Pierre De Vries, Chief of Technology result in millions of Web-enabled devices being
Incubation for Microsoft, predicts the WRC deci- deployed in the developing world overnight. But
sion will accelerate Wi-Fi as a new broadband plat- by allocating spectrum in this fashion, the WRC
form in homes, businesses, and schools in devel- has given governments and the technology indus-
oping as well as in developed nations, resulting in try a clear path to growing communication, con-
“a rapid deployment of innovative wireless data nectivity, and commerce around the globe. Having
REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT 21
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everyone moving along a common path is a major ground to cover with their respective agencies.
step forward. We’re ready to work with the other industry lead-
Q. What was the role of Microsoft, H-P, Intel, ers and with the FCC to make the WRC decision a
and Cisco in the WRC decision? reality for the United States.
A. We all worked very closely with government Q. Will Microsoft be working with govern-
officials and WRC attendees. This was clearly a case ment bodies in countries other than the United
where the industry as a whole benefited from a States, as well as with the FCC?
broad policy decision, and where everyone con- A. Each government must deal with the issue
cerned realized that there was a greater benefit that independently. We believe the WRC decision
could be delivered by working cooperatively on this. speaks volumes about the need for a worldwide
Q. What are the next steps in this process? capability for unlicensed spectrum, and we
A. Each government that participated in the believe that all the various international regulato-
WRC will now go back and work through its regu- ry bodies will feel the same way. It truly is a win-
latory agencies to codify the decisions made there. win on a worldwide basis for service providers,
This particular decision was one of many deci- hardware and software companies, and most
sions, so all of the delegates will have lots of importantly, for customers.w
OPPORTUNITIES AND
ROADBLOCKS
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I
nformation and communication technolo-
gies have some good news for developing coun- and I spent all afternoon walking back home.
tries. These technologies can foster much-need- Sitting in New York, I put the two experiences
ed broad-based economic development, empower- together and drew this conclusion: Whether you’re
ing people with possibilities that were once in a modern office or in an underdeveloped village,
unthinkable. For instance, there are already more connectivity is productivity.
mobiles than fixed phones in Africa and, in the To me, this meant that ordinary people could be
next five years, mobiles are expected to outnumber economically empowered through telephones, and
fixed phones 4 to 1. This rapid expansion of con- that telephones could become weapons against
nectivity in Africa is surely more attributable to the poverty. Connectivity allows people to better coor-
new uses and economics of digital technologies dinate their activities and depend on one another
than to anything else. more effectively. This dependability allows them to
I can relate to this from my own experience in specialize in order to increase their productivity,
Bangladesh, where mobiles already outnumber which can allow them to pay for telephone service.
fixed phones 2 to 1 and more and more people are If part of the increased productivity could be chan-
able to coordinate their economic activities more neled to pay for the service, a viable commercial
effectively. They waste less time connecting with project could be constructed without too much
others and spend more time working together. concern about existing purchasing power.
I first learned how connectivity can mean Even though telephones are proven production
greater productivity about a decade ago, when I tools and the increased productivity that results
was working in a small investment firm in New from using them outweighs the cost of installing
York City. It was clear that our productivity had them, virtually all poor countries have a shortage of
gone up after we adopted a rather rudimentary telephones, even after a dramatic rise in the num-
computer network. We began to avoid the cumber- ber of mobiles. The percentage of households who
some exchange of floppy disks, and we updated can afford a telephone tends to be much larger
each other more frequently as our ideas evolved. than the percentage that actually have one. In
But one day this network broke down, and as I Bangladesh, in 1993, there were only two tele-
was waiting for someone to come fix it, I recalled a phones per one thousand people, and almost all
day from my childhood, in 1971, when Bangladesh these phones were confined to a few urban pock-
was at war. My family had left the small town where ets. In its rural areas, where 100 million people
we lived and moved to a relatively more peaceful lived, there were virtually no telephones.
rural area. One time my mother asked me to get This led me to establish Gonofone
some medicine for a sibling from someone about Development Corp. in New York in 1994 with
angel funding. The investors in Gonofone,
Iqbal Z. Quadir is a Lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy which means “People’s Phone,” provided the
School of Government and Founder of GrameenPhone seed funding to help me develop and organize
in Bangladesh. what is now GrameenPhone, currently the
largest telephone company in Bangladesh in International Finance Corp. and Gonofone in the
terms of number of subscribers. United States. With the support of these investors,
I realized that a large-scale commercial project GrameenPhone, established in late 1996, started
that could serve all urban areas and 68,000 villages building a new cellular network and providing
in Bangladesh would require players not only with services to the public soon thereafter.
large resources but the ability to make specific To date, GrameenPhone has built the largest
meaningful contributions in solving the problems cellular network in the country with investments
on the ground, estab- exceeding $300 mil-
lishing a real telephone lion and a subscriber
company and distribut-
WIRELESS COVERAGE base of more than a
ing the services in rural million. Its rural pro-
areas effectively. After gram is already avail-
studying the conditions able in more than
in Bangladesh, I real- 35,000 villages, provid-
ized that a practical and ing telephone access to
dependable way of dis- more than 50 million
tributing the service in people, while helping to
rural areas with little create micro-entrepre-
modern infrastructure neurs in these villages.
was the key to a realistic GrameenPhone is an
and sustainable project. example of technology
To solve this practi- dramatically unleashing
cal problem, I felt that a new possibilities and,
micro-credit program through specific proj-
made sense. For ects, increasing broad-
instance, small entre- based empowerment.
preneurs, backed by Some people think
micro-credit from that poor people are
Grameen Bank, could targets for aid, forget-
retail telephone servic- ting that people are
es to their surrounding the most important
communities. Because GrameenPhone serves 35,000 villages in rural resource poor countries
Grameen Bank already Bangladesh. have. Development is
had a branch network not resource transfer
throughout the rural areas in Bangladesh and its from rich countries to poor ones but engagement of
repayment records were excellent, the Grameen citizens in economically meaningful ways. In
borrower network would be an excellent way to GraameenPhone, citizens are not just receiving a
penetrate the rural market. This practical scheme service, they are actively engaged in producing it.
not only convinced Grameen Bank to join in the While some people are worried about the pur-
project but also attracted Telenor AS, the primary chasing power of citizens in poor countries for a
telephone company in Norway. Eventually, a glob- service they may want to provide, citizens’ involve-
al consortium emerged that additionally involved ment in distributing the service actually lowers
Marubeni Corp. in Japan; Asian Development costs and helps bring the service within the pur-
Bank in the Philippines; Commonwealth chasing power. Moreover, the availability of a serv-
Development Corp. in the United Kingdom; and ice makes people more productive and raises their
T
he examples of wireless Internet service
providers, or WISPs, in the Case Study requisite price/performance characteristics.
Compendium are all works in progress. Each 3The operating costs of a wireless-based venture
embodies the hope for economic success as well can also be considerably less expensive if contex-
as an opportunity to contribute to the social and tually appropriate performance levels for reliabili-
economic development of a country or region. ty, customer service, and support are established;
Each shows the potential of wireless technology and if one manages the business to minimize
as an alternative to the traditional copper and demands on back-office billing and other support
fiber infrastructures that are the dominant means systems. This, coupled with the lower cost envi-
of providing access to basic voice and advanced ronment targeted for service, yields operating costs
data services. not only far below those in developed nations or
But the successful exploitation of this new tech- advanced metropolitan areas, but also appropriate
nology is not guaranteed, and multiple roadblocks for the targeted market.
can present themselves in virtually every context. 3Sufficient revenues can be generated to yield a
The question is how can wireless Internet entre- positive cash flow. This is typically based on the
preneurs and interested governmental and non- view that in underserved areas, in both developing
governmental organizations identify the nontech- and advanced nations, a sufficient latent or unmet
nology core issues that may arise in order to devel- demand for the services exists among those with
op well-grounded strategies to improve success? sufficient disposable income to pay the bill, that the
balance of revenue and costs will assure a profit.
The Business Opportunity Defined 3The benefits are assumed to be sufficiently sub-
All ventures begin by identifying an opportuni- stantial from a political and social perspective,
ty through a business plan. For wireless or other such that the government in general and the regu-
telecommunications infrastructure ventures in lator in particular are assumed friendly and thus
developing countries and underserved communi- the cooperation of the dominant carrier(s) is also
ties, the investment thesis typically runs along the assumed; for example, interconnection costs are
following lines: favorable, provisioning will be done in a rapid and
3Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies are inexpen- efficient manner, outages will be expeditiously
sive, within certain performance parameters, relative addressed. In addition, three additional and key
to the cost of building virtually any alternative access assumptions are typically made:
3the target is outside the sphere of interest of
Theodore H. Schell is the Founder of Cometa the incumbent carriers, either too small or remote
Networks. He is a former Senior Vice President for to command their attention given capital con-
Strategy and Corporate Development at Sprint and straints and more compelling opportunities;
has been a General Partner at Apax Partners. He 3aggressive pricing by the incumbent will not
served in the Carter Administration from 1978 to materialize in response to the challenger as it
1981. would devalue the existing revenue base of the
OPPORTUNITIES ROADBLOCKS 31
1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 32
incumbent, and thus the entrepreneur will be able simply to the marketing of the service but also to
to extract a fair margin; and the diffusion of 802.11-enabled devices into the
3should anti-competitive behavior come to hands of the potential user, such as 802.11-
pass, the regulator, in support of competition and enabled computers and phones. This cost must
of the social and economic benefits engendered, be accounted for.
will act to assure that predatory or otherwise anti- In developed economies, 802.11 technology is
competitive practices are stopped and the incum- only beginning to find its way into the mass mar-
bent penalized severely. ket, though the abundance of computers, PDA’s,
and cell phones is such that if one simply assumes
Key Issues in Realizing the Opportunity the market rate of customer-premises-equipment,
If all proves out, everybody wins. Seldom, how- or CPE, replenishment, not to mention new
ever, has such happened. Consequently, in today’s devices, tens of millions of Wi-Fi-enabled devices
environment, still reeling from the meltdown of the will diffuse into the market assuring a sufficient
global telecommunications industry of the past addressable market. As such, the question in
several years, and skeptical of the overall global advanced economies is simply one of price and
economy, let alone that in developing countries or utility. In developing markets, however, it is other-
depressed regions, private investment capital will wise. Publicly available kiosks and computing
be extremely difficult to secure. Assuming project- centers will have to be established, initial comput-
ed costs stand up under close scrutiny, the key er purchases will have to occur as will upgrades of
issues of the prospective investor will be the fol- existing devices in order that individuals and
lowing, because each has occurred a sufficient businesses have the technological capability to
number of times in both developing and devel- enjoy the benefits of the low cost telecommunica-
oped countries to give pause to even the most risk- tions infrastructure.
tolerant investor. The central questions are: Second, while the cost of implementing the serv-
3Will sufficient demand in fact manifest itself ? ice may well be substantially lower, the environ-
3Can one really be assured that the dominant or ments in which it is being implemented—the target
monopoly incumbent carrier will not retaliate, and market—is typically smaller in absolute terms, par-
that the regulator will establish and aggressively ticularly in developing countries, and typically has
enforce a competitive framework? substantially less disposable income available. In all
3Is there a real opportunity for financial liquidity; markets, the question of the sufficiency of scale to
that is, will the business grow sufficiently large and assure profitability will always loom, and prices will
profitable to attract a buyer or to enable it to become need to be set to reflect this. Consequently, the ques-
a public company so that the investors can realize tion is whether the revenue/cost equation is in fact
and repatriate the value that has been created? solved in these markets.
Space allows only a cursory characterization of Clearly, the calculus is much more optimistic
each of these topics—sufficient to sensitize one to than in the past, but the lingering question is
the issue. whether or not, or in which places, there is a suffi-
cient number of businesses and individuals with
Demand the disposable income to pay the bills, with or
Several factors underlie skepticism about the without public subsidy. It is clear that advanced
absolute level of demand likely to manifest itself. telecommunications infrastructure is a sine qua
First, 802.11 technology, the primary tech- non of economic development; but independent of
nology capturing the imagination of the entre- development, there is insufficient resource to sup-
preneur, requires that the end user have access port the infrastructure without subsidy. While Wi-
to 802.11 capable devices. Consequently, Fi improves the calculus, the key question is
demand for the service will be held hostage not whether or not it is sufficient.
Often, the question comes down to two additional vincingly demonstrated, they are likely to be capital
issues. Will the business become large enough to starved. Will there be exceptions? Yes, and there are
attract a buyer; or to enable a public offering, case studies in this volume that speak to them. But
assuming the existence of an appropriate market? these are exceptions typically in rapidly advancing
Does the political environment enable the repatri- economies. Enabling the development of these ven-
ation of dividends and/or capital gains? Both con- tures in some of the neediest locales will fall to gov-
ditions are requisite to attract most sources of pri- ernments, NGOs, foundations, and the most daring
vate investment capital. of social investors, a class of “investors” with a
strong commitment to the social benefits the exten-
Conclusion sion of a communications infrastructure provides.
