The site is called mybroadband.co.za. People are going to bitch about the state of broadband on it, and the bitching will seem disproportionately loud regarding broadband because people have other places where they can moan about poverty.
Solving poverty isn't about throwing food at people. It's a colonialist mentality where you just give people food to ease your own guilt at your opulence, and then do nothing to increase peoples ability to be self-reliant. Broadband (including fiber) increases the potential that people have to earn a living. It increases the odds that someone in South Africa would be able to start something like the next Google, and thereby provide food and jobs for their entire community.
If have been thinking on the same lines for some time. There are two types of Internet user in South Africa. Those who can afford it and are entitled to be upset when they get "slow" speeds, Unreliable "service" and outrageously small Caps.
Then you have a market that cannot afford Internet access because of the prices, but would actually benefit from the ability to use the internet for research, school projects, accessing web mail, internet banking etc.
My suggestion is two market types, the first we know. Standard internet access with P2P, Pop3/SMTP, High Caps, Video and Audio Streaming, etc etc.
The second market should be able to be served by "High Site Wireless access Points" that then run 802.11 at 2.4ghz using mesh technologies to cheap AP's running Mesh Firmware. WHY 2.4ghz. Well AP's are cheap and should be able to be purchased from SPAR, AFRGRI, and anywhere that sells a cell phone. What about the true WUGS. Well they are already migrating to 5.8ghz.
WHY Mesh Technologies? Well Mesh Wireless will start to solve the LOS issues as soon as the fist farmer installs his AP with Dish, Cantenna, Omni etc on top of his water tank. From there it starts to snowball. Think of jawug with ONE Internet backhaul connected to ONE of the Jawug high sites, but with authentication.
The Cell companies have high sites all over the place, so backhaul to the High Site WAP's will not be an issue. restricted to traffic types HTTP, HTTPS and DNS, How much bandwidth would you need for a small dorp, Community Center, School to get the internet basics like Browsing, Secure Browsing and obviously DNS services. The local PC shop or computer fundi across the valley will then sell and support the Mesh AP's. and install Antenna's were required. In my view, the provision of a "High Site Wireless AP Service" should be part of the Cell Companies required "community service" instead of spending millions on Sports sponsorships etc.
The question then becomes, what will a service lke this be able to be costed at using a pay as a you go service.
Remember the adage, If you build it, they will come
