Exploring wireless broadband technologies for attaining universal coverage in Uganda

Abstract

The Internet has transformed the way we access information, communication, and entertainment services. Broadband connections, in particular, have helped make the Internet experience a much richer one. Studies have shown that Internet and broadband penetration can contribute to the economic development most especially in developing countries. In the years to come, millions of people will rely on wireless technology to deliver their broadband connections. Wireless technologies in particular have shown great success in developing countries. Several of these countries have invested in backbone networks that are now being underutilised due to lack of traffic. This is caused by the lack of a last mile connection from the backbone network to the end-user and hence investment needs to be expanded to the last mile in order to gain from the full potential of the high speed backbone networks. However, the investments involved in broadband infrastructure are quite high and hence utmost planning needs to be taken before such investments. Wireless technologies highly depend on the environment in which they are going to be deployed and hence the performance will not be universal.

In order to suggest an appropriate technology to be utilised by Uganda, this paper took case studies of three countries: South Korea, Pakistan and South Africa looking at the wireless technologies they used to extend their broadband coverage. The three countries were found to have used 3GPP and WiMAX technologies in order to achieve their goals. However, the choice of use and adoption of these same technologies were not the same in all the three countries. We found that while WiBro-the mobile version of WiMAX created and pioneered in Korea- was not successful in Korea, it was successful in Pakistan which opted to use the later standard of the technology offering both fixed and portable services. On the other hand HSDPA showed success in both Korea and South Africa.

The study therefore looked at...