Market savvy will develop, business plans will The alternative in these developing markets is to
be refined, and many practical, day-to-day operat- force the incumbent, typically monopoly providers,
ing issues will be overcome. Wireless technology to initiate wireless-based service in unserved areas,
will assuredly advance, its costs will come down thereby imposing on the incumbent a “social tax”
still further; and, it will be joined by an array of earmarked for telecommunications infrastructure
other technologies that will facilitate implementa- development and service provisioning. It is posit-
tion of compelling hybrid, cost-effective networks. ed, however, that this later approach will always
But two factors emphasized above are outside the lead to a suboptimal solution for all.
control of the entrepreneur and the technology In industrial countries, the issues of bridging the
suppliers, and their appropriate resolution cannot digital divide, of spurring economic development in
be taken for granted. They merit repetition. particular urban and rural areas, or more generally
First, a competitive framework permissive of of assuring access to communications services in
exploitation of new technologies and unlicensed underserved areas, must find a cost effective solu-
spectrum by new, entrepreneurial organizations is tion, and wireless technologies are undoubtedly
a prerequisite; it cannot be compromised. The part of the answer. In developing countries, the very
governmental regulators must establish it and social and economic development of the society as a
enforce both its letter and its spirit, or entrepre- whole depends critically upon such infrastructure
neurial promise will whither and die. advancement. It falls to us all to work assiduously to
Second, nontraditional financing must be made assure that the political and regulatory climate
available in many markets, for until such time as the reflects these needs, and that institutions step for-
robustness of these fledgling enterprises can be con- ward that are up to the task.w
INTRODUCTION
T
his Case Study Compendium serves as a
best-practices reference tool for the World for overcoming roadblocks, bringing more hope
Summit on the Information Society. Over and opportunities to less developed regions.
the next two years, the Wireless Internet Institute The case studies group into five categories
will continue to research and add to an accruing revealing core aspects of wireless broadband
knowledge base focused on growing numbers of deployments in developing countries:
wireless Internet deployments throughout the 3Remote Regions provide the harshest environ-
developing world. mental test of the technology and of the implemen-
The Case Study Compendium presents twelve tation models.
examples, out of dozens received by the Wireless 3Wireless Internet Service Providers are prima-
Internet Institute in the run-up to “The Wireless rily driven by profit but can also contribute to
Internet Opportunity for Developing Countries” regional development.
conference. To prepare the Compendium, the 3Shared Access provides connectivity to regions
principle author interviewed project stakeholders, that cannot afford individual access.
including field practitioners and funders, to pres- 3Adaptive Technologies rethink off-the-shelf
ent a coherent picture. Each case study was inves- solutions to overcome local limitations.
tigated and analyzed using these parameters: 3Rebuilding Nations can draw from the models
3mission and goals above to rebuild a communications infrastructure
3accomplishments and jumpstart social and economic development.
3technology used In each case study, an analysis box (Things to
3funding sources Remember) highlights key aspects, and a
3collaborations schematic (Network Set-Up) shows how the net-
3regulatory environment work has been or will be deployed. The com-
3expectations vs. outcomes pendium as a whole raises five sets of issues sur-
3sustainability rounding deployment of wireless Internet in devel-
3scalability and replicability oping countries.
Whether motivated primarily by development
objectives, for profit, or for the challenges these
Why wireless broadband?
projects present, the practitioners shared the goal Because relatively low investments in equip-
ment can be used to connect a very large area, wire-
Noopur Jhunjhunwala is Case Study Manager for the less broadband can be the most affordable last-
Wireless Internet Institute. Peter Orne is Editor of The mile solution available. For two reasons, it is often
WorldPaper, World Times, Inc. the only practical solution. Environmental limita-
INTRODUCTION
tions, such as moving glaciers or deep rainforest and the cost of having a power-supply back-up can
interiors, curb the ability to physically lay fiber on be underestimated. Consequently, systems may go
the ground. And in some poor countries, where down for long periods, and a project can run over
copper or wire are valuable commodities and vul- budget. It’s important to look at all possible alter-
nerable to theft, wireless provides a tamper-proof natives, such as solar power.
solution. Moreover, the networks can be deployed
quickly, and an administrator can track a problem
Search for sustainability
at any point, enabling fast repair. It’s easier to Whether the project is for profit or not-for-
replace an antenna or correct a line-of-sight than to profit, achieving long-term sustainability can crit-
lay new copper or fiber. ically depend on local partnerships, hands-on
training of local technicians, and buy-in from end
Network considerations users. In a development context, building an
The technology in a network is only part of the understanding of the Internet and awareness of
picture. Critical is how it is set up, what devices are wireless broadband advantages (over existing
connected to it, and how it is powered. The devel- infrastructures) can generate buy-in from the com-
oped world uses wireless mostly for indoor local munity. Determine up front the range of needs of
area networks, but developing countries are using end users, involving them from the beginning to
it largely for outdoor wide area networks. create a sense of local ownership.
Consequently, in developing countries, practition- Shared access through community centers
ers need to improvise with off-the-shelf equipment invites a wide range of additional users while lever-
to widen the coverage area, often with amplifiers. aging existing infrastructure—and potentially
Today, wireless broadband coverage can extend as staff—at local post offices and universities. It can
far as 50 kilometers. also attract nongovernmental organizations and
Because equipment used to connect to the net- their supportive resource bases.
work is still expensive, practitioners often must To move from dependence to self-reliance, the
depend on low-end configurations or donated search for sustainability should begin early, with
devices, making do until efforts to bring costs careful thought to potentially generating revenues
below $100 are successful. Another consideration from the project through small fees for online serv-
is that extreme temperatures and harsh weather ices and training, or by developing offline projects,
conditions require improvisation. such as ecotourism, to subsidize connectivity costs.
Availability of power is often taken for granted, In for-profit deployments, it is important, with
INTRODUCTION
some exceptions, not to over-invest and scale up postal systems for e-commerce. The virtual
too fast. Let the business grow gradually as new demand chain may be established, but it is mean-
demand is identified, often by word of mouth. ingless if the offline supply chain is missing.
Applications are everything The regulatory master
When people log on to the Internet, they want to Incumbent telecoms in the developing world
communicate, and therefore e-mail and voice and guard their terrain carefully. In rural areas, which
video mail are easily the most popular uses of wire- are marginal markets for incumbents, entrepre-
less broadband networks in the developing world. neurs may face few initial barriers to implementa-
Local people want to get in touch with relatives and tion. In all cases, it is important to know the rules,
friends who may have migrated far distances for seek required permits at both local and national
employment or education opportunities. The Web levels, and try to bring the incumbent in on the
can make this easier in a way that national telecoms plan, which could enable future scalability.
never could. Internet telephony, or voice-over IP, is In cities, the entrepreneur is likely to face the
also popular in countries where it is permitted. incumbent and regulatory authority head on.
The Internet’s biggest advantage over other Different responses to these entities, however,
communication technologies is that it can provide present varying risks. One is to directly confront
an array of solutions and products, including the telecoms and authorities wholesale, lobbying
three “e’s”: e-governance, e-health, e-education (a against them domestically and internationally,
fourth is e-commerce). Telemonitoring devices which can lead to confiscations, project termina-
enable doctors to diagnose patients living thou- tion, and even criminal charges. This route
sands of miles away. Distance education programs requires courage, patience, money, and time.
teach reading and writing. E-governance initiatives Another option may simply be to bypass the reg-
enable villagers to update records and file com- ulatory environment altogether if the authority is not
plaints from their village, saving a day’s pay. The too aggressive. Still another is to engage in the
list goes on and on. bureaucratic process, get required permissions, and
Like technology, however, applications also face even try to form an alliance with the incumbent.
challenges. Local scripts require special software. Authorities may be more convinced by projects with
Illiteracy requires voice solutions. Online services a social-development outcome. A final option is to
require offline resources—teachers for e-educa- desist until the regulatory environment changes. But
tion, doctors and nurses for e-health, payment and in waiting there is little to be gained.w
REMOTE REGIONS
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REMOTE REGIONS
B
ringing Internet access to the base camp
of Mount Everest may well rank among the structure of any kind in this region. The base camp
severest tests of wireless-broadband tech- is located on a glacier that moves about 10 feet
nology in the world. each day, prohibiting satellite installation. On top
Among the well-noted challenges of the of this, temperatures fall to -20°C at night and can
Nepalese Himalayas—high altitudes, extremely reach 15°C during the day, taxing batteries and
harsh weather, no roads—is the lack of functional electronic components.
telecommunications infrastructure. The rough The Himalayas, however, are about rising to the
mountainous terrain of the Khumbu Region makes challenge. Thanks to a partnership between the
deployment of cables extremely difficult and cost- Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee and
ly. Consequently, wireless broadband is a preferred WorldLink Communications of Nepal, on April
solution for providing Web and voice-over IP serv- 14, 2003 the Linking Everest project did just that.
ice to both inhabitants and visitors. With a goal of operating wireless Internet access
But it’s not easy achieving and sustaining such for one tourist season, a six-man “Virtual Yeti
service at the base camp to Mt. Everest, which is team” led by Tsering Gyaltsen Sherpa wirelessly
accessed with a four- to six-day walk from the vil- linked base camp to a server in Kalapathar using a
lage of Lukla. Because the altitude is around 5,600 Cisco Aironet 350, and from there to the Internet
meters, one cannot simply land by helicopter. via satellite.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3Can you imagine digging through a moving glacier to lay fiber? Because of cost, rugged terrain, and deploy-
ment logistics, in remote regions wireless connectivity is often the only telecommunications option.
3In most remote areas, access to basic supplies can delay the connectivity process. For example, in the
Khumbu Region, obtaining a single tool can take a four- to six-day walk, cutting into project deployment time
and future revenue generation.
3Regular maintenance is required for smooth and continuous operation of a wireless facility. In Nepal, the
technician got altitude sickness, causing the base camp to lose connectivity. Qualified personnel amust be
available in a sustainable way.
REMOTE REGIONS
NETWORK SET-UP
Among other innovations, the team needed to Everest over the long term. Currently, WorldLink
design special Styrofoam cases for outdoor equip- is training a local Sherpa more suited to the base-
ment to conserve heat. Bucking conventional wis- camp conditions, but low literacy and awareness
dom and popular belief, it was able to operate a among the local population are obstacles.
VSAT terminal on the glacier. The project has several long-term goals, one of
“This isn’t commercially motivated,” says which is to link Namche, the first major settlement
Dileep Agrawal, founder of WorldLink ISP, which on the four-day trek from Lukla to the base camp.
provides capital, equipment, and maintenance for In the process, small villages, monasteries, and
the project. “We got involved because we found it tourist spots will also be connected and then
very fascinating. We want to help this community, linked to the Internet using satellite. Expected uses
and we want to prove to the world that we can con- are e-mail and Web access, voice-over IP, distance
nect Mt. Everest.” education, and telemedicine.
There are two seasons on Everest, and during At a very basic level, there is a fundamental
the second, September 15 to the end of November, need among the population to communicate.
the technician manning the base-camp station got Many villagers in the region have family in
altitude sickness and needed to come down, lead- Kathmandu, but government phones aren’t easily
ing to a temporary closure and a revenue shortfall. accessible, and there’s never any guarantee they
“It’s all up in the air now,” Agrawal reports. “We will work. Internet access could enable less
need a full-time person as a technician.” Finding reliance not only on the phone system but on the
that person is a major barrier to continued success feeble postal service.
and could kill the hope of sustaining Linking Cyber cafés already operate in Namche.
REMOTE REGIONS
The Virtual Yeti team wirelessly linked Everest base camp A map of the Khumbu Glacier basin shows the
at an altitude of 5,600 m to a server in Kalapathar at Kalapathar/Gorek Shep area, base camp, and Everest
5,450 m. summit.
Tsering Gyaltsen Sherpa logs on wirelessly at Icefall, Linking Everest charges $1 per minute at the base camp
Everest base camp. cyber café.
Currently, an attendant types and sends e-mail for deducting $6,250 for bandwidth and $1,250 for
the locals, who seem to have little problem com- wages and miscellaneous expenses. This revenue
municating with their relatives. There is an was sufficient to pay the operating costs until
assumption that relatives have access to e-mail. In September 15, when the next tourist season begins.
general, Sherpas who have moved from the region Dave Hughes, another project supporter, is
are better off, technically aware and educated. working to connect the Sir Edmond Hillary
Proliferating Internet use in the region itself, School in Namche using wireless broadband.
already traveled with well-heeled tourists, is expect- There’s also an effort to provide English classes
ed to gradually spur further economic and social over the Web. One Sherpa who moved to
development locally. The idea is to charge tourists Colorado is trying to give instructions in English.
