Serving under‐serviced areas in South Africa: the potential for Wi‐Fi community network deployment and the role of regulation

Emerald - Tập 10 Số 1 - Trang 65-78 - 2008
Annemijnvan Gorp1, ChrisMorris2
1Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, USA
2Meraka Institute, Pretoria, South Africa

Tóm tắt

PurposeWi‐Fi technologies enable small‐scale, bottom‐up development of community networks in (rural) under‐serviced areas in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine: the constraints and opportunities that small Wi‐Fi providers have faced to date in their endeavors to develop Wi‐Fi community networks in South Africa; and the extent to which the newly introduced Electronic Communications Act of 2006 might alleviate any of the constraints.Design/methodology/approachThrough interviews and document analysis the paper analyzes regulations and license application procedures in South Africa, and exemplifies the impact of both through discussion of experiences of a municipal and small private Wi‐Fi provider.FindingsWhile formal regulation prohibits community network deployment due to low power limits and restriction of the use of Wi‐Fi within private premises, informal regulatory constraints as a result of lack of clarity on licensing requirements as well as time‐consuming application processes further prevent small Wi‐Fi providers from entering the market. In order to further stimulate universal access strategies, regulators may find incentives to ease these constraints, particularly as innovations in wireless technologies will continue to increase bottom‐up development of ICT networks by small local entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs, without extensive expertise in law and regulation, will increase the burden and workload of regulators that, particularly in developing countries, frequently face under‐capacity.Originality/valueThis paper extends the debate about spectrum‐licensing barriers for Wi‐Fi community network development in developing countries by providing insight into not only formal but also informal regulatory constraints that impede Wi‐Fi community network provision.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Allen, J.R. (2003), “Rural access to ICTs in Southern Africa”, paper presented at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, Arlington, VA.

Alston, L.J., Eggertson, T. and North, D.C. (1996), Empirical Studies in Institutional Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Barendse, A.J. (2004), “Innovative regulatory and policy initiatives at increasing ICT connectivity in South Africa”, Telematics and Informatics, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 49‐66.

Chetty, M., Blake, E. and McPhie, E. (2006), “VoIP deregulation in South Africa: implications for underserviced areas”, Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 30 Nos 5‐6, pp. 332‐44.

Courtright, C. (2004), “Which lessons are learned? Best practices and World Bank rural telecommunications policy”, The Information Society, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 345‐56.

Galperin, H. (2005), “Wireless networks and rural development: opportunities for Latin America”, Information Technologies and International Development, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 47‐56.

Galperin, H. and Bar, F. (2006), “The microtelco opportunity: evidence from Latin America”, Information Technologies and International Development, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 73‐86.

Galperin, H. and Girard, B. (2005), “Microtelcos in Latin America and the Caribbean”, in Galperin, H. and Mariscal, J. (Eds), Digital Poverty: Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives, REDIS‐DIRSI and IDRC/CRDI, pp. 93‐115.

Gillwald, A. (2005), “Good intentions, poor outcomes: telecommunications reform in South Africa”, Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 29, pp. 469‐91.

Government Gazette (2001), No. 64 of 2001: Telecommunications Amendment Act, available at: www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2001/a64‐01.pdf.

Government Gazette (2004), Notice 1924 of 2004: Department of Communications Determinations of Dates in Terms of the Telecommunications Act (Act no. 103 of 1996), No 26763, available at: www.internet.org.za/notice‐1924.html.

Government Gazette (2006), Commencement of the Electronic Communications Act, Act no. 36 of 2005, No. 29044.

Government Gazette (2007), No. 244 of 2007: Electronic Communications Act (36/2005): Conversion of Licenses in Terms of Chapter 15 of the Act, No. 29687, available at: www.icasa.org.za/Manager/ClientFiles/Documents/Framework_ConversionLicitoECA.pdf.

Gutierrez, L.H. and Berg, S. (2000), “Telecommunications liberalization and regulatory governance: lessons from Latin America”, Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 24 Nos 10‐11, pp. 865‐84.

Horwitz, R. and Currie, W. (2007), “Another instance where privatization trumped liberalization: the politics of telecommunications reform in South Africa – a ten‐year retrospective”, Telecommunications Policy.

ICASA (2004), Notice 838 of 2004: Independent Communications Authority of South Africa License for a Private Telecommunications Network, available at: www.internet.org.za/notice‐838‐of‐2004.html.

Kenny, C. (2002), “Information and communication technologies for direct poverty alleviation: costs and benefits”, Development Policy Review, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 141‐57.

Lehr, W. and McKnight, L.W. (2003), “Wireless internet access: 3g vs Wifi?”, Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 27 Nos 5‐6, pp. 351‐70.

McNamara, J.R. (1991), The Economics of Innovation in the Telecommunications Industry, Quorum Books, New York, NY.

Martinez, A., Lopez, D.M., Saez, A., Seoane, J., Rendon, A., Shoemaker, R. and Fernandez, I. (2005), “Improving epidemiologic surveillance and health promoter training in rural Latin America through information and communication technologies”, Telemedicine and e‐Health, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 468‐76.

Neto, I., Best, M.L. and Gillet, S.E. (2005), “License‐exempt wireless policy: results of an African survey”, Information Technologies and International Development, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 73‐90.

North, D.C. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

(The) Panos Institute (2004), Completing the Revolution: The Challenge of Rural Telephony in Africa, The Panos Institute, London.

Panos Institute (2005), “Going the last mile: what's stopping a wireless revolution?”, Panos Media Toolkit on ICTs, No. 4.

Pentland, A., Fletcher, R. and Hasson, A. (2004), “DakNet: rethinking connectivity in developing nations”, IEEE Computer, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 78‐83.

Proenza, F.J. (2005), “The road to broadband development in developing countries is through competition driven by wireless and VoIP”, paper presented at the Wireless Communication and Development: A Global Perspective Conference, Annenberg Research Network on International Communication.

Proenza, F.J. (2006), “The road to broadband development in developing countries is through competition driven by wireless and VoIP”, Information Technologies and International Development, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 21‐39.

Raman, B. and Chebrolu, K. (2007), “Experiences in using Wifi for rural internet in India”, IEEE Communications Magazine, January, pp. 104‐10.

SignalProcessingGroup (2007), The ISM Band – a Review of the Essentials, available at: www.signalpro.com/ism1.pdf (accessed July 19 2007).

Telecommunications Act (1996), No. 103 of 1996: Telecommunications Act, available at: www.icasa.org.za/Manager/ClientFiles/Documents/Telcoms_act.pdf.

TRASA (2004), TRASA Guidelines on Wireless Technologies Policy and Regulation, TRASA, Gaborone.

UniNetCommunications (2006), Knysna Open Access Network Case, available at: www.oplan.org/documents/articles/knysna‐open‐access‐network‐case‐study‐1/fss_download/file.

Wang, G. (2003), “Foreign investment policies, sovereignty and growth”, Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 27 Nos 3‐4, pp. 267‐82.

Wellenius, B. and Neto, I. (2006), “The radio spectrum: opportunities and challenges for the developing world”, info, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 18‐33.

Wilson, E.J. and Wong, K. (2003), “African information revolution: a balance sheet”, Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 27 Nos 1‐2, pp. 155‐77.

Zhang, B. (2000), Assessing the WTO Agreements on China's Telecommunications Regulatory Reform and Industrial Liberalization, TPRC, Arlington, VA.

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Emerald

Tập 10 Số 1

65-78

Thông tin tác giả