Even as disparate economies are making rapid strides towards sustained
economic and social developments, a phenomenon that is quite observable is that
the gap between developing and developed countries is growing even more rapidly.
The disparity in the pace of infrastructural development, the mercurial pattern
of growth in communications, etc, are among various reasons contributing to this
gap. It is also noticeable that the development of communications infrastructure
of a country is quite vital for the development of any economy. The
inconsistency in the manner of growth of communications infrastructure
contributes a lot towards this gap.
The phenomenon commonly termed as the ‘digital divide’ is further
supported by an observation made by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU),
which says, "the digital divide exists between countries at different
levels of development and within a country separating cities from rural areas,
the rich from the poor, those with a higher-education from those without one,
men from women, and the young from the elderly", and "the relation
between wealth and access to information and communication technologies (ICT)
appears obvious."
SOLUTION FOR ALL |
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Fixed telephony may not make much sense to people in the rural areas who are away from home for long periods | |
GSM can be used to provide limited mobility to such subscribers | |
When a fixed GSM is packaged with fixed GPRS, the benefits can be even greater |
During a time when the advances in telecommunications technologies are making
significant leaps, it is difficult to swallow such a perspective. But
nevertheless, a careful observation concludes that it is technology that is
helping the ‘digital divide’. It is quite noticeable that the need for IT
technologies is growing steadily within the developing countries whose cities
are home to both large and small corporations. This translates to the fact that
all members of the service chain, from customers to suppliers have an obvious
need for enhanced voice and data communications. But the big question is which
is the appropriate technology to serve the growing data and voice transmission
needs? While there are numerous technologies that serve the purpose, we can’t
but ignore the commercial viabilities of such technologies in disparate economic
and infrastructure conditions. Take the example of asymmetric digital subscriber
line (ADSL), which is assumed to service all potential broadband access users.
However, copper lines are always not available and even if they were available,
they often lack the required length and quality in order to take full advantage
of the technology. Furthermore, leased lines used to extend capacity are
expensive and the prices are not seen decreasing. This consequently contributes
to the ‘digital divide’ as broadband capacity solutions for local companies
are often limited to the developing countries.
Look for Affordable Options
Realizing the need for developing technologies that can put developing
countries in the fast track, vendors who invest significantly in R&D have
come up with affordable and commercially viable solutions. Take local multipoint
distribution service (LMDS), for instance. This technology allows multiple voice
and data services to be mixed and matched in order to provide a wide variety of
narrowband and broadband services. Apart from this, LMDS manages to provide a
wireless in local loop infrastructure, using line-of-sight radio links over
distances typically reaching 5 km. This eliminates the need to use copper for
availing broadband services. Going a step further, specific solutions have been
designed to extend this distance, thereby helping SMEs and SOHOs meet their
communications requirements, especially in the urban and sub-urban areas. It is
also quite profitable from the operator’s perspective, as it is easy to
install and operate it. Further, it also allows a graduated build-out that in
turn allows incremental investments to be made in order to capture new
subscribers as a business case evolves. The scalability offered by LMDS
solutions perfectly takes care of constraints faced by local operators, helping
them minimize their capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX).
Beyond the economies that LMDS delivers, it is also easy to install and
operate. Technologies like LMDS turn out to be perfect examples of advanced
wireless technology meant for countries that lack the proper telecommunications
infrastructure to enable SMEs and SOHOs meet their communications needs.
Further, apart from providing wireless access to broadband data and voice
services, it also allows operators to interconnect with all types of network
elements. It can connect backhaul mobile base stations to base-station
controllers and connect local switches for remote subscriber units, besides
interconnecting wireless LAN access points. In all, an LMDS solution allows
universal access while addressing the needs of large corporations along with
smaller corporations in a very practical manner.
Similarly in the developing countries, fixed telephony may not be the most
well adapted communication tool for people in rural communities who often work
away from home for long periods of time. As a result, subscription to a fixed
telephone service is often not cost-effective based on their usage. GSM, which
is a proven technology standard for wireless communication, can be used to
provide limited mobility to subscribers in rural areas. Nevertheless, care
should be taken
as most solutions die an early death unless they have proven commercial
viabilities. Therefore, the use of GSM to allow restricted mobility should be
adequately tailor-made to allow limited mobility coverage over one cell, a group
of cells or a given area. Such a tailor-made solution would also enable mobile
operators to adapt their sales packages more specifically to the needs of the
rural users.
When such a restricted mobility is complemented by fixed GSM offer that takes
into account access to voice service and the Internet, the digital divide is
further bridged. In rural areas, this can be achieved through wireless phone
shops and cyber-cafés to fully meet the needs of regional centers of local
development. When a fixed GSM is packaged with fixed GPRS, the benefits are even
greater. This type of a solution allows all users, community members and
cyber-café customers to gain access to all GSM and GPRS voice services from a
PC or a GSM terminal used as a fixed phone.
With this technology, local community centers are ideally positioned to
contribute to the launch of data services in the developing countries. This can
be achieved by extending fixed GSM into a fixed GPRS infrastructure. In
addition, there are solutions available that allow seamless integration apart
from extending the power of GPRS to include enhanced data rate for GSM evolution
(EDGE).
But all the solutions described here require adoption of the GSM frequency
(850, 900, 1,800 and 1,900 MHz), and as one goes a step further, a powerful
wireless IP solution working in the 3.5 GHz range can provide voice and data
access in rural areas. A wireless solution provides a wireless access
infrastructure using line-of-sight radio links, allowing extended coverage
reaching 15 km. In a geographical landscape, which is predominantly rural or has
widely spread residential population in sub-urban areas, a single radio hub can
handle two-way communications of hundreds of end users. Apart from this, the
solution also provides true broadband capacity, reaching up to 3 Mbps for end
users, enabling high-speed Ethernet services and VoIP. A small equipment
footprint also facilitates installation directly at the user premises. Easy and
rapid deployment of the wireless IP solution gives a faster time to market
advantage to operators for broadband services. This is especially good news for
emerging operators who are looking for faster returns on investment by offering
Internet access services. This wireless IP solution enables operators to offer
corporate customers a last mile, broadband access solution that includes voice
and data services along with LAN interconnections, IP services and virtual
leased-line services, in whatever combination suits their market needs best.
Therefore, not surprisingly, this solution is of particular interest in areas
where access to the Internet is currently limited owing to lack of copper lines.
Such proven and economical solutions are ideally suited to bridge the digital
divide to a great extent.
But another perspective reveals that it is not just technology that helps to
bridge the digital divide, it is what you do with the technology really matters.
It amounts to vendors collaborating with partners to work closely towards
delivering value to the developing countries. For example, a vendor operating in
a developing country could tie up with other partners like content providers to
set up service platforms that would enable the content provider’s staff to get
regular update on, say, vegetable prices, prices of pulses and essential goods,
etc. And then the vendor could provide WAP-enabled handsets at subsidized rates
to the rural workers whose essential occupation is farming, so that they can
access information in terms of real-time market prices. This would not only keep
them updated on the information that they require but would also help them
negotiate prices with wholesale buyers. This type of a service would enable them
regulate their production, so that it aligns with the best market prices which
would contribute to the development of such rural economies.
Therefore, it is important that you have the best combination of technologies
that are commercially viable, besides finding out means to add value to the life
of subscribers. These are the bare essentials that are required to bridge the
‘Digital Divide’ effectively.
Jerome Albert, V-P (marketing and communication), Alcatel Mobile Networks
Division