$1 per minute for Internet use and VoIP and use For now, the Linking Everest team needs once
profits to support local use of the infrastructure dur- again to reestablish connectivity at base camp, con-
ing months when tourism slows. During the first nect the school, and expand its network. But the
tourist season, March 15 to June 1, the project harsh challenges of the Khumbu Region will con-
raised $17,532, generating a $10,032 profit after tinue to test both technology and resolve.w
REMOTE REGIONS
Rainforest IP
3Xixuaú-Xipariná Ecological Reserve, Jauaperi River, Brazil
I
ndividuals and institutions concerned
about the fate of the Amazon and its Indian link in the reserve, which enables the Amazon
populations have in recent years begun to Association to maintain permanent contact with
lend a helping hand. In the 172,000-hectare Indians who have learned to use e-mail, and who
Xixuaú-Xipariná Ecological Reserve 40 hours can report on problems at the reserve, participate
upriver from Manaus, the welfare of the Caboclo in decision-making, and request supplies and
Indians is taken very seriously by the Amazon medicines.
Association, an NGO based in Brazil and Italy “It is important to upgrade the ICT capabilities
that views the Caboclo as key to the preservation of the people, and build their knowledge base,”
of the rainforest. says Chris Clark, founding member and current
The Amazon Association has teamed up with president of the Association.
the nonprofit Solar Electric Light Fund in “The mere ability to communicate on a regular
Washington, DC, to put broadband Internet at the basis with the outside world has provided a
service of the Indians, who lack access to basic tremendous psychological lift to the community
healthcare, education, and economic opportuni- there,” says Robert Freling of the Solar Electric
ties. E-mail, telemedicine, online education and Light Fund.
even e-commerce promise to radically improve Solar energy provides the electricity, a two-way
their lives. VSAT from OnSat Network Communications
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3Alternate, cheap, and reliable sources of energy often go hand in hand with wireless-network deployment.
Because of the total lack of electricity in the rainforest, solar power has been critical to this project.
3When a project is funded entirely by grants, it is key to work toward sustainability from the very beginning.
After the system is up and running, ecotourism and e-commerce may help pay for equipment, maintenance,
and expansion.
3The telemedicine component is a vital-signs monitor loaned to the reserve and administered remotely by
US doctors. Consequently, equipment and labor costs could impede scaling this component to other rain-
forest communities.
REMOTE REGIONS
NETWORK SET-UP
Grants and good will power the project. Solar panels power the wireless Internet.
enables high-speed connectivity, and a wireless enues from the project in a common account and
LAN makes access flexible. The project has will decide how best to allocate the resources. The
applied for a spectrum license from Anatel, Brazil’s project is expected to sustain itself within the next
national telecom. four to five years. It is also setting up a model farm
Of the $75,000 project budget provided by the in the reserve so that the community members
Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust, $50,000 went become more self-sufficient in food production.
to hardware and $25,000 to planning, training, And there is currently discussion about using solar
and management. The economics of the project, energy to power a Brazil-nut processing facility in
however, remain a serious barrier to growth. the reserve, which will help generate income for
With an eye toward achieving sustainability, a the community.
governance board has been set up to collect all rev- The project does have a modest e-commerce
REMOTE REGIONS
REMOTE REGIONS
component: The women of the local villages have eco-tourism, biodiversity research and mapping.
begun taking craftwork orders from foreign visitors “The plan now,” Freeling says, “is to extend con-
guided to the region by the Amazon Association. nectivity to other communities along the Rio
They recently received a $300 Internet order from Jauaperí by means of Wi-Fi technology.”
an Italian visitor. “The Association will never abandon this
The Amazon Association has built three new group,” says Clark, who has committed to mak-
schools; one is even connected to the Internet. ing the reserve and this link to the Caboclo a life-
Other projects goals include distance learning, long project.w
WIRELESS INTERNET
SERVICE PROVIDERS
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WISPS
M
alawi’s copper-based telephone net-
work is often busy and frequently breaks economic centers of Blantyre and Lilongwe.
down, and fiber-line use is limited only to “Conditions are extremely harsh for this type of
areas where economic activity already exists. The equipment, and only commercial motivation keeps
country’s two cellular operators are far too expen- our network operational and well maintained,”
sive for general data services or even rural voice says CEO Paul Shaw.
services, yet establishing an Internet link in Bandwidth goes from a satellite to customers
Malawi—the equivalent of a T1 line—can run to through Africa-Online’s wireless network, requir-
$10,000 a month. ing careful economic planning in the back office.
These are tough obstacles facing any entrepre- “We have to pay about 100 times more for band-
neur wishing to deploy a profitable data communi- width than an ISP in the United States or Europe,”
cations network. But Malawi is also a Least Shaw says. “This alone is the single-most impor-
Developed Country, seeming to offer little hope for tant factor in modeling the business and has a mas-
profitability. sive downstream effect on our market.”
Thanks to wireless infrastructure, however, Shaw estimates Africa-Online’s current value at
Africa-Online in Blantyre has managed to provide $500,000, as a going concern, after an initial share-
broadband Internet service in Malawi for more holder investment of $100,000. No dividend has
than three years, and it’s still going strong. From been paid, and all earnings have been ploughed
the outset, the company committed to achieving a back into the company. Africa-Online is the only
return on investment, targeting areas where service one of four to five ISPs in Malawi providing full-
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3It is important not to over-invest and outpace demand by expanding too rapidly. Africa-Online emphasizes
the virtues of starting small and growing organically for the long term.
3Installing technology is not enough. It is important to reserve resources for training customers how to
use it.
3A wireless connection cannot be stolen. Where copper-wire infrastructure is routinely resold as raw materi-
al, wireless proves its advantage in Malawi as it does in rugged or mountainous terrain.
WISPS
NETWORK SET-UP
time wireless access to 200 of its 2,000 subscribers Africa-Online will replace it for no cost through
(most of whom are dial-up). the Israeli manufacturer.
Africa-Online says the secret to success is starting
small and growing organically, mostly by word of
Incubating economic development
mouth, making minimum investments for minimum Seventy percent of Africa-Online clients are
returns. “Major investment in high-tech equipment commercial, and Shaw says he has seen a positive
in developing countries is a sure-fire road to disas- impact from broadband services on Malawi’s cor-
ter,” Shaw says. “It is not practical to create an infra- porate and banking sectors. High-speed Internet
structure and then wait for clients to line up to use access has brought confidence to external
it. Allow years for the learning curve to kick in.” investors and helped rural agricultural clients, for
Africa-Online found it had to provide networking example, get access to commodity pricing to max-
installation and services, routing and switching serv- imize their returns. Because of the poor state of the
ices, and training on mail exchange and firewalls. “It telephone network, e-mail is now the primary
is not enough to facilitate the installation of a specif- medium for doing business with both national and
ic technology; you have to support all aspects and international clients.
uses of that technology and be able to do it on a “Clients first want e-mail connectivity, then
commercially sustainable basis,” Shaw says. want to be able to research their businesses, and
He says it is important to take great care in lastly the businesses want to have a presence on the
selecting equipment, and not to assume the indus- Internet so they can get some sort of economic
try standard is the best in every circumstance. return from this,” Shaw says.
Africa-Online uses Alvarion BreezeNet equip- Some businesses with Web sites hosted by Africa-
ment. “Alvarion provided initial training but we Online have begun to increase their exports because
had to improvise,” Shaw says. If equipment fails, of their ability to take online orders. At least two agri-
WISPS
Africa-Online enjoys new offices in Blantyre. The company originated in 2000 in this A-frame.
It has connected a local backpacker lodge. Africa-Online’s installation for an Internet café.
cultural organizations are exporting tea and coffee by and NGOs access to better and more efficient tech-
selling and shipping directly to customers in Kenya, nologies, assisting them in the delivery of develop-
the UK, and South Africa. While the Internet mostly ment solutions. “We can see that the introduction of
benefits large farmers who can afford to finance ship- full-time access to the Internet has led to greater
ping and absorb payment delays, the hope is that knowledge being available in the community at large
small-scale farmers will form cooperatives and bene- and increasing interest in our services,” Shaw says.
fit from their own Web presence. An agricultural concern has queried the compa-
Africa-Online offers residential users discount ny about providing connectivity to a farming area
rates at night (6:00 pm to 6:00 am) at a fraction of in the south of Malawi, given that the state telecom
the normal cost. If regulators approve, the compa- only offers a 19.2 Kbps analog connection. Africa-
ny will gradually move into voice-over IP. The reg- Online will consider expanding to rural areas
ulatory position on VoIP is less clear but has not where willing entrepreneurs could run cyber cafes.
been ruled out. The ISM bands are available for In addition, they have proposed connecting
use after payment of a registration fee. Malawi’s postal service, replacing telex with e-
While it has not brought Internet access to the mail, and replacing a “letter writer” with an “email
urban or rural poor, Africa-Online has given donors typist” in every village.w
WISPS
P
roviding broadband in a Least Developed
Country with fewer numbers of subscribers three. For the majority of African ISPs, 1,000 sub-
requires a careful study, says Africa-Online scribers is a lot. In Mbps, here are the numbers for
CEO Paul Shaw. It’s not just about providing an international bandwidth (2002) by country:
affordable last-mile solution. Egypt 535
“For a symmetrical T1 leased-line connection to South Africa * 399
the Internet in the United States, prices vary from Morocco 136
$750 in, say, California to $1,000 in rural areas. Algeria 83
But that same bandwidth in Africa can cost from Tunisia 75
$24,000 to $55,000. If I am lucky enough to be Senegal* 60
living in a country that allows me to use my own Kenya* 28
satellite equipment, then my costs are at the lower Gabon* 16
end of that scale. Nigeria* 15
“But there are many countries in Africa where Botswana* 14
dedicated bandwidth is not even available and *Sub-Saharan Africa
shared bandwidth must be used with a resulting “The remaining countries have less than 13
decrease in quality—though not much of a decrease Mbps each, with Equatorial Guinea at the bottom of
in price. The cost of leased lines to customers, or to the list with 64 kbps for half a million people. An
peering points, is also many times more expensive. average ISP in the United States probably has more
“On the income side, the picture is just as bleak. bandwidth than many of the countries on this list.
My company charges $35 per month for an unlim- “The high cost, relative to income, of being an
ited-access dial-up connection, for example. Internet subscriber in Africa means that many ISPs
Considering that my input costs are 30 times must share a very small number of subscribers. The
greater than an ISP in the United States, that does high cost of operating as an ISP in Africa means
not compare badly. that margins are small to nonexistent, and that it’s
“Market sizes are not large. There are only impossible to expand the way you’d like.
1,600,000 dial-up subscribers in all of Africa, and “Finally, there is the “Half Way Proposal” (see
hardly any cable or DSL subscribers, largely http://www.afrispa.org/initiatives.htm), which
because of the extortionately high telecom costs. compares Internet provision with voice provision.
There’s very low average income—$1,600 per When an international call is placed from the
capita per year—in sub-Saharan Africa, and very United States to Malawi and another from Malawi
low teledensity and low literacy rates. to the United States, the two telecoms involved have
“On the teledensity issue, Kenya, one of the most a monthly settlement arrangement where the cost of
Internet-active countries in Africa, only had a terminating the calls is taken into account. Because
total of some 450,000 lines installed. Ghana has far more calls terminate in Malawi than originate
250,000, a lot less than a large town or small city there, this monthly settlement is a major source of
in the United States. revenue for the telecom and of foreign exchange for
Malawi. When an e-mail is sent from the United
Fighting for users States to Malawi or from Malawi to the United
“In Africa, a big ISP has a few hundred thou- States, the entire cost of transit, in either direction,
sand dial-up subscribers, or a few hundred leased is born by the African ISP.” w
WISPS
T
he smaller cities of Mexico still lack
reliable access to basic telecommunica- ages for clients based on their bandwidth usage.
tions, let alone fast Internet access. Only The business model met with skepticism at
44 percent of Mexico’s population has a landline, first. “Baja Wireless repeatedly heard howls or
and it can take Telmex, the national telecom, up to blank stares of disbelief at the thought that any-
nine months to install basic fixed-line service in body might be interested in investing in a telecom-
certain areas. munications project in Mexico,” says cofounder
But with Internet activity booming in Mexico’s Sharron Tate, an American. “Relatively few people
large cities and in the nearby United States, and could see beyond the risk of investing in a foreign,
with computer use growing everywhere, smaller if neighboring, country.” Today, the company
working cities—marginal markets with a good mix claims $300,000 in private investment.
of residential, industrial, and commercial activity— After reaching its first 100 customers, Baja
are understandably thirsty for broadband access. Wireless determined that its Alvarion hardware
In a prototype operation in Ensenada, about 65 was cost prohibitive for the mass market in
miles south of San Diego, Baja Wireless is delivering Mexico, so it switched to less expensive D-Link
connectivity via a 7,500-acre hot zone. With an ulti- units and met with great success over large dis-
mate goal of connecting about 30 cities in the next tances and uneven terrain. The switch, however,
30 months, this wireless ISP is targeting small cities cost the company a four-month delay, draining
with 50,000 to 500,000 residents who may have no capital and imparting a valuable lesson. “Identify
wired telephone service because of backlog, who sources for more capital than you think you will
want or need improved Internet access speed, or ever need,” Tate says. “The unexpected always
who simply want the convenience of wireless appears, so be prepared for it.”
