Extract Newtec Newsletter Edition Spring 2010
Rural Africa Joins the Internet Superhighway
Nairobi-based Internet and broadband of three PC terminals, and the
supplier, Intersat Africa, is working with fourth side of the kiosk is a small
Newtec and ASTRA Broadband Services shop stocked with products that
(ABBS) to bring the Internet to rural Africa. are complementary to the local
market, such as mobile banking
Intersat Africa has created Internet kiosks services, solar powered lighting or
as part of Intersat’s Rural Internet initiative, nutritional porridge.
to offer a real broadband experience to users
in remote areas. The Rural Internet Kiosk is part of Intersat On the east coast of Kenya,
Africa’s mission to bridge the digital divide and make the Intersat Africa has rolled out a few
Internet available for everyone regardless of their income kiosks so far. However it is set to
level or infrastructure development. The kiosks are being launch more kiosks in a controlled
rolled out initially in Kenya, with further demand from manner in other communities
another 17 African countries. in Kenya to better observe their
Each kiosk is powered using Newtec’s Sat3Play® equipment, impact on the entire community.
plus ASTRA2Connect from ASTRA Broadband Services. The “We need to explore how the kiosks
broadband service, marketed as Get2Net Satellite Broadband can be used as a catalyst of change
service in Africa, was made available on 1st February 2010, in the lives of rural people,” notes
marking the launch of the first rural Internet kiosk. Kigoni. “With this project our focus
is to make it sustainable long term,
Without Newtec’s technology, Crystal Watley Kigoni, project which is why we’re measuring
manager at Intersat Africa, says the project would not work. the impact carefully. It’s not about the bottom line, it’s about
“Two years ago this kiosk project wouldn’t have been possible; changing lives in Africa. It has to be tailored to be effective.”
this is very cutting edge. The Sat3Play® technology is perfect.
It brings down the cost and the size of the booths, and allows The kiosks are rapidly changing the lives and the perspectives
for a smaller dish; previously, on the prototype booth we of the people with access to them, Kigoni states. “The profound
had to use a 1.8 metre dish which was far too big, and that change is that previously people had no idea what was going
consumed a lot more power. Newtec’s dish is just 1 metre, and on in the world, but now they have the freedom to choose what
the ASTRA2Connect triple play service with IPTV, the Internet they want in their lives; that freedom is provided by access to
and voice over IP is very effective, bringing down the cost of all information and the information is found on the Internet.”
communications.”
In rural Kenya, where there is often no electrical supply, no
Newtec’s Sat3Play® broadband terminal infrastructure and no roads, the Internet is giving people
is a state of the art, high performance options, information and a future. Agriculture is the mainstay
equipment package designed for a true for 70 % of the population, but without the web, the farmers
broadband experience over satellite. have to plant a crop, harvest it, then take it to market to see
It implements the most efficient what they can get for it. With the Internet, they can see what
technologies, such as DVB-S2 modulation is in demand, check prices, pest issues, find the best time to
and IP traffic enhancement techniques produce their crop, and ultimately make more money.
such as TCP/IP acceleration and pre-
fetching as well as encryption. The Rural Internet Kiosks provide development benefits to
the entire community. “The kids love it as well; now they have
The rural Internet kiosks run 100 per Facebook, they adore Twitter; the more access you give them,
cent on solar energy, and with Newtec’s the more they love it. The Internet access we’re giving them puts
Sat3Play® satellite technology, are small, them on a par with students in the western world; it brings them
powerful and cost effective enough for out of the isolation
the local market organisations to be they’ve been in
able to purchase and manage. The Rural for all these years,”
Internet Kiosk aims to stimulate local adds Kigoni. “One
economic development at the grassroots level bringing woman said to me,
technological innovation to remote areas where such ‘It’s like coming out
development has been completely absent. Information and of the darkness into
money are the two things that the disadvantaged people the light.”
in Sub Saharan Africa do not currently have, yet the kiosks
provide an answer to both these problems. Each kiosk consists
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