@Bernard the issue that came up in a case I was involved in was how to support the infrastructure,ensure its safe and on the cheap. The technology if I use wifi (cheapest) and LTE arguably cheaper than 3G/Edge infrastructure and getting cheaper as we move along is not too expensive, but to address the cost issue, the best way to tackle this is by ensuring that the communities that use the network own and operate it supported by a larger telco/opco (think of rural broadband operators). The skills to both run the network and run a business are not as easy to come by as you try to make it sound. Even in Nairobi I know of organizations that take a really long time to fill positions in radio planning, strategy etc....so yes skills are an issue, yes they can be trained but no most people are not willing to do that, its just what it is.<br>
<br>check out <a href="http://www.airjardi.com">www.airjardi.com</a> for an example of what can be done here, if you have a business model that you really feel could work for rural broadband, I can definitely show you quite a number of guys willing to fund it. Again getting the right people, with the right attitude and temperament to work in rural areas especially in the early stages is not as easy as in nbi, and as it is its not easy in most urban centers.<br>
<br>and yes regulation/policies and some silliness plays a role in ensuring some of the issues never get resolved  -  but with devolution and a few changes to policy and other developments, I am very very optimistic about where rural broadband will be in about two years time.<br>
<br>JGitau<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 7:49 PM, Bernard Mwagiru <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a href="mailto:bmwagiru@gmail.com" target="_blank">bmwagiru@gmail.com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">What particular skills would an engineer need to roll out a network in the rural area that would be peculiar to challenges already experienced elsewhere? Terrain notwithstanding. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Most of the reasons behind your explanation are more to do with regulation, policies, etc</p><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<p dir="ltr">./bernard</p></font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">
<div class="gmail_quote">On Jan 29, 2013 7:41 PM, &quot;John Gitau&quot; &lt;<a href="mailto:jgitau@gmail.com" target="_blank">jgitau@gmail.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">

<div dir="auto"><div>@bernard it&#39;s mainly engineering, i suspect skills will be an issue in rural areas and politics.....I wish we&#39;d do a 4g spectrum auction and move on already... This consortium maneno doesn&#39;t seem to be working out.</div>

<div><br></div><div><span style="font-size:15px;line-height:19px;white-space:nowrap"><a href="http://www.stephentemple.co.uk/articles/4g-auction-mobile-connections-chancellor-holding-bundle-50-notes-ear/" target="_blank">http://www.stephentemple.co.uk/articles/4g-auction-mobile-connections-chancellor-holding-bundle-50-notes-ear/</a></span></div>

<div><span style="font-size:15px;line-height:19px;white-space:nowrap"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:15px;line-height:19px;white-space:nowrap">The Germans did it so well the last time I was in some rural town they had LTE; how? simple, their </span><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><span style="text-align:left">2010 spectrum auction that required mobile network operators to deploy LTE in the 800 MHz band in rural areas first </span><span style="text-align:left">before they could move on to bigger cities essentially meant rural areas got covered. And this has indeed been done as I noticed that LTE was available in many places where 3G was absent. </span></span></div>

<div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><span style="text-align:left"><br></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><span style="text-align:left">In kenya, operators without 3G can just be allowed to roll out LTE in the same manner, give each a rural region to deploy first. It would be cheaper and rural broadband would be easily realised....</span></span></div>

<div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><span style="text-align:left"><br></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><span style="text-align:left">Jgitau</span></span></div>

<div><br>On 29 Jan 2013, at 19:18, Bernard Mwagiru &lt;<a href="mailto:bmwagiru@gmail.com" target="_blank">bmwagiru@gmail.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/internet/how-bad-is-africas-internet" target="_blank">http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/internet/how-bad-is-africas-internet</a></p>


<p dir="ltr">&quot;Even in the more stable countries, such as Angola and Kenya, that have built hefty broadband backbones, engineers have yet to find a tried-and-true way to extend cheap, dependable Internet service to rural communities.&quot;</p>



<p dir="ltr">Is it really an engineering problem? </p>
<p dir="ltr">./bernard</p>
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