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3One way to deal with a strong incumbent monopoly is to deploy in marginal markets where the incumbent’s
revenue stream is not affected. This might even make collaborating with the monopoly for potential support
and future scaling possible.
3Choose equipment carefully. Baja Wireless’s switch from Alvarion to D-Link resulted in better performance at
a lower cost, but the transition drained capital and slowed expansion.
WISPS
NETWORK SET-UP
WISPS
It takes a hemisphere
3E-link Americas
ireless Internet service providers at of the Institute for Connectivity of the Americas, or
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3E-Link Americas turns the “small-scale struggle” for deployment on its head. However, while its principle aim
is broad-scale deployment to leverage economies of scale, at press time it had not lined up a single customer
on the ground.
3E-Link’s success rests with a long chain of partners, from funders to hardware vendors to local ISPs. While
partnerships are extremely important for smooth functioning of any network, for a project of this scale the
amount of planning has delayed time to deployment.
3E-Link is opting for open-standards technology to push down costs and encourage rapid technology
advancement.
WISPS
NETWORK SET-UP
dard, to serve a range of potential customers on a able throughout a region, connectivity will be pro-
regional (not country) basis throughout the vided regionally through local ISP and IT partners.
Americas, in order to leverage economies of scale. “What happened in the world is that solutions
DVB-RCS is both cost efficient and scalable. A to deploy satellites have been proprietary,” Zadra
simple, single-gateway DVB-RCS system can says. “This is not cost effective and it doesn’t scale.
serve up to thousands of users, while a distributed You are held captive to prices and controls that
gateway architecture DVB-RCS system could pro- only one company can provide. But with open-
vide integrated services to several hundred thou- standards technology, any company that can pro-
sand users. Customers with small antenna termi- vide the specifications of the open standards can
nals (80 to 90 cm in diameter) get high-speed supply for us.”
Internet access through high-frequency bands, Because it allows hardware manufacturers to
multi-spot coverage areas, and high-speed digital focus on a single technical solution, DVB-RCS
signal processing on board the satellite. may well become a global satellite standard, pro-
Where connectivity was once achieved on a viding a healthy and open competitive environ-
piecemeal basis (with a single satellite beam), E- ment that benefits both industry and users.
Link will connect large numbers of institutions and “As we’ve seen with Wi-Fi, you get a lot of
telecenters at a rate of 256 Kbps to 2 Mbps for only hardware producers that push the cost down,”
$75 to $150 per month. It is aiming at generic mar- Zadra says.
kets such as health centers (largely scattered in rural E-Link ultimately remains not a satellite solu-
areas), smaller municipalities and institutions out- tion but a wireless solution, bundling both satellite
side major urban areas with no connectivity, tele- and Wi-Fi together. It wants to put a Wi-Fi chip in
centers, and schools. While coverage will be avail- the satellite so the last mile becomes an 802.11
WISPS
WISPS
niNet Communications of Cape Town is developed sectors of the society,” Jarvis says.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3Taking bold steps to confront regulators could help push needed reforms. Adding international pressure also
helps. Remember, that extensive openness about your own services can harm your operation and result in
equipment confiscation.
3At every turn, equipment may need to be modified to meet the needs of the local environment.
3As a last-mile solution, wireless broadband networks are cheap and reliable, can be deployed quickly, and
expanded easily.
WISPS
NETWORK SET-UP
factured its own antenna systems, and built its UniNet it must suspend all services running on 2.4
own Linux-based access concentrators and wire- Ghz. But after some legal consultation, UniNet
less repeaters. It has tested a range of wireless found there were no regulations for this area of
radios and cabling systems and refined its communications services. UniNet resolved to
requirements to ensure reliability and cost effec- request formal documentation stating the require-
tiveness in a developing environment. And it has ments for licensing its service, and why it was not
used solar-powered installations because of the legal to continue. But with no formal document
unreliable electricity grid and the rural location of forthcoming, it decided to continue on.
some of its sites. Jarvis’s experiences in Mozambique gave him the
In both Mozambique and South Africa, howev- confidence to tackle the South African market,
er, UniNet’s activities have threatened state where the Independent Communications Authority
monopolies, resulting in a series of challenges from of South Africa, or ICASA, is far more organized
these countries’ regulatory agencies. and active. “The main barrier at the moment is the
“The big state-owned telecommunications regulatory authority,” Jarvis says. “A clear under-
companies are still trying to keep their monopoly,” standing of the legal framework, and the attitudes of
Jarvis says. “The rules and regulations are not well the local regulatory authority are crucial.”
defined, and this is generally used to help protect
the existing monopolies.”
Cape Town controllers
In Mozambique, the National Institute of In July 2002, with an initial investment of
Communications, the regulatory authority, told $28,000 from its three owners, UniNet began
WISPS
In Cape Town, an ICASA technician disassembles UniNet equipment. In the center photo, CEO David Jarvis tries to pre-
vent any damage.
building a wireless ISP in Cape Town—just easier for the regulatory authority to locate our
enough to establish one repeater on a high site. equipment and facilitated its attempts to investi-
“From there we expanded and self-financed the gate our services.”
second repeater site,” Jarvis says. But before long, UniNet has presented proposals to other
ICASA called on the tiny start-up. licensed telecommunications operators, in the
“They have repeatedly threatened to close us hope of generating interest for a buy-in to help
down and recently confiscated some of our equip- “license” its wireless Internet activities. It is cur-
ment from a high site,” Jarvis says. rently awaiting responses to these proposals.
There are currently five other wireless ISPs UniNet has also been seeking international sup-
operating in the city. UniNet has 73 clients con- port for its regulatory difficulties with ICASA. It
nected to its network, 20 of whom were temporar- has approached USAID, the World Bank, and
ily disconnected because of the confiscation of local government departments in an attempt to
equipment at one of its high sites. lobby support for the deregulation process.
In the future, Jarvis says he probably would not “This process is slowly gaining momentum,”
expose UniNet so much. “We were very open with Jarvis says, “but we still often feel very vulnerable
regard to location of our repeaters, the type of in the context of these restrictive regulatory
technology used, and coverage areas. This made it frameworks.”w
WISPS
W
ith the exception of private cor-
porate use within certain boundaries, then Wi-Fi will be limited to the domain of
commercial wireless broadband developed areas and not developing areas.
activity has historically been viewed as illegal Q. What about the competition?
within the scope of South Africa’s Telecoms A. About 15 companies in South Africa
Act, according to sources within South Africa’s operate public outdoor Wi-Fi networks, and
Independent Communications Authority. there is little collaboration among them,
ICASA has no formal position on the legality of because most of the companies are operating
Wi-Fi “outdoor” services. Nevertheless, it has quasi-underground. In the Western Cape, how-
confiscated equipment on three occasions, dis- ever, operators have formed a wireless Internet
rupting the operation of UniNet’s network. exchange, WINX, which serves as a platform
CEO David Jarvis says that ICASA seems to for collaboration. Frequency planning and
have withdrawn its legal processes against com- strategies for surviving harassment by the regu-
panies like his and backed off from what he lator are common points of discussion.
calls its “aggressive attitudes.” Q. Where does UniNet stand in the range
Q. What has ICASA been specifically con- of wireless broadband providers?
cerned about? A. We are by no means a major player, but
A. We have been running the networks in the we’ve had significant interaction with the regu-
license-free frequencies, 2.4 Ghz and 5.8 Ghz, lator because of confiscations. This is partly
but the regulator is unhappy with our existing because we made it easy for the regulator to
license. ICASA is concerned that we are pro- make an example of us. We were very public in
viding not only a telecommunications service our advertising. Our Web site is very descrip-
but also our own infrastructure across “public tive and informative and open regarding the
roads”—in other words, we fall into the catego- services we were providing, and our prices
ry of infrastructure provider. were competitive.
Q. Describe the telecoms legal landscape Q. How exactly did you get into trouble?
as 2003 draws to a close. A. The regulator was encouraged by the state
A. At the moment, the framework is chang- monopoly to act against us before we made sub-
ing tremendously. The government is encour- stantial inroads into their market. In South
aging a very rapid reform process and intro- Africa, the regulator does not work on its own.
duction of a convergence bill in the course of It acts on complaints from an operator. We have
next year. Among other things, this law will received threatening letters from the operator,
empower a number of other companies to offer saying they will use legal means to recover lost
services similar to those of the state monopoly. revenues if we do not cease operations.
Q. How does wireless broadband fit in? It’s ironic. The municipalities here have
A. Wi-Fi falls into this category to some wireless networks that connect all their office
extent, but there is vagueness about exactly how buildings, yet the government, through ICASA,
the new bill will interpret its use. There is a move is not supportive. In effect, the municipalities
to limit Wi-Fi to indoor use and/or only on a sin- are fighting the government.w
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SHARED ACCESS
s rural universities in Africa gradually CRCs, are much more than cyber cafés, which
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3The McCormack Institute partnerships are primarily interested in bringing social and economic devel-
opment opportunities to rural areas. They’ve chosen technology and a wireless solution to achieve these
goals, but don’t view connectivity alone as a final objective. While the Internet has been critical to pro-
viding distance education in Masaailand, in Senegal it has been used to generate returns through a
cyber café.
3The partnerships are both replicable, from Senegal to Kenya, and scalable, within Kenya.
3These deployments take best advantage of an untapped local resource: existing university infrastructure.
SHARED ACCESS
McCormack to wirelessly connect a newly con- who are the caretakers of those orphans. A dispen-
structed CRC one fourth of a mile from the univer- sary and pharmacy are also planned.
sity. The CRC has a business center with a fax The First Lady of Kenya is chairing a board
machine and a cyber café generating income to sus- developed by the Institue that will help to establish
tain overall operations. But there’s also a women’s this model countrywide. Long after AIDS has
center, sewing workshop, classrooms, and associat- been eradicated in Kenya, the CRCs with their IT
ed agricultural and transport initiatives. capacity will still be standing.
Because of its success in Senegal, the Institute
pushed on to rural Egerton University in Njoro,
Maasailand
Kenya, 112 miles northwest of Nairobi. At McCormack is now scaling its Njoro operation
Egerton, the deploy- to an unserved
ment began by Maasailand community
installing a computer 75 miles to the south of
lab in the university. Egerton University in
(While USAID has con- Narok. The $83,000
nected universities in project will bring
Kenya with fiber, the Internet-based dis-
Faculty of Arts and tance education to
Social Sciences had Narok’s Maasai
only one computer.) Education Discovery, a
Here, the CRC is being fledging CRC working
built only half a mile to serve Maasai youth
from the gated campus and to help create eco-
where the Internet con- nomic development
nection to the university opportunities.
has been made with The effort here espe-
fiber. As the CRC is cially targets Maasai
built, the mentoring girls, who are deprived
programs and online of any education oppor-
distance learning will be tunities. “Maybe one
conducted at the uni- McCormack project locations in Kenya. Maasai girl goes to uni-
versity. versity each year,”
Because of the AIDS crisis in Kenya, the Njoro O’Donnell says. “Most are married young and have
CRC has a special mission: “Basically, any pro- many babies.” About 80 students from Maasailand
grams that you can think of relating to AIDS will and Egerton have already been enrolled into dis-
be here,” O’Donnell says. This includes testing for tance-education classes to be provided by UMass
the virus [Voluntary Counseling and Testing Boston beginning in January 2004.
(VCTs)], education, mitigation, awareness, and Because connecting the Maasai Education
mentoring of young people. Social and economic Discovery has been expensive, the Institute has
development programs will help to remove the been debating whether to link it to the Internet
stigma and ostracization of those affected by using a satellite or a wireless link back to Egerton.
HIV/AIDS, reintegrating them back into the com- “The problem with a landline is that it’s just
munity. Programs will deal with the AIDS orphan not going to work in the hinterland of Sub-
crisis (2.1 million in Kenya) and grandmothers Saharan Africa,” O’Donnell says. “When the CRC
SHARED ACCESS
is near the university we can lay the lines, but once mean that if we received a billion dollars and want
the CRCs are father away, we need to consider to put wireless all over Kenya that we will not have
wireless options.” a problem,” O’Donnell says. “We’re finding a way
In October 2003, additional funds were raised on the ground here. It takes small projects like this
for the Narok project to purchase a DVB-RCS, or to become important.”
