Solar Powered Internet in Zambia

Solar Powered Internet in Zambia

 

Now days internet has an important role in people's life. It is truly a substitution for daily actions that we usually do like shopping, going to bank, reading news...instead we use online shopping, electronically bank access, online news. So our life highly depends on internet.

I found this article interesting because with a large impact of internet and new technologies on life, living without it is difficult. By providing access for poor countries they could benefit facilities that these new technologies provide.

In Chikanta, one of the villages in Zambia people do not access to electricity and they do not have any local newspaper or radio station so for a call residents have to walk miles away. Fortunately 6 months ago the British Charity Computer Aid installed solar powered internet hubs. "The panels on the roof feed power to the PC inside. To keep power consumption down, the other 10 screens in the hub are virtual desktops - sharing the computing power of the PC and the 128kbps sat link."

Now people can reach outside Chikanta even outside country and as chief of Chikanta said "It has transformed the village, We have our teachers who are now able to communicate with agricultural officers. Government officers who come to work here will be reporting directly from here to district headquarters which we were not able to do before."

But a considerable point is that users have to pay 518$ a month for satellite link which is high.

I have this question in mind that is there any other way to provide cheaper access for Chikanta's residents? Can government invest in such these projects to provide wider and cheaper internet for its people?

Link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9346415.stm

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Bahar Forghani