A Mozilla and African Telecommunication Union (UAT) signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint project aimed at promoting rural connectivity on the African continent."The project, linked to the use of spectrum policies, regulations and practices, was designed to ensure accessible access to communication across the continent," said UAT Secretary General John OMO.
Although half the world is now connected to the internet, the existing political, regulatory, financial and technical models are not adequate for the purpose of connecting the poorest and sparsely populated rural areas. More needs to be done to achieve the UN's universal access targets by 2030. Clear policies and regulatory interventions that can support innovation and new business models to accelerate progress are urgently needed.
"Finding out how to make the spectrum accessible, particularly in rural areas, is critical to getting people online across the African continent, "said Mitchell Baker, Mozilla CEO," I am committed to Mozilla making alliances to address this challenge.".
Rural connectivity in Africa presents a unique set of challenges. More than 60% of African populations live in rural areas, but do not have the resources and infrastructure necessary to connect them. Potential users are often spread out, making it difficult to support the traditional business case for investments needed to establish broadband infrastructure.
There are many factors that contribute to this digital divide, but one of the biggest challenges is to make wireless spectrum available to low-cost operators, who are prepared to deploy new business models for rural access, said Mitchell Baker, CEO of Mozilla.
To unlock innovation and investment, we must develop policy and regulatory instruments to address access to spectrum in rural areas. Mozilla has partnered with UAT to facilitate dialogue between regulators, policy makers and other stakeholders, to explore ways to unlock the potential of unused spectrum.
Mozilla and the African Telecommunications Union will develop recommendations based on these dialogues and best practices. The recommendations will be presented at UAT's 2021 Annual Board Meeting.