Digital Video Broadcaster and Receiver, for a one- O’Donnell would like to see the spread of
time cost of $10,000. Its wireless antenna has a 7- CRCs throughout Kenya’s university system.
km radius which can reach computers newly Kenya has an AIDS mandate, and the First Lady
installed in local Maasailand schools. The month- has expressed an interest in further expansion of
ly usage, however, is $2,000, and the schools are the Egerton project. This CRC model in Kenya
expected to chip in. “This is an extraordinary step could be used elsewhere in Africa to deal with the
here in Kenya,” O’Donnell says. AIDS pandemic.
So far, McCormack has not hit any substantial “We are trying to break the back of the digital
regulatory barriers in Senegal or Kenya. While divide,” O’Donnell says, “so however we can do it,
both countries have been privatizing, “it doesn’t we will.”w
SHARED ACCESS
Village replication
3Sustainable Access in Rural India, Tamil Nadu State, India
n a 2,000-sq-km area that is home to 32,000 Foundation. n-Logue Communications Pvt. Ltd. is
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3Multiple partners bring a range of perspectives and widen the range of available services.
3Users usually need to see a clear benefit to new technology before they will use it. A proactive telekiosk
operator can build trust in the technology while pushing applications.
3Everyone must benefit. Villagers receive services and kiosk operators and LSPs earn profits—a typical
win-win situation enabling scaling to and replication in other regions.
3The LSP provides valuable structured training for maintenance and applications, helping the kiosk oper-
ator buy into the project.
3n-Logue’s approach is top down, whereas in Africa the McCormack Institute relies on the community to
drive project agenda. At Egerton University, IT is but one tool. In SARI, it is the only tool.
3Phones in every home are not affordable, so shared access is fundamental to project start-up and
growth.
SHARED ACCESS
NETWORK SET-UP
a village with a telekiosk is 1,000 households, puter-literate early adopters communicate the
while the smallest villages have fewer than 300 potential benefits of the telekiosk to the villagers in
households. Average per-capita income is under an understandable and appealing way.
$1 a day. To break even, the operator must generate $3 per
With a $1,000 loan from a village bank—the day, charging a minimum fee for each service to pay
maximum amount allowed at that branch level— off the loan and begin making a profit. The operator
the kiosk operator invests in a basic kit that must be willing to win the trust of new users, going
includes the wireless connection, a multimedia PC the extra length to create awareness and encourage
with a color monitor, multimedia equipment and computer usage in order to increase revenues.
web camera, a power source with a four-hour The first telekiosks were installed in November
back-up battery, and a dot-matrix printer. 2001, and to date, about a quarter are breaking even
The LSP trains the kiosk operators, usually or are profitable. Telekiosks in larger villages seem
young men and women from the villages, provid- to generate better returns simply because there are
ing them with software support and technical more users there. Early services include communi-
skills. The kiosk operators then maintain the cations, education and training, tele-agriculture,
equipment and assist customers in sending and tele-medicine, entertainment, and e-government.
retrieving voice and text messages, filling in online Because the infrastructure investments by the
forms, and using the Web. Above all, these com- LSP are relatively low (averaging about $75,000
SHARED ACCESS
An infinity of applications
ecause villagers need to be convinced encumbrance certificates; register complaints
SHARED ACCESS
ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
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ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
W
ireless broadband can have the
biggest impact in rural areas where there promising connectivity possibility. In addition to
is the least infrastructure. In these poor picking up and dropping off passengers, what if
areas, with limited or unavailable connectivity you could do the same with data?
options, a little bit of wireless can go a long way. Originally funded and patented by the MIT
First Mile Solutions, based in Cambridge, Media Lab, DakNet—the name comes from the
Massachusetts, has been working to develop an Hindi word “dak,” which means “post” or
affordable, low-risk wireless infrastructure to “postal”—has been implemented in India and
bridge the digital divide and jumpstart the rural Cambodia (and soon Nigeria). DakNet is essential-
communications market. ly a store-and-forward wireless broadband net-
“We don’t really know how people are going to work using a Mobile Access Point, or MAP, device
use infrastructure where it hasn’t existed,” says that is mounted on any vehicle that frequently
Founder and Managing Partner Amir Alexander passes by a series of villages.
Hasson. “It may not even make sense yet to call it When the vehicle comes in range of a Wi-Fi-
a market, the some 4 billion people living in rural enabled kiosk within the village (up to 1 km
areas who lack communications infrastructure.” depending on line-of-sight, velocity, and use of
In collaboration with Professors Sandy antennas), the MAP automatically senses a wireless
Pentland and Rich Fletcher of MIT Media Lab, connection with a kiosk and delivers and collects
Hasson has developed a “store-and-forward” data at an average “goodput” (adjusted for connec-
infrastructure for rural areas using local trans- tion-dropping) of 2.3 Mbps. After making a rou-
portation. Villages surrounding a town within 10 tine circuit, the vehicle returns to a hub, such as a
to 80 kilometers have an array of transportation cyber café, VSAT, or post office, and uplinks to the
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3 Applications that are compatible in different settings increase the chances of their adoption. In India,
DakNet worked as an intranet for land record changes. In Cambodia, it is used for e-mail and as a non-
real-time search engine.
3 A project will run smoothly when every part of the value chain has a buy-in to the project; that is, state gov-
ernment, bus driver, end user, and so on.
ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
NETWORK SET-UP
A DakNet bus mounted with a MAP. A DakNet hub with satellite uplink.
ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Store-and-forward stepping-stones
n Karnataka State, the local govern- associated with Bhoomi?
ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
ife is hard in the villages 85 km north of radiotelephones and impractical fiber line, Jhai
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3Because off-the-shelf equipment can’t always withstand harsh field conditions, practitioners should
determine whether they will need to research and develop special hardware, including alternative power
sources.
3Where knowledge of English is low, local-language applications may be critical. When local scripts are
not available and/or literacy is low, voice applications may be an appropriate substitute.
3Involving end users in each stage of the project creates a sense of personal ownership and can smooth
adoption of the technology.
ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
NETWORK SET-UP
mountain, which is then forwarded 25 km to of villagers closely in mind. They were involved in
Phon Hong, the closest town with phone lines. A every stage of the project from the very beginning.
wireless LAN centered at the mountaintop relay Minimal use of outside “experts” has encouraged
station will eventually transmit signals between local ownership of the project.
five villages and a server at Phon Hong Hospital, This network will enable villagers to make tele-
enabling access to the Internet over the Lao tele- phone calls within Laos and internationally using
phone system. voice-over IP. It will also enable the accounting,
The computer will run a Laotian version of the letter writing, and e-mail that are so important for
Linux-based graphical desktop KDE, which was the villagers’ start-up enterprises.
developed by a student-teacher team at the In addition to incubating the business aspirations
National University of Laos in Vientiane under the of local farmers, builders, and weavers, the set-up
direction of former IBM software developer will facilitate communication with distant family
Anousak Souphavanh. The suite of business tools members who send remittances and who are poten-
allows Laotians to browse the Web, send e-mail, tial business partners with the villagers. The com-
and create simple documents. munity will also be able to effectively communicate
Lee Thorn, Chairman and Founder of the Jhai with other organizations like the Jhai Foundation
Foundation, calls the localization into Laotian and seek development help on its own terms.
“probably the hardest part of the whole project.” “We’re building the system to last for years, a
To generate fonts in Laotian, for example, the team whole social, technical, and economic tool that
had to create its own Unicode, a standard for looks like a system and is owned by poor people,”
encoding letters and other characters in any lan- Thorn says. “The Lao members of the team,
guage. The entire system was built with the needs including the villagers, see this effort as a gift from
ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
PHOTO BY LIAM HELMER
Solid state
Jhai Foundation’s Remote Village IT program
found a sustainable, low-cost
A Lao-enabled browser. solution for villagers with its own durable, theft-
resistant computer. The
the people of Laos to the world’s rural poor. A sus- Jhai Computer, with an MZ-104 CPU board, 64
tainable, replicable solution.” MB of RAM, and a 96 MB
While monsoons and road washouts have disk-on-chip, is designed to withstand harsh con-
caused some delays, testing of the Phon Kham vil- ditions, including dust,
lage link to the Internet began in early 2003. Using dirt, water, and humidity.
a laptop, Vorasone Dengkayaphichith, Jhai’s coun-
try coordinator, sent e-mail and pictures, and, on
January 23rd, used VoIP to speak to colleagues in
Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Laos. The
signal went from Phon Kham village via a station in
a tree on a hill (2.4 km) to a water tower in Phon
Hong (9 km) and then to the Internet via a phone
line. Software problems foiled a first attempt to
install in February, and the team plans to return to
Laos in November 2003 to implement this project.
Although the Jhai project north of Vientiane
still faces certain logistical issues, it has received
inquires from India, Indonesia, and many other
countries where telecommunications and power
distribution remain limited. The project team
plans to refine the Jhai approach for use in
other locations.w
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I
nternet Project Kosovo, or IPKO,
launched wireless broadband connectivity in dish and an 802.11b wireless network in Pristina.
Kosovo on September 20, 1999, in the weeks IPKO sold service to every UN agency, NATO,
after the war, as a project of the International international NGOs, Internet cafés, and business-
Rescue Committee (IRC). NATO bombing had es. It provided free connectivity to schools, hospi-
destroyed much of Kosovo’s communi- tals, the university, and local NGOs.
cations infrastructure. The Serbs who “We were in a rather blessedly unreg-
ran it were gone. ulated environment,” remembers IPKO
At the time, UN and Humanitarian cofounder Paul Meyer. “Our license was
Agencies had no effective way of com- a half-page M.O.U. with the UN. That
municating or sharing information, and served as our operating license for three
they were clamoring for connectivity. and a half years until finally the govern-
Most were using expensive satellite- ment passed a telecom law. So I can sing
based communications, and the default the virtues of free regulation. It really
was for each to deploy its own solution. But this was the Wild West.”
was expensive and duplicative and did not connect After six months, IPKO was incorporated as a
the local community. IPKO’s alternative was to local NGO. In the course of its first year, it began
install one satellite dish and build an 802.11 wire- expanding to other main urban centers in Kosovo.
less local loop network around it. Nine months after inception, it launched a dial-up
The deployment kicked off with a $175,000 service. After a year of operation, it opened the
loan from IRC and a 3.8-mm satellite dish donated IPKO Institute of Technology, a technology train-
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3Initial financial support is critical. The funding can be a donation, a financial loan, or loan of equipment.
3Open regulatory environments and zero bureaucratic hassles expedite the deployment of wireless tech-
nologies.
3Connectivity for its own sake will not ensure project adoption. Look beyond the technology and develop
applications to meet the needs of local users.
REBUILDING NATIONS
NETWORK SET-UP
REBUILDING NATIONS
A
t the “Wireless Internet Opportunity for there’s mobile telephony. Companies like MTN in
Developing Countries” conference at UN Uganda and IPKO in Kosovo are building out
Headquarters on June 26, 2003, Paul infrastructure. International development agen-
Meyer, Co-Founder of Internet Project Kosovo cies and policy makers should focus on the policy
and CEO of Voxiva, urged the development com- problems, the information flow, and the applica-
munity deploying ICTs to “focus on the informa- tions and solutions that are required to promote
tion flow problems you’re trying to solve, not on health or education, for example. That focus on
the technology.” applications does much more good in promoting
“I think that International development agen- access because it creates a market and demand for
cies have spent too much time thinking about connectivity. By focusing on the policy problems
technologies and networks and not enough time they are chartered to solve, international develop-
thinking about information flow problems. ment institutions can be aggregators of demand
Technology is not an end in itself. It is only valu- for connectivity.
able if it facilitates flows of key information and “The second lesson I’ve learned is that applica-
addresses critical problems. Start with the fun- tions are harder than infrastructure. Figuring out
damental problem: What information needs to what key pieces of information need to flow where
flow where? Then figure out how to put together is hard work. For example, designing and imple-
existing technologies, networks, and applications menting a decision support and communication
to solve it. application for a Ministry of Health to track dis-
“Connectivity is not enough. The potential of ease outbreaks requires deep understanding of the
information technology is not realized when kids work processes of the doctors and administrators at
can chat and download music videos at Internet every level. Furthermore, introducing a system of
cafés in the developing world. The potential is real-time information necessarily changes the way
realized when people at the periphery can partici- an organization functions, making change man-
pate meaningfully in the broader world; when agement and training keys to success. People who
businesses can transact seamlessly with one anoth- are experts in health or education or microfinance
er; when governments can make decisions informed should focus their energies on figuring out how
by accurate, timely information and provide criti- those sectors can benefit from real-time informa-
cal services to their citizens. tion flows. They shouldn’t spend their time worry-
“There are three lessons I’ve taken from my ing about connectivity.
experience at IPKO in Kosovo and at Voxiva, the “The final lesson I’ve learned is that there are a
company I now run. lot more phones in the world than computers.
