Jump to content

Access and infrastructure initiatives

Going the last mile: what’s stopping a wireless revolution?

Why are governments restricting the use of wireless technologies?

Authors: ; Panos
Publisher: Panos Institute, London, 2006

Full text of document

Wireless technology could bridge the digital divide between rich and poor countries. So why do some government restrict its wider use?

It is argued that the advantages of wireless technology over fixed-line systems include:

  • low cost
  • cost-effective for rural areas;
  • more adaptable than fixed-line services
  • better and more useful services in areas with poor fixed-line facilities
  • many small-scale applications suitable for small investments
  • more flexible since different sorts of networks are possible.

Governments can play an essential role in enabling wireless systems to be made available to people quickly and cheaply, by creating an enabling environment that makes it easier for entrepreneurs to invest and innovate, and for government, NGO or private users to adopt new technologies. Government policies and regulations influence the roll-out of wireless in four areas:

  • prohibiting its use to protect the state-run monopoly operators or other licensed operators;
  • limiting the availability of the radio spectrum through frequency allocation and licensing
  • elevating the costs of providing services through licence fees and taxes
  • reducing the ease of importing equipment through lengthy and non-transparent approval procedures that are also open to corruption.

Some suggestions are offered to how to promote wider use of wireless technologies:

  • open up the market to greater competition and allow users to provide their own infrastructure for themselves
  • establish forward-looking national plans for frequency allocation, including non-licensed use for some bandwidths and applications
  • establish low taxes, import duties and licence fees;
  • establish regional type-approval procedures for importing equipment
  • work towards better infrastructure such as stable power supply and creation of local cadres of technicians.

It is argued that phones can minimise travel, reduce cost and increase access to information and knowledge, and that there is no doubt that communication technologies in rural areas can increase socio-economic opportunities.