Page 59 - ITU Journal - ICT Discoveries - Volume 1, No. 2, December 2018 - Second special issue on Data for Good
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ITU JOURNAL: ICT Discoveries, Vol. 1(2), December 2018




          barrier  which  prohibitively  increases  the  cost  of   the difficulties of rough and hard-to-reach terrains
          investment  in  metro  and  last  mile  broadband    typical  of  rural  areas  in  developing  countries,  by
          networks and access. Despite the massive capacity    reason  of  their  sub-1GHz  spectrum  band  [16],
          of  landing  cables  on  Nigeria’s  coast,  this  policy   which  implies  higher  wavelengths  that  reach
          hurdle contributes to fixed broadband penetration    further,  overcoming  physical  barriers  in  remote
          in  Nigeria  being  just  0.1%,  while  Internet     terrains [17]. As a consequence of their relatively
          penetration is 25.7% and active mobile broadband     lower set-up costs in comparison to the traditional
          subscription is 22.9%.                               broadband     infrastructure   of   multinational
                                                               telecommunication companies, they also create the
              Table 1 – Key ICT statistics (Ethiopia and Nigeria)
                                                               possibility  of  a  business  model  that  allows  small
            ICT statistics (%)   Ethiopia   Nigeria   World    businesses to enter the ISP market [18].
           Internet penetration   15.4     25.7     45.9
           Fixed broadband pene-  0.6      0.1      12.4       Mawingu  Networks,  based  in  Kenya,  has  been  a
           tration                                             pioneer  in  using  TV  white  spaces  to  deliver  last-
           Active mobile broad-   5.3      22.9     52.2       mile broadband access in rural  Kenya since 2013
           band penetration                                    [17].  However,  some  of  the  challenges  TV  white
                                                               spaces’ pioneers have faced include governments’
          Within  the  context  of  international  broadband   reluctance to allow TV  white spaces’ spectrum to
          networks, which facilitate the digital society where   be used to deliver broadband services due to fear
          data  is  key,  reliable  fixed  and  mobile  broadband   of  interference  with  television  signals,  and  the
          access is the mainstay. It is therefore easy to see in   absence  of  power  grids  in  most  remote  locations
          the Ethiopian and Nigerian situations examples of    where  the  technology  is  needed.  However,  there
          why  African  societies  lag  behind  in  an  emerging   are  ongoing  conversations  between  technical
          global  digital  society  fueled  by  data.  Together,   groups advancing TV  white  space  technology and
          Ethiopia and Nigeria account for about a quarter of   government,  while  solar power  has  also  emerged
          Africa’s population (1.2 billion), yet Internet, active   to  solve  the  power  problem  in  remote  rural
          mobile and fixed broadband penetration are quite     settings.
          low.  The  average  Internet  penetration,  fixed
          broadband    and   active   mobile   broadband       Legislative  frameworks  which  underpin  societies
          penetration  rates  for  Africa  are  19.9%,  0.4%  and   where the utility of data is realized are also needed
          22.9% respectively. The global average for Internet   in Africa. Currently, there are 38 African countries
          penetration,  fixed  broadband  and  active  mobile   with cybercrime legislation [12] compared with 23
          broadband  penetration  are  45.9%,  12.4%  and      with data protection legislation installed, revealing
          52.2% respectively [13].                             the priority of African governments. Contrary to its
                                                               name  cybercrime  legislation  is  typically  used  to
          For data to really work for good, in Africa, there is   prosecute critics of many African governments and
          a  lot  of  work  to  be  done  to  overcome  these   to legalize government access to citizens’ data [12].
          infrastructure and policy hurdles, which limits the
          utility of data to the widest possible population on   5.  AFRICA: MOVING FROM DATA
          the  continent.  Continuous  conversations  with           ‘’NOTSPOTS’’ TO ‘’HOTSPOTS’’
          policy makers to overcome policy hurdles such as
          prohibitive  ‘’Right  of  Way’’  broadband  cable  fees,   With the onset of the rollout of 4G and 5G Internet
          resistance  to  infrastructure  sharing  policies,   networks, ongoing and imminent in many parts of
          monopolistic  telecommunication  markets,  lack  of   the world, we are all rightly excited by the promise
          investment  in  public  Wi-Fi,  amongst  others,  are   of  super-fast  data  downloads  and  uploads,  wider
          key.  Furthermore,  in  view  of  the  dire  need  in   coverage and more stable connections powering a
          African  countries,  we  believe  that  the  time  has   host of applications improving the quality of life of
          come  for  conversations  on  the  use  of  innovative   millions globally. In these parts of the world, data
          technologies,  such  as  TV  white  spaces  to  expand   is truly becoming a force for good.
          broadband  access,  to  be  revived.  Delivering
          broadband services via TV white spaces, which are    However,  as  this  paper  shows,  Africa  is  lagging
          unused  spectrum  between  television  stations,     behind  in  the  emergence  of  a  globalized  society
          could  significantly  contribute  to  bridging  Africa’s   where data becomes a force for good. Many parts
          large digital divide. This is because they overcome   of  Africa  have  become  ‘’notspots’’  [19],  a  term




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