“First, international-development agencies Moreover, phones don’t require literacy. If the
should not be telecom companies. They should developing world is to benefit from applications
work with and become customers of existing that address information flow problems in key sec-
providers. At IPKO in Kosovo, we built a nation- tors like health and education, we need to look
al wireless backbone because we had to. There was beyond just the Internet and PCs. If applications
no existing infrastructure. Luckily, most coun- can be extended to every computer and every phone
tries in the world have existing and rapidly in the developing world, then we will have the
expanding telecom, mobile phone, and Internet reach to make a real difference in solving critical
networks. Go to the far corners of Uganda, and problems there.”w
REBUILDING NATIONS
T
oday, only 6 percent of the population
of Afghanistan has access to electricity. month, with six telekiosks in operation, there were
Many Afghans have never made a phone 2,410 customer visits. The number dropped
call, let alone sent e-mail or surfed the Internet. because of power-supply problems and because
The nation is arguably at the far end—the bottom two of the six telekiosks were only open for half a
end—of the digital divide. month. UNDP reports that all nine telekiosks were
But the UN Development Program in functioning by late September.
Afghanistan is working to change this, at least for a Two “animators” at each telekiosk help
small but growing percentage of Kabul’s 2.5 mil- Afghans learn basic computer and Internet skills.
lion residents, thanks to a $300,000 grant from While most users are male, an outreach effort is
France, a wireless LAN, and new telekiosks at the under way to bring in more women and girls. The
airport and in post offices less than 10 km from the telekiosks should enable schoolteachers and chil-
Ministry of Communications. dren, government employees, health workers, and
Four of the telekiosks, which include five PCs others in Kabul to do e-mail and access the
and a printer, were opened on July 6, 2003. Two Internet. A Web site will support both Dari and
were linked to the Ministry with fiber, and, by mid- English and eventually Pashto.
August, two were connected wirelessly to base sta- The majority of the people visiting the
tions at the Ministry. Each post-office telekiosk telekiosks are first-time users and need basic
costs $19,500 to set up. If revenue predictions are computer training. “We had anticipated that most
correct, each is expected to generate up to $30 per people visiting the telekiosks would be returning
day from local users. refugees from places where they received com-
In the first month, the initial four telekiosks puter training or workers at international organi-
THINGS TO REMEMBER
3In a nation or region recovering from war or crisis, wireless networks can serve as a fast substitute for
national telecom infrastructure, especially where there are few regulatory barriers.
3Making use of existing solid structures for shared Internet access can reduce the cost of deployment.
3Sporadic availability of power can shut down operations, causing revenue losses.
REBUILDING NATIONS
Most telekiosk users in Kabul have been male, but UNDP is reaching out to women and girls.
REBUILDING NATIONS
NETWORK SET-UP
GUIDELINES TO COUNTRIES
1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 98
1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 99
Prepared by the Secretariat of the United Nations ICT Task Force and the Wireless
Internet Institute on the basis of discussions at the “Wireless Internet Opportunity
for Developing Countries” conference at United Nations Headquarters in New York
City on June 26, 2003.
W
ireless Internet technologies and
applications are in their early develop- and conditions with respect to wireless Internet
mental stages, and their potential eco- deployment, from a geographic, social, economic,
nomic and social benefits appear to be consider- regulatory, and telecommunications infrastructure
able especially in the context of the United standpoint. There are, however, several regulatory
Nations Millennium Development Goals. and economic success factors that country author-
International development experts and leading ities should consider. To facilitate such local
IT corporations consider wireless Internet tech- review, the following guidelines to governments
nologies essential to bridging the digital divide in wanting to support the experimentation and early
developing countries at a manageable cost and deployment of wireless Internet infrastructure
within a reasonable timeframe. applications, are proposed.
These new technologies and applications, how-
ever, are emerging in many different situations, 1. Identify, promote, and establish national con-
often outside the operational landscape of tradi- sensus on the potential benefits of wireless
tional telecommunications services, and with new Internet applications and local priorities.
types of participants from both the private and A key factor of success for wireless Internet
public sectors. Wireless Internet applications deployment is a generally supportive environment,
resulting from grassroots initiatives may be seen as a prerequisite of which is adequate awareness of
disruptive and can hit unintended roadblocks in policy makers, the public and private sectors, and
the form of local regulations and lack of under- the local media.
standing of their potential. Conversely, proper gov- United Nations Millennium Development Goal
ernment support and incentives can accelerate No. 8, Target 18, states: “In cooperation with the
their successful implementation at little cost and private sector, make available the benefits of new
with significant immediate economic and social technologies, especially information and commu-
benefits for the poor. nications.” There is a general agreement that
GUIDELINES TO COUNTRIES 99
1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 100
Internet access is a key success factor in making 3For spectrum policy and standards references:
these new technologies work for development. In 3Institute of Electrical and Electronics
many geographic areas, however, the cost of Engineers (IEEE)
expanding Internet connectivity with landlines or 3ITU World Radiocommunication Conference
cable remains prohibitive for the foreseeable 3For manufacturers standards compliance, inter-
future, while available bandwidth is increasing operability, and quality assurance:
exponentially in developed countries, furthering 3Wi-Fi Alliance for 802.11 products
the digital divide. 3WiMax Forum for 802.16 products
Raising awareness and building national con- The single-most important step to support wire-
sensus about the benefits of low-cost broadband less Internet applications is to develop a spectrum
wireless Internet infrastructure solutions is there- policy that allocates bands for unlicensed applica-
fore an important first step. tions, such as the 2.4- and 5-GHz bands currently
One complex challenge is to clearly differentiate unlicensed in a number of countries.
the broadband capabilities of IEEE 802.xx-based In a first step toward worldwide spectrum allo-
technologies for fixed infrastructure from the low- cation to wireless Internet applications, the ITU in
bandwidth mobile solutions offered by current cel- its July 4, 2003 World Radio Conference commu-
lular telephony and personal-devices networks. niqué indicates that it “successfully established
Local governments may also inventory those new frequency allocations to the mobile service in
applications that may contribute the most to bridg- the bands 5150-5350 MHz and 5470-5725 MHz
ing the digital divide both from a geographic and for the implementation of wireless access systems
social standpoint, and foster economic develop- including RLANs. Wireless devices that do not
ment, job creation, and productivity gains in all require individual licenses are being used to create
economic sectors. Of particular interest for devel- broadband networks in homes, offices, and
oping countries are opportunities in the 3 “e’s”: e- schools. These networks are also used in public
government, e-education, e-health (a fourth, e-com- facilities in so-called hotspots such as airports,
merce, is sometimes also included); rural-areas cov- cafes, hotels, hospitals, train stations, and confer-
erage, small business connectivity, the development ence sites to offer broadband access to the
of local ICT services including private-sector ISPs Internet....
and voice-over IP services. “The lower part of the 5-GHz spectrum will be
Identifying leading applications, which may predominantly used for indoor applications with
drive the initial use of wireless Internet infra- the first 100 MHz (5150-5250 MHz) restricted to
structure and distribution, will further develop indoor use. The use of these frequency bands is
support for wireless Internet solutions among key conditional to provisions that provide for interfer-
constituents. ence mitigation mechanisms and power-emission
limits to avoid interference into other radio com-
2. Adopt minimum regulations supporting munication services operating in the same spec-
the use of unlicensed spectrum and ICT indus- trum range.”
try standards. Each country may have existing spectrum allo-
A second critical success factor is the leverage cations that need to be adjusted. A close monitor-
of internationally recognized norms. ing of international regulatory activities and the
Harmonization creates significant economies of adaptation of local spectrum policies is therefore
scale for equipment manufacturers, software recommended.
developers, and off-the-shelf solutions. It is there-
fore in the best interest of countries to closely fol- 3. Update telecommunications regulations to
low and support the norms and recommenda- foster market opportunities, optimize existing
tions of the following organizations: infrastructure resources, and free competition
among wireless Internet service providers. Wireless Internet infrastructure and services
Although situations will vary greatly from one can leverage a number of existing resources in any
country to another, four areas need careful attention given country:
from a telecommunication regulatory perspective: 3backbone operators and owners of fiber-optic
(a) Access to an Internet backbone is a prereq- networks including governments, private-sector
uisite for successful deployment of broadband networks, telcos, power-grid operators, and satel-
wireless Internet services. To the extent possible, lite communications operators;
telecommunications regulations regime should fos- 3owners of real estate and high points with ade-
ter a competitive Internet backbone market. quate power supply and security to install anten-
Private- or public-sector entities outside the nas, such as existing radio communications towers
telecommunications industry should be allowed to or possibly public-sector buildings such as post
contribute their backbone capacity. This is partic- offices or other types of standard venues;
ularly important in regions with underused back- 3systems integrators with the technical capabili-
bone capacity. As an example, GrameenPhone in ties to install and maintain wireless equipment
Bangladesh was made possible by the collabora- such as towers, cabling, hub-integrated antennas,
tion of the National Railway System contributing wireless modems, control and network manage-
access to its fiber-optic network. Conversely, if ment systems, routers, cables, uninterruptible
only a few backbone service providers exist, they power supplies, racks, etc.;
should be obligated to open up their infrastructure 3operators of similar services such as TV broad-
to independent service providers. casting, cellular telephony, computer maintenance
(b) If no backbone is available, alternative solu- organizations, and power distribution;
tions include broadband terrestrial wireless links, 3financial-sector interested to fund start-up ISPs;
satellite stations and power grids. Appropriate 3community leaders eager to provide Internet
incentives encouraging such solutions should be access to their constituents;
implemented. 3incumbent telecommunications operators; and
(c) At the final distribution level, Internet service 3providers of know-how and training services.
providers, or ISPs, implementing wireless Internet It is recommended to support venues such as con-
solutions need to be facilitated by telecommunica- ferences or seminars on wireless Internet to increase
tions regulations and operate in the context of free awareness and initiate dialogues and cooperation
market competition. among key decision makers from both the private
(d) Legacy regulations concerning radio com- and public sectors.
munications, some related to law-enforcement
agencies or the military, can also create unintend- 5. Support the experimentation of new services
ed obstacles for wireless Internet ISPs including and encourage the aggregation of demand for
for the physical deployment of antennas and bandwidth.
radio-communications equipment. These should Although wireless Internet initiatives can be
be adapted to the specific needs of wireless ISPs perceived as disruptive and infringing on exist-
as in such landmark cooperation agreements facil- ing regulations, they are an important source of
itated by the regulator between the private sector information to adapt regulations and develop
and the NTIA (National Telecommunications public-sector strategies. Governments are
and Information Administration) on use of unli- encouraged to support early initiatives with
censed spectrum in the United States (see interim measures until appropriate regulatory
Appendix 1 on p. 103). adjustments are made.
One of the most important factors of success for
4. Identify key available resources and foster wireless ISPs is a rapid increase of initial demand
cooperation among potential actors. for connectivity, which allows for a faster break-
even on operating expenses. This can be achieved local public services to use the infrastructure of local
through initial aggregation of demand based on wireless ISPs.
applications for local public services such as
schools, universities, health services, and public 6. Follow-up and support of wireless Internet
administration. Business, agriculture, and private developments at governmental and intergov-
uses will inevitably add to the mix once service is ernmental levels, including sharing of best
available. In very underserved areas, it is likely that practices.
initial viable aggregation will occur through the It is anticipated that wireless Internet tech-
deployment of wireless Internet kiosks operated nologies and applications will continue to evolve
by small entrepreneurs. rapidly, which makes it important for govern-
Governments are encouraged to deploy applica- ments and private-sector leaders to remain
tions in the area of e-government, e-education, and abreast of other countries’ experiences, regulatory
e-health to leverage the use of Internet access by the work at the international level, best practices,
general public. Governments should also encourage and latest innovations.w
Executive Branch agencies of the U.S. government, in cooperation with the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) and industry proponents of 5 GHz Wireless Access
System (WAS) devices, have reached agreement on modifications to the U.S. position with
respect to these devices, for use in international fora.
“I am very pleased that the participants from the federal government and the private
sector have come to a consensus that satisfies both of their interests,” said Assistant
Secretary of Commerce and NTIA Administrator Nancy J. Victory. “In achieving this,
the Bush Administration has continued its goal of stimulating the economy and ensur-
ing the national defense and preserving the leadership of the U.S. high-tech sector.
Based on these changes, the U.S. is now able to formalize its position with respect to
earth exploration satellite systems, mobile, and radiolocation services at 5 GHz and will
now fully support these allocations,” Victory said.
