Microsoft
in its bid to exploit the white space spectrum of TV broadcasts has set up a
trial in the northeastern Limpopo province of South Africa.
The white
space is the unused part of the broadcast spectrum of TV stations and several
tests is being carried out by tech giants to utilize this for better and
cheaper internet access.
Microsoft
is to set up its base station in the University of Limpopo and five secondary
schools nearby are to be used for trials.
It is
expected that tablets and laptop computers will be supplied to teachers and
students to perform the trials. Solar charger panels will also be available for
charging the devices in areas where there is no electricity.
In South
Africa, ISPs charge $35 for internet connection speed of 1Mbps and it’s not
available to many people. Microsoft however is offering to charge $2 - $3 for
four times the speed, 4Mbps. The initiative to exploit the wasted part of the
TV spectrum in Africa has been named ‘4Africa’.
This is
also to prove that white spaces can be used to realize the aim of the South
African government to provide low-cost internet access to the majority of South
Africans by the year 2020.
“Technology
holds enormous potential for many aspects of development, but is particularly
key to areas like education and healthcare.
“Broadband
internet access is therefore crucial to giving learners the 21st century skills
they need to find jobs and participate in the economy,” said Mteto Nyati,
Managing Director of Microsoft South Africa.
“However,
affordability remains a formidable barrier to broadband access in many parts of
South Africa. Reducing the cost of broadband access will mean millions more
South Africans will get more online.
This will
create new opportunities for education, healthcare, commerce and the delivery
of government services across the country.” he said.
South
African Science and Technology Minister, Derek Hanekom also approved of the
efforts by Microsoft to launch the pilot of the programme indicating that
internet access could provide economic development and education opportunities
in rural areas.
“We see a
truly connected future in which all of South Africa’s major cities, towns and
villages will be connected to affordable internet, thereby facilitating the
country’s mass entry into the knowledge and information economy.
We have set
a medium-term target of delivering broadband to 80 percent of South African
citizens by 2020,” said Hanekom.
Microsoft has
performed many pilots and some are still underway in countries such as Kenya,
Tanzania, the UK, Singapore, and the Philippines.
Google recently launched a trial of theirs in South Africa in March as tech giants are
looking to exploit the white space to make internet more available and cheaper
to users especially in the developing economies.
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Microsoft to test white space in South Africa