Browsing by Author "Trojer, L."

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Broadband Access Technologies for Rural Connectivity in Developing Countries
    (IJRRCS, 2011) Simba, F.; Mwinyiwiwa, B.M.; Mjema, E.M.; Trojer, L.; Mvungi, Nerey H.
    Rural areas especially those of the developing countries provide challenging environment to implement communication infrastructure for data and Internet based services. The main challenges are the high cost of network implementation and lack of customer base, as rural areas are characterized by low income, highly scattered and low population density. This situation drives network operators to establish network infrastructures in urban/city centers leaving rural areas as underserved community. This paper surveys the available connectivity technologies with potentials to offer broadband access network to rural areas. The scope of this survey is on wireless access technologies, due to the fact that they are efficient in terms of cost, time of deployment and network management for rural environment. We provide comparison of the surveyed technologies in terms of their capacity (data rates) and coverage. We also discuss the current deployment of WiMAX and 3G technologies in Africa, which is a home to most of the developing countries. The survey results indicate potential broadband access technologies for rural areas of the developing countries.
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    Broadband Access Technologies for Rural Connectivity in Developing Countries
    (International Journal of Research and Reviews in Computer Science (IJRRCS), 2011) Simba, F.; Mwinyiwiwa, Bakari M. M.; Mjema, E. M.; Trojer, L.; Mvungi, N. H.
    Rural areas especially those of the developing countries provide challenging environment to implement communication infrastructure for data and Internet based services. The main challenges are the high cost of network implementation and lack of customer base, as rural areas are characterized by low income, highly scattered and low population density. This situation drives network operators to establish network infrastructures in urban/city centers leaving rural areas as underserved community. This paper surveys the available connectivity technologies with potentials to offer broadband access network to rural areas. The scope of this survey is on wireless access technologies, due to the fact that they are efficient in terms of cost, time of deployment and network management for rural environment. We provide comparison of the surveyed technologies in terms of their capacity (data rates) and coverage. We also discuss the current deployment of WiMAX and 3G technologies in Africa, which is a home to most of the developing countries. The survey results indicate potential broadband access technologies for rural areas of the developing countries.
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    Introduction of Open-Source e-Learning Environment and Resources: A Novel Approach for Secondary Schools in Tanzania
    (World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2007) Lujara, Suzan K.; Kissaka, Mussa; Trojer, L.; Mvungi, Nerey H.
    The concept of e-Learning is now emerging in Sub Saharan African countries like Tanzania. Due to economic constraints and other social and cultural factors faced by these countries, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is increasing at a very low pace. The digital divide threat has propelled the Government of Tanzania to put in place the national ICT Policy in 2003 which defines the direction of all ICT activities nationally. Among the main focused areas is the use of ICT in education, since for the development of any country, there is a need of creating knowledge based society. This paper discusses the initiatives made so far to introduce the use of ICT tools to some secondary schools using open source software in e-content development to facilitate a self-learning environment
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    Learning Objects: a New Paradigm for E-Learning Resource Development for Secondary Schools in Tanzania
    (World Academy or Science, Engineering and Technology, 2007-10) Lujara, S. K.; Kissaka, Mussa; Bhalalusesa, E. P.; Trojer, L.
    The Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and the Wide World Web (WWW) have fundamentally altered the practice of teaching and learning world wide. Many universities, organizations, colleges and schools are trying to apply the benefits of the emerging ICT. In the early nineties the term learning object was introduced into the instructional technology vernacular; the idea being that educational resources could be broken into modular components for later combination by instructors, learners, and eventually computes into larger structures that would support learning [1]. However in many developing countries, the use of ICT is still in its infancy stage and the concept of learning object is quite new. This paper outlines the learning object design considerations
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    Rural Connectivity Technologies Cost Analysis
    (2009) Simba, Fatuma; Trojer, L.; Mvungi, Nerey H.; Mwinyiwiwa, Bakari M. M.; Mjema, E.M.