The NTIA, FCC, NASA and Department of Defense (DoD), working closely with
industry in detailed technical meetings, have agreed to modify the required Dynamic
Frequency Selection (a listen-before-transmit mechanism) detection threshold charac-
teristics contained in the U.S. proposal for WRC-03 Agenda Item 1.5 as follows:
A. The Threshold value is modified from -67 dBm to -64 dBm for 1W to 200 mW
devices and -62 dBm for < 200 mW devices. This would now apply to the 5250-5350
MHz and 5470-5725 MHz bands.
B. The U.S. position of only allocating the 5150-5350 MHz band to the mobile serv-
ice will be modified to include an allocation to the mobile service in the 5470-5725
MHz band and the resolution for continued studies on this band will be deleted.
C. As a consequence, of these modifications, the U.S. position on the Earth
Exploration Satellite Service allocation at 5460-5570 MHz will be to support this
allocation.
The changes to the U.S. position will now allow the U.S. to seek a mobile allocation
at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication
Conference in Geneva in June and July 2003 in both bands sought by industry (5150-
5350 MHz and 5470-5725 MHz) while ensuring protection of vital DoD radars.
The previous technical requirements for these systems, which must include DFS,
have also been modified based on new information recently explored. These changes
not only continue to ensure that the vital DoD radars are protected, but ease sharing
conditions for the WAS systems.
APPENDIX 1 103
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1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 105
VENDOR RESOURCES
1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 106
1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 107
T
he IEEE 802.11- and 802.16-based wireless equipment developed, so did the need for tools to
networking technologies—collectively, the manage, operate, and protect wireless networks,
wireless Internet—have emerged as a digital- which led to several new companies entering the
communications standard over the past four years, value chain as application and software providers.
producing a dynamic value chain of suppliers, ven- The variety of these tools, combined with the
dors, and consumers. The technology’s affordabil- increasing demand for wireless networks in public
ity, ease of setup, standardization, and favorable and enterprise IT markets, led to an increasing
regulatory environment in target markets have need for packaged solutions, spawning another
enabled rapid development, with some clear cost group of new entrants (and new divisions within
and performance advantages over wire-line net- consulting companies) known as system integra-
working (i.e., Ethernet) for homes and offices. It tors. Once a critical installed base of wireless
has reduced total cost of ownership for networking Internet-enabled devices and users was estab-
and served as a high-performance medium to dis- lished, new market opportunities to capitalize on
tribute available bandwidth. and operate wireless networks as an Internet
Although the market for wireless Internet tech- access service emerged. This led to the widespread
nologies has become saturated in some areas and proliferation of public and private wireless
failed to meet some bullish industry projections, it Internet-enabled networks throughout the United
has been one of the only large growth areas within States, Europe, and parts of Asia-Pacific.
the IT and telecommunications sectors during the The equipment manufacturer segment of the
recent economic slump, and many strategists con- value chain consists of chipset makers, access
sider it a disruptive technology. point and client radio producers, antenna and
The wireless Internet value chain is comprised amplifier vendors, and producers of wireless-
of three broad segments, beginning with network enabled access devices (Figure 2).
equipment manufacturers, network software and Chipset makers create the core wireless technol-
application providers, and network integrators and ogy radios and firmware (software that enables
operators (see Figure 1). wireless networking to work with operating sys-
Equipment manufacturers produce the basic tems and other hardware components). These
networking components that constitute the physi- chipsets are then integrated into wireless hardware
*The listings in this chapter are not meant to be exhaustive but indicative of available resources in each of the categories.
products such as client radio cards (used for lap- tion with back-end systems for accounting, billing,
tops and PDAs) and access points, which connect and customer-relationship management (Figure 3).
client radios to an available backbone such as One of the caveats of wireless networks has
DSL. Other companies focus on producing anten- been their vulnerability to hackers, prompting a
nas and amplifiers required to connect wireless wide range of providers to develop security appli-
clients with access points over long distances or in cations designed specifically for wireless Internet.
unfavorable networking environments (802.16 This is perhaps the most saturated segment within
technology). As the demand for wireless network- the entire value chain with dozens of competing
ing products has grown, manufacturers of PCs, providers. Other companies have recognized a
PDAs, and even cell phones have also begun to need for software that makes wireless networks
introduce 802.11-compliant wireless chipsets into (and the engineers who deploy then) “smarter,”
their products. This segment of equipment manu- including network testing and optimization tools,
facturers has seen tremendous growth in recent advanced routing and power-management proto-
years and has been the primary winner within the cols, and network training programs.
overall wireless Internet value chain. Perhaps the most interesting feature within this
The application and software provider segment segment, into which significant research has been
consists of providers for network security; network invested, is “mesh networking” which aims to
optimization; network management; and integra- enable any 802.11-enabled device to also serve as
a router to connect surrounding 802.11-enabled
Amir Alexander Hasson is Founder and Managing devices to the Internet indirectly through other
Partner of First Mile Solutions in Cambridge, devices that may be connected to the Internet.
Massachusetts. Another important area within this segment is net-
work management software, which enables net- Finally there has been a particular need to devel-
work administrators to monitor and administrate op applications that enable wireless Internet serv-
wireless networks alongside other existing net- ice operators to monetize network usage and tie
works through interfaces that capture critical vari- network management software into other enter-
ables relating to network usage and performance. prise and legacy systems critical to business oper-
ation. Many companies within this segment of the offering. In this sense, wireless Internet access
value chain are likely to be consolidated into larger provides businesses such as hotel chains and cor-
IT consulting firms and system integrators porate offices with reduced networking costs and
because of over-saturation (Figure 4). a differentiation factor for marketing, but it may
With the multitude of wireless networking not yield increasing returns as a new revenue
hardware and software products on the market, stream. The entire value chain has also been driv-
entrepreneurs and larger telecom and IT consult- en and reinforced by the wireless Internet indus-
ing companies have created custom solutions to try and standards bodies that have promoted and
bring wireless Internet to vertical markets such as adapted wireless technologies according to the
healthcare, hospitality, utilities, real estate, retail, best interest of key stakeholders.
warehousing, field service and sales, and last-mile Although parts of the wireless Internet value
communications. In addition to these vertical chain have become saturated and are undergoing
markets and home and office networking, wire- consolidation, it has produced tremendous value
less Internet has also been deployed to operate for consumers through rapidly decreasing costs
public (free) and private (commercial) networks, of wireless products as well as the widespread
or “hotspots.” Private hotspot operators have availability of wireless Internet access. The pri-
struggled to find a successful business model, mary winners in this value chain so far have been
which has caused some very ambitious operators equipment manufacturers and end users. The
to fail to meet expectations. This results partly players and business models in the middle of the
from other providers (ranging from homes to value chain are less mature and more fragmented.
restaurants with Internet connections and wire- Although wireless Internet markets in the United
less Internet access points) offering wireless States and Europe have become increasingly sat-
Internet access for free. As Scott Rafer, Founder urated from the supply side, there exist many
of WiFinder, suggests, “wireless Internet is like opportunities for wireless Internet in emerging
air conditioning,” meaning that there is a large markets in Latin America, Asia, and Africa where
population of consumers who have grown to there is even a greater need for affordable, dis-
expect wireless Internet access as part of a service tributive communications technology.w
Vendor directory
3COM Atheros Communications, Inc.
350 Campus Dr. 529 Almanor Ave.
Marlborough, MA 01752-3064 Sunnyvale, CA 94085-3512
Tel: 1-800-638-3266 Tel: 408-773-5200
Fax: 508-323-1111 Fax: 408-773-9940
Web: 3com.com info@atheros.com
111
1.Pages1_End 11/19/03 10:17 AM Page 112
Peoplesoft Siemens AG
4460 Hacienda Dr. Wittelsbacherplatz 2
Pleasanton, CA 94588-8618 D-80333 Munich
Tel: 800-380-7638 Germany
Web: peoplesoft.com Tel.: 49-89-636-00
Fax: 49-89-636-52-000
Pronto Networks Web: siemens.com
4637 Chabot Dr, Ste. 350
Pleasanton, CA 94588 SkyNetGlobal Ltd.
Tel: 925-227-5500 Ste. 16, 123 Liverpool St.
Fax: 925-460-8227 Sydney NSW 2000
E-mail: info@prontonetworks.com Australia
Tel: 612-8251-3800
Proxim Fax: 612-8251-3809
935 Stewart Dr. E-mail: sales@skynetglobal.com
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
Toll free: 800-229-1630 SMC
Tel: 408-731-2700 38 Tesla
Fax: 408-731-3675 Irvine, CA 92618
Web: proxim.com Tel: 800-762-4968
Fax: 949-679-1481
Radiant Networks Web: smc.com
The Mansion, Chesterford Park
Little Chesterford, Essex SONY
CB10 1XL England 6-7-35 Kitashinagawa
Tel: 44-0-1799-533-600 Shinagawa-ku
Fax: 44-0-1799-533-601 Tokyo 141-0001
E-mail: support@radiantnetworks.co.uk Japan
Web: sony.net
Rocksteady Networks
3410 Far West Blvd. Ste. 210 Surf and Sip, Inc.
Austin, Texas 78731 470 Third St., Ste. 100
Tel: 512-275-0571 San Francisco, CA 94107
Fax: 512-275-0575 Tel: 415-974-6321
E-mail: info@rocksteady.com Fax: 415-777-2469
E-mail: info@surfandsip.com
RoomLinx
6553 Via Sereno SyBase
Ranch Murieta, CA 95683 One Sybase Dr.
Tel: 800-576-1655 Dublin, CA 94568
Fax: 916-354-0544 Tel: 925-236-5000
E-mail: sales@roomlinx.com Web: sybase.com
Telia-Sonera AB Wayport
Mårbackagatan 11 8303 N. Mopac, Ste. A-300
SE-123 86 Farsta Austin, TX 78759
Sweden Tel: 972-791-3900
Tel: 46-0-8-504-550-00 E-mail: info@wayport.net
Fax: 46-0-8-504-550-01
E-mail: teliasonera@telia.se WiDeFi Inc.
476 A1A, Ste. 3
Texas Instruments, Inc. Satellite Beach, FL 32937
Product Information Center Tel: 321-777-2085
13532 N. Central Expressway E-mail: info@WiDeFi.com
M/S 3807
Dallas, Texas 75243-1108 Wi-Fi Alliance
Tel: 972-644-5580 2716 Barton Creek Blvd, Ste. 2024
Fax : 972-927-6377 Austin, TX 78735
Web: ti.com Tel: 512-347-7660
E-mail: fhanzlik@wi-fi.org
T-Mobile
PO Box 37380 WiFi Planet
Albuquerque, NM 87176-7380 Web: wi-fiplanet.com
Tel: 800-937-8997
Web: t-mobile.com WiFinder
E-mail: sales@wifinder.com
Toshiba Web: wifinder.com
1-1, Shibaura 1-chome, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 105-8001 Wild Packets Inc.
Japan 1340 Treat Blvd, Ste. 500
Tel: 81-3-3457-4511 Walnut Creek, CA 94597
Fax : 81-3-3456-1631 Tel: 925-937-3200
Web: toshiba.com E-mail: info@wildpackets.com
Recommended readings
802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide (O’Reilly Networking), by
Matthew S. Gast. O’Reilly & Associates; 1st edition (April 2002). ISBN: 0596001835.
Book of Wi-Fi, The: Install, Configure, and Use 802.11b Wireless Networking, by
John Ross. No Starch Press; (February 2003). ISBN: 188641145X
Brave New Women of Asia: How Distance Education Changed Their Lives, edited
by Kanwar and Taplin. This report reviews the impact of distance education on women
in Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The report encourages
women to participate in open and distance learning.
Bridging the Digital Divide: Gyandoot: The Model for Community Networks, by
Rajesh Rajora (2002). Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi. This book covers theoretical
models of community access, networking infrastructure, information needs assessment,
user behavior, research findings and recommendations for similar projects.
Build Your Own Wi-Fi Network, by Shelly Brisbin, Glen Carty (Contributor).
McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; (October 22, 2002). ISBN: 0072226242
China Dawn: The Story of Technology and Business Revolution, by David Sheff
(2002). Documents and investigates the Internet sector in China, as well as India, Japan
and Singapore.
CWSP Certified Wireless Security Professional Official Study Guide (Exam PW0-
200), by Planet3 Wireless. McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; (August 2003). ISBN:
0072230126.
Field Guide to Wireless LANs for Administrators and Power Users, by Thomas
Maufer. Prentice Hall PTR; 1st edition (October 17, 2003). ISBN: 0131014064.
117
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Fixed Broadband Wireless System Design, by Harry R. Anderson. John Wiley &
Sons; (February 27, 2003). ISBN: 0470844388
Maximum Wireless Security, by Cyrus Peikari and Seth Fogie. SAMS; Book and CD-
ROM edition (December 18, 2002). ISBN: 0672324881
Glossary
3G—The third generation of mobile communications specified by the ITU promises to
offer increased bandwidth and high-speed data applications up to 2 Mbps. It works over
wireless air interfaces such as GSM, TDMA, and CDMA.
