Deliver us from dial-up

As we all came to agree , landlines and a wired cable network will not help Africa to fully utilize the internet. Africa's experience of the internet will be a wireless one. Consortium like Google O3b network seems more like a feasible project by deploying 16 satellites to provide fiber like speed and performance to developing countries. To all the nay-Sayers that doubt that Africa is ready for the internet , I would like to take a minute to illustrate some of the innovative ideas that have emerged and how people use the internet to better their day to day activities. I have heard people argue that a continent that does not have proper electricity service available all the time could ever benefit from the internet. Well, here are a few example of people making the best of it:

• The Village Phone: some recluded areas might only have one phone available. That phone called the "village phone" comes with an antenna ( with a range of 25 km ) , a car baterrie and a solar panel. The solar panel is a beautifull way to show that there are many option other than conventinal means of getting electricity. Solar energy is the way out!
• Web enabled phone: A few website allows used to update their contents through their cell phone. This is pretty interesting in Africa where free speech is not always respected. This feature allows journalists especially those against the government to speak up their mind freely even when government censored all other means of communication.
• PDAs for Health care: Some health care officials are using PDAs to exchange data. In absence of the website, PDAs allows data to be uploaded and download from a central server alllowing communication around the country.
• DrumNet project: This project uses GSM technology to allow farmers to get small loans to develop their farms. Through cell phone their able to exchange infromation between lenders ans farmers

So their is hope for Africa. It's the fastest growing continent in terms of internet penetration and wireless adoption. With programs like OLPC ( Once Laptop Per Child ) it's cheaper and cheaper to own a laptop in africa. Moreover , with the fusion of nanotechnology and solar power we can only be more and more hopefull