Rural areas to access internet services
The introduction of the Television White Spaces (TVWS) project will ensure that rural and underserved areas have access to affordable and reliable broadband connectivity that is poised to close the digital gap in such areas.
Deputy Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Harold Perekani ,noted this during the opening of a five-day White Spaces Training at Sunbird Mount Soche in Blantyre on Monday.
Perekani noted that rural communities have been suffering from lack of ICT services because some Internet Service providers (ISPs) do not invest in the rural areas because of their limited economic viability.
“As a result, people in rural areas have to travel long distances just to access internet. In situations where ICT services are available in our rural settings they are quite exhorbitant and beyond the reach of the ordinary Malawian. As a ministry, we are always happy to see communities that were once marginalised being empowered by the use of new communications technologies,” he said.
Minister of information Moses Kunkuyu who was also guest of honour at the function, indicated that the TVWS project would support government initiatives including the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) and the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP).
“The country has placed Information Communication Technology (ICT) high on its agenda through such initiatives as MGDS and the ERP. The project will, therefore, go a long way in supporting these initiatives through the upliftment of the socio-economic status for the rural masses,” he observed.
In agreement, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) board chairperson, Martha Kwataine noted that any increase in the access to ICTs in the country has a bearing on economic growth and the well being of citizens.
If implemented well, she said the technology will make a difference in various institutions that cater to the social well being of millions of Malawians.
“It would be great to see a medical officer at a health institution in a rural community in Mwanza having access to diagnosis material at our College of Medicine in Blantyre. It will also be empowering for a student at a rural school in Dedza to have access to reference material for assignments from an online library. So this sep we are taking today is a step towards economic empowerment of our country,” she said.
The white spaces project is being carried out by Macra in partnership with the Physics Department at Chancellor College of the University of Malawi. It is aimed at improving broadband connectivity to rural areas in the country at affordable costs using identified gaps (white spaces) in the TV band.
