Filling the Digital Divide in Rural Connectivity Case for Last Mile Mobile Broadband Subscription

Abstract

Access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has been found to have a correlation with socio-economic development and gross domestic product. Despite efforts by governments across Africa to revamp the telecommunications sector e.g. the establishment of submarine cables, there is a widening gap between citizens with easy access to ICTs and those without. This study sought to investigate how to promote greater accessibility and higher uptake of broadband services in rural areas. This will minimize the digital divide of the underserved and unserved parts. A model prototype for last mile mobile broadband subscription for rural Kenya was developed to enable mobile phone users purchase broadband services thus improving access to ICT in rural Kenya. This represents a model last mile connectivity as the closest network where majority of the people live. In developing this prototype, existing subscription technologies were studied, a conceptual model developed, integration to the existing M-Pesa money transfer technology explored, existing connectivity methods studied, connectivity tokens designed, and linkage through modems using mobile phone achieved. The prototype was tested by a link to WiMAX network via a local Internet Service Provider (KDN Butterfly). Files of different sizes were uploaded and downloaded. The time taken was measured using a bandwidth manager. The experiment was repeated with a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) broadband provided by a different service provider (Safaricom). The study showed that WiMAXbroadband was faster than Safaricom GSM. This research contributes a solution towards alleviating the broadband access gap experienced in rural areas of Africa. The provision of broadband Internet access through wireless technologies as an approach towards solving the digital divide that exist in rural areas has been demonstrated using the prototype developed. This solution would assist governments in planning and developing an appropriate policy on rural broadband access initiatives.