Wireless networks for the developing world

As radio technologies and public policies evolve, an increasing amount of spectrum is being set aside for transmission use without a license. These license-exempt, or "unlicensed" bands, include 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz in the USA and much of Europe. I argue that this unlicensed spectrum, and low-cost wireless technologies that operate in these bands, is of particular value in the developing world, where it has the potential to substantially impact accessibility and availability of information and telecommunication services. In the context of numerous institutional and structural obstacles to entry license-exempt regulation potentially provides a friendly environment for entrepreneurship, reducing barriers to entry and the risk of regulatory capture. In order to assess this opportunity in the context of Africa, I have surveyed every country in the continent on their regulations and use of the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Responses, from differing country informants though mostly from the regulators themselves, were received from 47 of the 54 countries of Africa, which accounts for 95% of the continent's population. The responses show that there is significant diversity and heterogeneity in the regulation of these bands across Africa. Not only do licensing requirements and specific conditions change widely from country to country, but so do power, range and services restrictions, as well as certification requirements. In addition, regulation is still not in place in some countries, and is changing in others. Enforcement is low, adding to overall uncertainty. Lack of clarity in regulation and enforcement creates confusion and may discourage smaller players from entering the market. For bigger players interested in taking advantage of economies of scale

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Neto, Maria Isabel A. S., 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sharon Eisner Gillett and Michael L. Best.

• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/16670

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/16670