Ngwenya, SOHeymann, RSwart, TGLysko, Albert A2024-07-102024-07-102023-10Ngwenya, S., Heymann, R., Swart, T. & Lysko, A.A. 2023. Addressing accessibility, affordability and sustainability barriers for broadband internet access and penetration in rural areas. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/13709 .http://hdl.handle.net/10204/13709It has been said that the spread of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and global interconnectedness has a great potential to accelerate human progress, to bridge the “digital divide” and to develop knowledge societies, in countries where it is available. However, it has also been determined that certain barriers, more prevalent in rural communities, pose an incessant impediment to the access and penetration trends of broadband internet networks and infrastructure in rural areas. These barriers have been identified as ‘accessibility’, ‘affordability’, and ‘sustainability’. It is hereby asserted, therefore, that a concerted effort is required to address these barriers, with great deliberation and haste, if digital inclusion is to be achieved in rural areas. This paper proposes a broadband internet system that is aimed at addressing these barriers, through a proposed model, which is intended to be implemented as a Proof of Concept (PoC) in the rural area of Mbazwana, located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa (SA). The model has been presented to the community, and subsequently followed by a survey to determine the feasibility of the implementation thereof. This paper will present the proposed model, as well as the results obtained from the research conducted.FulltextenInternet accessibilityInternet affordabilityBroadband internet accessDigitial divideInformation and Communications TechnologyICTRural area internet accessMbazwanaUrban area internet accessInternet sustainabilityConference PresentationNgwenya, S., Heymann, R., Swart, T., & Lysko, A. A. (2023). Addressing accessibility, affordability and sustainability barriers for broadband internet access and penetration in rural areas. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/13709Ngwenya, SO, R Heymann, TG Swart, and Albert A Lysko. "Addressing accessibility, affordability and sustainability barriers for broadband internet access and penetration in rural areas." <i>22nd International Conference on WWW/Internet (ICWI 2023), Madeira Island, Portugal, 21- 23 October 2023</i> (2023): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/13709Ngwenya S, Heymann R, Swart T, Lysko AA, Addressing accessibility, affordability and sustainability barriers for broadband internet access and penetration in rural areas; 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/13709 .TY - Conference Presentation AU - Ngwenya, SO AU - Heymann, R AU - Swart, TG AU - Lysko, Albert A AB - It has been said that the spread of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and global interconnectedness has a great potential to accelerate human progress, to bridge the “digital divide” and to develop knowledge societies, in countries where it is available. However, it has also been determined that certain barriers, more prevalent in rural communities, pose an incessant impediment to the access and penetration trends of broadband internet networks and infrastructure in rural areas. These barriers have been identified as ‘accessibility’, ‘affordability’, and ‘sustainability’. It is hereby asserted, therefore, that a concerted effort is required to address these barriers, with great deliberation and haste, if digital inclusion is to be achieved in rural areas. This paper proposes a broadband internet system that is aimed at addressing these barriers, through a proposed model, which is intended to be implemented as a Proof of Concept (PoC) in the rural area of Mbazwana, located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa (SA). The model has been presented to the community, and subsequently followed by a survey to determine the feasibility of the implementation thereof. This paper will present the proposed model, as well as the results obtained from the research conducted. DA - 2023-10 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR J1 - 22nd International Conference on WWW/Internet (ICWI 2023), Madeira Island, Portugal, 21- 23 October 2023 KW - Internet accessibility KW - Internet affordability KW - Broadband internet access KW - Digitial divide KW - Information and Communications Technology KW - ICT KW - Rural area internet access KW - Mbazwana KW - Urban area internet access KW - Internet sustainability LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2023 T1 - Addressing accessibility, affordability and sustainability barriers for broadband internet access and penetration in rural areas TI - Addressing accessibility, affordability and sustainability barriers for broadband internet access and penetration in rural areas UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/13709 ER -27574