    Rural areas of Tanzania are still disadvantaged in terms of diffusion of IP-based services; this is due to lack of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures, especially lack of connectivity. One of the limitations for connectivity problems in rural areas of Tanzania is the high cost to establish infrastructures for IP-based services [1-2]. However the cost of connectivity varies from one technology to the other and at the same time, the cost is also different from one operator (service provider) to another within the country. This paper presents development of software system to calculate cost of connectivity to rural areas of Tanzania. The system is developed to make an easy access of connectivity cost from different technologies and different operators. The development of the calculator follows the V-model software development lifecycle. The calculator is used to evaluate the economic viability of different technologies considered as being potential candidates to provide rural connectivity. In this paper, the evaluation is based on the techno-economic analysis approach.
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    Strategies for Connectivity Configuration to Access e-Learning Resources: Case of Rural Secondary Schools in Tanzania
    (World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2009) Simba, F.; Trojer, L.; Mvungi, N. H.; Mwinyiwiwa, Bakari M. M.; Mjema, E. M.
    In response to address different development challenges, Tanzania is striving to achieve its fourth attribute of the National Development Vision, i.e. to have a well educated and learned society by the year 2025. One of the most cost effective methods that can reach a large part of the society in a short time is to integrate ICT in education through e-learning initiatives. However, elearning initiatives are challenged by limited or lack of connectivity to majority of secondary schools, especially those in rural and remote areas. This paper has explores the possibility for rural secondary school to access online e-Learning resources from a centralized eLearning Management System (e-LMS). The scope of this paper is limited to schools that have computers irrespective of internet connectivity, resulting in two categories schools; those with internet access and those without. Different connectivity configurations have been proposed according to the ICT infrastructure status of the respective schools. However, majority of rural secondary schools in Tanzania have neither computers nor internet connection. Therefore this is a challenge to be addressed for the disadvantaged schools to benefit from e-Learning initiatives
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    Strategies for Connectivity Configuration to Access e-Learning Resources: Case of Rural Secondary Schools in Tanzania
    (World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2009) Simba, Fatuma; Trojer, L.; Mvungi, Nerey H.; Mwinyiwiwa, Bakari M. M.; Mjema, E.M.
    —In response to address different development challenges, Tanzania is striving to achieve its fourth attribute of the National Development Vision, i.e. to have a well educated and learned society by the year 2025. One of the most cost effective methods that can reach a large part of the society in a short time is to integrate ICT in education through e-learning initiatives. However, elearning initiatives are challenged by limited or lack of connectivity to majority of secondary schools, especially those in rural and remote areas. This paper has explores the possibility for rural secondary school to access online e-Learning resources from a centralized eLearning Management System (e-LMS). The scope of this paper is limited to schools that have computers irrespective of internet connectivity, resulting in two categories schools; those with internet access and those without. Different connectivity configurations have been proposed according to the ICT infrastructure status of the respective schools. However, majority of rural secondary schools in Tanzania have neither computers nor internet connection. Therefore this is a challenge to be addressed for the disadvantaged schools to benefit from e-Learning initiatives.
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    Techno-Economic Analysis of UMTS900 and UMTS2100 for Rural Connectivity in Tanzania
    (IEEE International Conference on Communication Technology, 2012-11) Simba, F.; Trojer, L.; Mvungi, N. H.; Mwinyiwiwa, Bakari M. M.; Mjema, E. M.
    Rural areas of the developing countries lack Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures such as access network, also known as last mile connectivity, to deliver ICT services. The lack of connectivity is due to high cost of implementing ICT infrastructures. Wireless technologies are envisioned as candidates for rural connectivity. They are not only easier and faster to deploy but also cheaper than the wired technologies. This paper presents a techno-economic analysis of two wireless technologies in Tanzania, called third generation (3G) implemented at 900MHz and at 2100MHz frequency bands. Objectives of techno-economic analysis are to investigate economic feasibility and to determine a cost effective option between the two connectivity options. Results show that, 3G at 900HMz is a feasible and cost - effective connectivity technology in Tanzania. These results can be generalized to other developing countries, since rural areas pose similar characteristics with regard to ICT infrastructure development.