Broadband Providers Review The Success of The Internet Across Africa
A summit in Cape Town, the Millennium Development Goals has highlighted the successes of the growth of internet access across Africa. Mwambu Wanendeya Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa at Ericsson phone company presented the triumphs of cloud based solutions and local internet connections in ten countries. Orange also have a place to celebrate the change that their wikipedia project is making to the continent.
Wanendeya presented his keynote speech, ‘The Vision of a Networked Society' at the MDG Summit. In it he explained how mobile Broadband has changed from being only for the privileged and is changing the way societies are accessing education and healthcare. Wanendeya noted "No longer considered a luxury, mobile broadband is a critical infrastructure for the continent’s socioeconomic growth and prosperity.” He sites broadband as being part of bringing a more stable GDP and unparralled connectivity to the ten countries they have been working in.
Ericsson have been working with the Earth Institue at Columbia University, Millenium promise and the U.N. office for Project Services for five years helping to achieve the MDG goals of raising GDP. They have installed secure networks across the ten African countries creating new connections for schools, hospitals, and clinics to access the WWW. They have made local internet connections in towns, opening up access to the wider community. In total this has benefited 500,000 people. Ericsson have created an award winning initiative by providing off grid mobile access for the communities and health organisations. They have created cloud based solutions for educational institutions. This means that the information created by the institution is stored online and can be acessed from any internet connection. This frees up the schools computers allowing them to work more efficiently.
The company, Orange, is bringing a data plan to their African customers to provide people in low-income Afica with wikipedia for free. Although wikipedia is a free website it takes a lot of broadband data to access it from a slow connection and cost a lot on a low data plan. The mobile and broadband company has struck an agreement with the Wikimedia Foundation to provide the encyclopedia for free on the African continent.
The mobile companies are investing in Africa as an emerging economy. With Asia booming, Europe in recession and the Middle East emerging from revolution; Africa is a place where the companies can build people's confidence in their brands.
The impact of the companies actions have been recognised by Jeffrey Sachs advisor to the U.N. Secretary General and the Earth Institue at Columbia University. He affirms, "The spread of ICT in Africa, including mobile phones and mobile broadband, is playing a decisive role in slashing poverty and spurring economic development. ICT will be the backbone of economic progress in Africa in the years ahead." This is a positive perspective on the spread of internet technologies throughout the developing world.
As much as the internet and broadband providers are suggested to dominate culture in Europe and America; Africa and Asia are finding these companies a substantial support in freeing their economies from the lack of access to world based education and information.
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More information is available on the companies development work on their websites. For comparison between broadband providers see broadband reviews. You can see Ericsson and Orange broadband reviews on broadbandchoices.co.uk
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