First Mile First Mile

“E-Access for All”
Comparative study of “first mile” and “first inch”
technology in different low density contexts.
Government of Karnataka and UNDESA, Bangalore
8-9 February 2007
Chris Morris
African Advanced Institute for Information & Communications Technology (AAIICT)
Overview
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Access in South Africa
The Challenge
The FMFI Philosophy
FMFI Projects – Overview
FMFI Projects – Technical
Technical Development
Challenges and Next Steps
Conclusions
Access to ICTs in South Africa
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South African market $ 10 billion
Unequal distribution
“Africa least wired region in the world”
Fixed lines @ 25 per 100 households
• Benchmark 50 per 100 lower-middle income households
internationally
• 25 m cell phones
• Poor broadband access
• ITU 2003 comparative study for e-commerce
No Access?
• A regulatory environment that :
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Restricts competition
Caps technology
Isolates communities
Restricts community economic development
• Regulatory policy – African Digital Divide
The Challenge
• How can rural communities overcome failures in regulatory policy by
implementing innovative, low-cost connectivity solutions in order to
promote sustainable development?
• “…we have to ensure that as many of our people as possible master
modern technologies and integrate them in their social activities,
including education, delivery of services and economic activity. This
relates in particular to communication and information technology.”
(President Thabo Mbeki, SA National R&D Strategy, January 2002)
• “The AAllCT will undertake world-class, needs-based and applied
research in ICTs, leading to development and innovation-for thebenefit-of the economy, to advance the quality of life of all South
Africans and advancement of the region as a whole …”
The “first mile first inch” Philosophy
• A different mindset – put end-user first, empower
communities, create new demand for ICTs
• The Indonesian example – Dr Onno Purbo
• Vision
• “To have social and technical innovation on service delivery
models in different contexts of communities with low-density
telecommunications.”
Definitions: “first mile & first inch”
Upstream\Backbone
First Mile
Satellite ISP
ISP
PSTN
Internet
Local Provider
Internet ISP
ISP
Wireless Link
Wired Link
First Inch
FMFI Projects & Partners
Angonet
(Huambo)
UCM
(Pemba)
Angola
Mozambique
Wireless
(Harare)
ISPU
(Quelimane)
Zimbabwe
SchoolNet Mozambique
(Inhambane)
Power Line Comms
(Rooiwal)
MICTI
(Maputo)
CSIR HLT
(Openphone)
South Africa
Translate.org
(HTML Pub)
Wireless Mesh
(Peebles Valley)
CSIR Telehealth
(Eastern Cape)
UWC MuTi
(Eastern Cape)
FMFI Projects
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Assist the repatriation of displaced families and communities through the
use of internet over VSAT and WiFi networks in war torn Huambo in Angola
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Equip tele-centres with voice mail boxes for voice and or pictures of loved
ones for improving sustainability of telecentres in Maputo
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Connect rural teachers in Pemba and Chiure districts in Cabo Delgado
Province to their tutors at the Catholic University of Mozambique, Pemba
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Improve communication between doctors, health workers and clinic sisters
in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa
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Improve education in remote parts of Namibia by providing internet access
to schools using WiFi technologies, refurbished PCs and open source
software
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Use Human Language Technologies to create an authoring environment for
a telephone-based information systems at tele-centres (Open Phone).
Objectives
• Changed behaviour in the use of ICTs – how the use of
ICTs has changed community life
• Cost and benefits of solutions – to quantify what is
meant by low cost connectivity
• Scalability and replicability of technologies – the viability
of rolling out the solution
• Influence on policy and regulation – demonstration of
project benefits to the regulator
Overview
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•
•
•
•
•
•
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Access in South Africa
The Challenge
The FMFI Philosophy
FMFI Projects – Overview
FMFI Projects – Technical
Technical Development
Challenges and Next Steps
Conclusions
Tsilitwa project: Eastern Cape, SA
Rural Health Network Concept
VSAT
Bi-directional
Links
Share
ed
ar
Sh W
B
d BW
Tsilitwa Clinic
Nessie Knight
Hospital
Cluster Base
Government Health
Link
DoH / UNITRA /
Other
Kalankomo Clinic
Clinic III
Clinic II
Via Wireless
(802.11b/g) or other
First Mile
Technology
Health Centre
Cluster Base
Clinic I
Clinic III
Clinic II
Tsilitwa Wireless Network
Kalankomo
Clinic
Tsilitwa
Clinic
Nessie Knight
Hospital
Guru
Clinic
Mahlungulu Clinic
Applications
Tele-Consultation
Send site
Receive site
Tele-dermatology
Wireless Network Types
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“Hub-and-spoke” wireless systems
connect users with line-of-sight
antennas to a centrally-located
broadcast tower. Clients who
cannot see the hub from their
building cannot join the network
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Mesh wireless systems offer
multiple points of connection to
the network and no central tower.
