07-08-2012, 11:53 AM
DakNet: Rethinking Connectivity in Developing Nations
As a government representative enthusiastically
talks about the new telephone for
a village in remote rural India, a villager
asks, “Who am I going to call? I don’t
know anybody who owns a telephone.”
Yet, despite this sensible observation, a phone is
dutifully installed as part of the current government
mandate to connect villages to neighboring
towns. Although some villagers do use the phone
occasionally, most still travel sometimes days to
talk to family or to obtain the forms and other data
that citizens in developed nations can call up on a
computer in a matter of seconds.
THE WIRELESS CATALYST
Recent advances in wireless computer networking—
particularly the IEEE 802 standards—have led
to huge commercial success and low pricing for
broadband networks. While these networks are
viewed as mainly for offices or for hotspots in urban
areas, they can provide broadband access to even the
most remote areas at a low price. Today, wireless cell
phone and wireless local loop (WLL) service costs
roughly a third of copper or fiber landline service,
while packet-based broadband computer networks
cost roughly a ninth of the landline service—and they
are far friendlier to data services and to lower-grade
voice service such as voice messaging. These new
technologies thus offer developing countries an
opportunity to leapfrog over wireline and WLL
telephony infrastructure to the forefront of broadband
communications technology.
MOBILE AD HOC CONNECTIVITY
The DakNet wireless network takes advantage
of the existing communications and transportation
infrastructure to distribute digital connectivity to
outlying villages lacking a digital communications
infrastructure. DakNet, whose name derives from
the Hindi word for “post” or “postal,” combines
a physical means of transportation with wireless
data transfer to extend the Internet connectivity
that a central uplink or hub, such as a cybercafe,
VSAT system, or post office provides.
As a government representative enthusiastically
talks about the new telephone for
a village in remote rural India, a villager
asks, “Who am I going to call? I don’t
know anybody who owns a telephone.”
Yet, despite this sensible observation, a phone is
dutifully installed as part of the current government
mandate to connect villages to neighboring
towns. Although some villagers do use the phone
occasionally, most still travel sometimes days to
talk to family or to obtain the forms and other data
that citizens in developed nations can call up on a
computer in a matter of seconds.
THE WIRELESS CATALYST
Recent advances in wireless computer networking—
particularly the IEEE 802 standards—have led
to huge commercial success and low pricing for
broadband networks. While these networks are
viewed as mainly for offices or for hotspots in urban
areas, they can provide broadband access to even the
most remote areas at a low price. Today, wireless cell
phone and wireless local loop (WLL) service costs
roughly a third of copper or fiber landline service,
while packet-based broadband computer networks
cost roughly a ninth of the landline service—and they
are far friendlier to data services and to lower-grade
voice service such as voice messaging. These new
technologies thus offer developing countries an
opportunity to leapfrog over wireline and WLL
telephony infrastructure to the forefront of broadband
communications technology.
MOBILE AD HOC CONNECTIVITY
The DakNet wireless network takes advantage
of the existing communications and transportation
infrastructure to distribute digital connectivity to
outlying villages lacking a digital communications
infrastructure. DakNet, whose name derives from
the Hindi word for “post” or “postal,” combines
a physical means of transportation with wireless
data transfer to extend the Internet connectivity
that a central uplink or hub, such as a cybercafe,
VSAT system, or post office provides.