802.11g—A wireless networking specification, assigned by IEEE, in the 2.4 Ghz fre-
quency range with a bandwidth of 54 Mbps.
802.20—A specification of physical and medium access control layers of an air interface
for interoperable mobile broadband wireless access systems, operating in licensed
bands below 3.5 Ghz, optimized for IP-data transport, with peak data rates per user in
excess of 1 Mbps. It supports various vehicular mobility classes up to 250 km/h in a
MAN environment and targets spectral efficiencies, sustained user data rates, and num-
bers of active users that are all significantly higher than achieved by existing mobile sys-
tems. This standard is under development.
Access Point—A wireless hardware device connected to a wired network that enables
wireless devices to connect to a wired LAN.
Analog—Modulated radio signals that enable transfer of information such as voice and
data.
Antenna—A device used for transmitting and/or receiving radio signals, whose shape
and size is determined by the frequency of signal it is receiving.
119
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Backbone—The central part of a large network to which two or more subnetworks link.
It is the primary path for data transmission. A network can have a wired backbone or a
wireless backbone.
Bandwidth—The amount of data a network can carry, i.e., how much and how fast data
flows on a given transmission path. It is measured by bits or bytes per second.
Bits per second (bps)—The number of bits that can be sent or received per second over
a communication line.
Broadband—A fast Internet connection generally above 200 Kbps. However, no official
speed definition exists for broadband services.
Client Devices—These communicate with hub devices such as access points and gate-
ways. They include PC cards that slide into laptop computers, PCMCIA modules
embedded in laptop computers, and mobile computing devices.
Client—An end user, i.e., any computer connected to a network that requests services
(files, print capability), from another member of the network.
DSL—Various technology protocols for high-speed data, voice, and video transmission over
ordinary twisted-pair copper POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) telephone wires.
Ethernet—Also called 10Base T, Ethernet is an international standard for wired networks. It can
offer a bandwidth of about 10 Mbps and up to 100 Mbps.
Firewall—Software, hardware, or a combination of the two that prevents unrestricted access into
or out of a network.
Gateway—A combination of a software program and piece of hardware that passes data between
networks. In wireless networking, gateways can also serve as security and authentication devices,
access points, and more.
Hertz (Hz)—The unit for expressing frequency (f), a measure of electromagnetic energy. One
Hertz equals one cycle per second.
Hotspot—A place where users can access Wi-Fi service for free or a fee.
Hotzone—An area where users can access Wi-Fi service free or for a fee.
Internet Appliance—A computer intended primarily for Internet access, generally offering cus-
tomized Web browsing, touch-screen navigation, e-mail services, entertainment, and personal
information management applications.
Internet Protocol (IP)—A set of rules used to send and receive messages at the Internet address
level.
IP Address—A 32-bit number that identifies each sender or receiver of information that is sent
across the Internet. An IP address has two parts—an identifier of a particular network on the
Internet and an identifier of the particular device (which can be a server or a workstation) with-
in that network.
ISS—A special software application that allows all PCs on a network access to the Internet simul-
taneously through a single connection and Internet Service Provider (ISP) account.
Local Area Network (LAN)—A high-speed network that connects a limited number of com-
puters in a small area, generally a building or a couple of buildings.
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MAC—A unique identifier that can be used to provide security for wireless networks.
All Wi-Fi devices have an individual MAC address hard-coded into it.
Network Interface Card (NIC)—A type of PC adapter card that works without wires
(Wi-Fi) or attaches to a network cable to provide two-way communication between the
computer and network devices such as a hub or switch.
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)—is a digital handheld device that is can transmit
data and services such as paging, data messaging, computing, telephone/fax, email, etc.
possible.
Plug and Play—A feature of a computer system which enables automatic configuration
of add-ons and peripheral devices like wireless PC Cards, printers, scanners and multi-
media devices.
Repeater—A device that receives a radio signal, amplifies it, and retransmits it in a new
direction. Repeaters are used in wireless networks to extend the range of base-station
signals, thereby expanding coverage—within limits—more economically than by build-
ing additional base stations.
Roaming—The ability to move from one access point coverage area to another without
losing connectivity.
Server—A computer that lets other computers and devices on a network share its
resources. Includes print servers, Internet servers, and data servers. A server can also be
combined with a hub or router.
Switch—A network device that selects the path that a data packet will take to its next
destination ensuring optimal network performance. The switch opens and closes the
electrical circuit to determine whether and to where data will flow.
Unlicensed Spectrum—The government sets up general rules, such as the power lim-
its on devices, and then allows any device that meets those standards to operate (unli-
censed) in that spectrum.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)—A private network of computers at least partially con-
nected by public phone lines. An example is a private office LAN that allows users to log in
remotely over the Internet (an open public system). VPNs use encryption and secure proto-
cols such as PPTP to ensure that unauthorized parties do not intercept data transmissions.
Wide Area Network (WAN)—A network that connects computers and other devices
across a large local, regional, national, or international area.
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Wireless Loop (WL)—A wireless system providing the “last mile” connectivity; that is,
the last wired connection between the telephone exchange and the subscriber’s tele-
phone set (which can be up to several miles in length). Traditionally, this has been pro-
vided by a copper-wire connection.
Index
2.4 Ghz, xiii, xiv, 7-9, 17, 18, 25, Botswana, 56 E-Link Americas, 59-61
64, 66, 100, 108 Brazil, xiii, 1, 47-50, 61 Ensenada, 57, 58
2G, 11 building, 10, 11, 14, 43, 66, 101 Era Digital, 59
3G, xiv, 10, 11, 18 buy-in, xvi, 38, 65, 79 Ernest Kleinwort Charitable
4G, xiv, 11 Cable, 7, 17, 43, 56, 100, 101 Trust, 48
5-6 Ghz, 66, 108 Caboclo Indians, 47-50 Ethernet, 7, 11, 107
802.11, xiii, 7-14, 25, 26, 29, California, 56 Europe, xiv, 17-19, 25, 53, 107,
32, 60, 63, 89, 100, 107, 108 Cambodia, 79-82 110
802.16, xiii, xiv, 9-14, 22, 100, Caribbean, 61 FCC, xiv, 20-22, 103
107, 108 cellular network, 28; service, fiber, xiii, 10-13, 25, 31, 38, 43,
access points, xiv, 7-14, 17, 25, xiii, 83; standards, xiv; tech 53, 70, 73, 83, 90, 93, 101
79-82, 108, 110 nology, 2; telephony, xiii, xiv, 1, First Mile Solutions, 79-82, 108
Adriatic Sea, 90 4, 10, 11, 14, 63, 101 fixed line, xiii, 2, 4, 57
Afghanistan, 93-95 Central America, 61 France, 89
Africa, xiii, 4, 19, 27, 53-56, 63- Centrino, 9, 21, 22, 108 FrogFoot Networks, 63
71, 73, 110 Chad, 19 Gabon, 56
Africa-Online, 53-56 Chile, 61 Gangetic Plain Project, 25, 26
AIDS, 69-71 Cisco, 21, 22, 43, 90 Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis,
Aironet, 43 Commonwealth Development, 28 Université, 69-71
airport, 8, 49, 93, 95, 100, 109 Community Resource Center, Geneva, 21, 103
Albania, 90 69-71 Gonofone, 27-29
Algeria, 56 competition, xiv, xvi, 10, 17, 18, GPRS, 11
Alvarion, 54, 57 29, 32, 33, 66, 100, 101 Grameen Bank, 28, 29
Amazon Association, 47-50 complementary code keying, 8 GrameenPhone, xv, 1, 27-29,
Amazon, 47-50 convergence, xiv, 66, 73 101
amplifier, 38, 94, 107, 108 copper, xiv, 11, 25, 26, 31, 38, Guinea, 56
Anatel, 48 53 Half-Way Proposal, 56
antenna, xiv, 9-13, 25, 38, 60, corDECT, 73-76 harmonization, 100
64, 71, 79, 81, 101, 107, 108 DakNet, 26, 79-82 Harvard University, 76
Aravind Eye Hospital, 76 digital divide, v, xi, xiii, xv, 34, Hewlett-Packard, 21
Asia, 3 37, 79, 93, 99, 100, 117 Himalayas, 43
Asian Development Bank, 28 D-Link, 57, 58 hotspot, xiii, xiv, 17, 63, 100,
asynchronous service, xiv, 26, 81 DSL, 7, 56, 108 110
backhaul, 9, 56 DSSS, 8 hotzone, 57, 58
Baja Wireless, 57, 58 DVB, 59-61, 71 ICASA, 63-66
Bangladesh, xv, 1, 27-29, 101 Eduardo Mondlane, University, ICICI, 76
Barker coding, 8 63 IEEE, xiii, xiv, 7-9, 11, 25, 26,
base station, 10-12, 94 Education for Development and 100, 107, 109
Berkman Center for Internet & Democracy Initiative, 69 I-Gyan Foundation, 73
Society, 73 Egerton University, 69-71 Independent Communications
Bhoomi Project, 79-82 Egypt, 19, 56 Authority of South Africa, 63-66
125
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telekisoks, xvi, 32, 73-76, 79-82, United States, 1, 18, 20, 22, 25, 22, 25, 29, 31, 32, 33, 50, 60,
93-95, 102 28, 53, 56-58, 85, 101 61, 66, 79, 85, 89, 90, 100
telemedicine, 44, 47, 49 university, 38, 50, 63, 69-71, 73, WiFinder, 110
Telenor, 28 76, 84, 89, 102 WiMax Forum, 100
telephone, xiii, xiv, xv, 3, 25, 27- unlicensed, 7-14, 17-22 WiMax, xiii, xiv, 9, 100, 109
29, 53, 54, 57, 80, 83 urban areas, 3, 10, 21, 27, 28, WINX, 66
Telmex, 57, 58 33, 34, 55, 60, 63, 89 Wireless Internet Exchange, 66
train station, 8, 100 USAID, 65, 69, 70 Wireless Internet Institute, v, vii,
Tunisia, 56 value chain, xvi, 1, 79, 107, 108, viii, xi, xv, 17, 37, 99, 116
Uganda, 91 110 WISPs, xv, 17, 18, 31, 37, 53-
ultra wideband, 13 Venezuela, 19 66, 101
UMass Boston, 69-71 village, xv, 1, 25-28, 39, 44, 50, WLAN, 7, 9, 11, 18, 21, 84, 93, 94
UN Development Program, 93- 55, 73-85 World Bank, 1, 59, 81
95 Virtual Yeti team, 43-45 World Radio Conference, xiii,
UN ICT Task Force, v, vii, viii, voice-over IP, xiii, xiv, 11, 19, xiv, 8, 21, 100, 103, 109
ix, xi, xv, 99 39, 43, 44, 55, 58, 83, 84, 100 World Summit on Information
UN ICT Task Force, xi, xv, 99 Voxiva, 91 Society, xi, 37
Unicode, 84 VSAT, 44, 47, 79 WorldLink Communications,
UniNet Communications, 63-66 webcam, 58 43-45
United Kingdom, 28 Wi-Fi Alliance, 100 Xixuaú-Xipariná Ecological
United Nations, v, 89, 99 Wi-Fi, v, vii, viii, xiii, xiv, 7, 21, Reserve, 47-50
INDEX 127
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cover 11/19/03 9:45 AM Page 2
“Wireless technologies have a key role to play everywhere, but especially in developing countries and coun-
tries with economies in transition. With considerable speed and without enormous investments, Wi-Fi can
facilitate access to knowledge and information, for example by making use of unlicensed radio spectrum to
deliver cheap and fast Internet access. Indeed, it is precisely in places where no infrastructure exists that
Wi-Fi can be particularly effective, helping countries to leapfrog generations of telecommunications tech-
nology and infrastructure and empower their people.”
—From UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s welcoming message to
“The Wireless Internet Opportunity for Developing Countries” conference
at UN Headquarters in New York on June 26, 2003
“Wireless Internet may be a very effective and inexpensive connectivity tool, but it does not carry any
magic in itself. It can only be successfully deployed as demand for connectivity and bandwidth emerges
in support of relevant applications for the populations served. These may be supporting e-government, e-
education, e-health or e-business or agriculture applications. But those are not easily implemented in the
developing world.
“One common characteristic of the case studies in this volume is their unconventional, often grassroots ori-
gin. Entrepreneurs from the private, public, or not-for-profit sectors have independently developed original
business models pointing to potential solutions for the developing world. Most, however, must confront seri-
ous challenges that are nontechnical in nature and associated with legacy regulations, administrative obsta-
cles, and the opposition of incumbent telecommunications operators.”
—From the preface to “The Wireless Internet Opportunity
for Developing Countries”