Mesh users can bypass obstacles
like hills and trees by using
different signal paths
Mesh Networks
• Self-forming, self-healing and
self-routing
• No large masts typical of a hub
and spoke architecture
• Adding subscribers increases
coverage and robustness
• Omni directional antennas
simplify installation, maintenance
and reconfiguration
Mpumalanga Mesh Network, Peables
Valley, White River
First stage rollout
Second stage rollout
WIFI NODE SCHOOL 2
WIFI NODE PUBLIC CLINIC
Third stage rollout
WIFI NODE SCHOOL - JERUSALEM
WIFI NODE SCHOOL 1
HUB
SCHOOL LAB SERVER
WIFI NODE FARM 2
LAB PC1
WIFI NODE FARM 3
LAB PC 2
LAB PC 3
WIFI NODE FARM 1
US AID
LAB PC X
WiFi NODE ACTS
Internet
WiFi NODE PETRA
Sentech VSAT
WIFI NODE HOSPICE
Hub
ACTS CLINIC
Hub
Mesh Server
PC1
PC1
PC2
PC2
What is PLC?
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Uses existing optical fibre and copper wire to provide telephone and internet
connections to homes and businesses
Makes it possible to communicate through the power outlets in each room
of the home or business
ACCESS BPL
High Voltage
Medium Voltage
Low Voltage
~ 1kVolts to 40 kVolts
~ MVolts
Coupler
~ 120/240 Volts
Coupler
LV
Distribution
Transformer
Power
Generation
Plant
Substation
Backhaul
Point
(Gateway)
Internet
Internet
BPL signals are extracted here
& converted into/from traditional
communication packets for
appropriate communication direction
Aggregation
Point
In some Access
implementations,
these physical
links are replaced
by wireless links
Power Line
Interface
Device
Located In
Home
Technical Development
OpenPhone
• OpenPhone is an open source telephony based information
dissemination environment.
• Address the significant African need related to the information
empowerment of its people
• Human language technologies
• HCI research
• Social research
• Open source principles
OpenPhone
Authoring tool
Application
Designer
Runtime Environment
Recoded prompts
End user input
Workflow
component
Telephony
infrastructure
Information
User
Solution – Authoring tool
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An information provider can design an information dissemination
application using the authoring tool.
The prompts for the various phases will be recorded.
The designer will be guided by the use of templates
Information users will access the designed solution by phoning a
(toll-free/sponsored) number.
Will listen to the voice prompts and interact with the system
entering requested key presses (DTMF/touchtone).
Application
Designer
Mobile Technology
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Mobile devices: GSM phones,
multimedia/smart phones, Internet tablets
Wireless networks: GSM, 3G, WLAN
Voice, speech and language technologies:
speech interfaces, audio information systems
etc.
Social software: Mediawiki, blogs, Knowledge
Building tools.
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopaedia.
Pilot 1: Cornwall Hill College
• The MobilEd platform was used to assist in a lesson re
HIV/AIDS
• Students could get information via the MobilEd server
and
• Contribute information back by adding voice clips with
their contributions to existing articles.
Pilot 1: Cornwall Hill College
Stage 1
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A mobile audio wikipedia can be
accessed by sending an SMS with a
key word.
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The service calls back and
plays the information, making
use of text to speech
conversion.
Pilot 1: Cornwall Hill College
Stage 2
• Learners could make their own
audio castings on related topics.
• This information is added to the
audio wikipedia for other people
to listen to.
This resulted in a wonderful and exciting
learning experience and the opportunity to
contribute to the knowledge society!
The Digital
Doorway
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This is a very robust 4terminal computer system
that is put into poor
communities around South
Africa to provide a means
for people in that
community to teach
themselves basic
computer skills.
Funding is provided by the
Department of Science
and Technology
Most of the software and content on
Digital Doorways is open source.
There are currently 24 Digital
Doorway sites in South Africa
running Mandrake Linux.
This year we are installing a further
100 3-terminal Digital Doorways,
running Xubuntu Linux.
Content on the Digital Doorway
includes:
Open Office
Drawing programs
Educational Games
Educational Videos
Health Information
Science Experiments
Wikipedia
Gutenberg Books
And lots more.
A Digital Doorway consists of 1 server, 2 fat clients, and 1 Mindset satellite receiver.
Future DD's will be connected to a local MESH network
Overview
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Access in South Africa
The Challenge
The FMFI Philosophy
FMFI Projects – Overview
FMFI Projects – Technical
Technical Development
Challenges and Next Steps
Conclusions
Challenges and Next Steps
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•
•
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Community ownership – “bottom-up” approach
Understanding the benefits of technology
Sustainability models
More research in understanding the human/technology
interface
• Scalability and replicability
• INFLUENCE
Conclusions
• Innovation is key to Africa
• Empowering regulatory policy
• Health, education, community development
• Understand how people interact – not technology “push”
• The journey
• Publication 2006
Thank You
Chris Morris
Ajay Makan
Tel: +27 (0)12 841-2509
Fax: +27 (0)12 841-4720
Tel: +27 (0) 12 841-4009
Fax: +27 (0) 12 841-4720
E-mail: cmorris@csir.co.za
E-mail: amakan@csir.co.za
URL: http://www.csir.co.za
URL: http://www.meraka.org.za
URL: http://www.fmfi.org.za
URL: http://wirelessafrica.meraka.org.za
URL: http://csircoin.blogspot.com/