Broadband for all closing the infrastructure gap

Abstract

What started off as tinkering in a lab with ad-hoc peer-to-peer wireless networks when WiFi was still in its infancy, became an idea for addressing the need to have affordable broadband in sparsely populated, rural areas – Broadband for all. A range of technologies, a system pulling it all together, and an operational model were developed through experimentation. The final recipe was transferred to private sector partners for replication and scaling. Making the idea work turned out to be a lot more complex than just addressing the infrastructure issue. The CSIR is mapping the country’s broadband infrastructure to understand where the largest gaps are, is developing models for how those gaps in broadband infrastructure can be closed. In this presentation, Roux discusses the initial findings and implications for the future of broadband in South Africa.