CONNECTING THE UNCONNECTED

One of the major challenges is to get technology into rural areas. “In many remote areas you find a mixture of moisture, heat, dust, rain and cold which makes it difficult to operate in,” says Peter Ib, CEO of BLUETOWN, whom DANIDA – among others – has supported.

“Right after the Arctic it is one of the worst environments in the world for hardware and electronics engineers. But when you manage to connect a village to the internet it is very satisfying because it fundamentally changes their living conditions and creates new opportunities.

“BLUETOWN’s vision is to “connect the unconnected” in remote, rural areas in countries such as Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda and India – where they have just won a big order. BLUETOWN builds a mast in the village, a base station which is charged by solar energy, and establishes a wi-fi hotspot with a range of up to one kilometre in diameter. The hotspot is connected to the Internet via existing infrastructure such as fiber or satellite, balloons or drones. BLUETOWN is now in the process of looking at Mozambique. “There is the same need in large parts of Africa. People have two dollars a month to spend on communication. Today, governments are showing great interest in developing rural areas because it benefits everyone, and can help deliver better healthcare and education to small, remote villages” says Peter Ib.

*The following link is in Danish*

http://ipaper.ipapercms.dk/Udenrigsministeriet/Udvikling/2017/udvikling-nr-1-2017/?page=14