The objective of this project is to outline possible strategies (focusing on public policy) to increase broadband penetration in the rural areas in Ghana. Currently, broadband penetration in Africa is 0.3% and it is expected to grow to 1.3% in the next five years. More of that growth will be through mobile connections because the fixed infrastructure is just not there. It is therefore expected that more than 60% of broadband connections will be accounted for by High Speed Packet Download Access (HSPDA), Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX. [Source: Africa Review July 2009 edition Page 27].
The expected result of the proposed policy is to stimulate increased broadband penetration in the rural areas. This may be useful to government, telecom companies, ISPs, etc and the rural folks. This will help government to bridge the gap between the urban and rural areas. It will also be useful to sectors like agriculture, health, education, communication, finance, market information, commerce, and governance. The telecom companies, ISPs, etc, will benefit in terms of taking advantage to analyze, invest and make profit for the sale of broadband for internet connectivity in the rural areas. Some feasibility studies will need to justify its viability though. Concerning the rural folks, there will be improvement in their standard of living. This is because as will be seen later, broadband penetration brings about improvement in the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the areas of implementation. Rural farmers may by the use of the internet have access to a broader market compared to the “limited market queens” who buy their products at very low prices and thus keeping them poor. Lots more other sectors of the economy will benefit from broadband penetration to the rural areas. For example, the financial sector and specifically the banks and insurance companies will now be in a better position to operate better in these areas. This is because of the increased means of communication.
Table of Contents
Chapter One PROBLEM FORMULATION AND INTRODUCTION
1.1 Project Objective
1.2 Outcome
1.3 Scope
1.4 Introduction
1.5 Research Questions
1.6 Methodologies
Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Public Policy 7
2.2 Internet Access
2.3 Definition of Broadband
2.4 Policy Issues
2.5 Broadband Policies in Developed and Developing
2.5.1 Broadband Strategies in Developed Countries (OECD)
2.5.2 European Union
2.5.3 Korea
2.5.4 Broadband Policies in Developing Countries
2.5.5 Broadband Penetration in Africa
2.5.6 Broadband Penetration in Ghana
2.5.7 Broadband Penetration in Rural areas in Ghana
Chapter Three STATISTICS AND SET TARGETS
3.1 Statistics
3.2 Implication of internet users and populations statistics
3.3 Set targets
Chapter Four Government proposed strategies for broadband penetration
4.1 Summary of Government strategies
4.2 50% broadband penetration by 2015
4.3 Anticipated Increase in GDP Growth
4.4 Broadband penetration and Gov’t Requirements
4.5 Education and ICT Skills Improvement
Chapter Five “What strategies should be put in place to increase broadband penetration to rural areas in Ghana?”
5.1 Approaches to policy design
5.1.1 Benefits of Broadband to the rural populace
5.1.2 Potential Barriers to investors that must be overcome
5.1.3 How can regulator reduce risk for an investor
5.1.4 What are potential bottlenecks in the supply chain
5.1.5 How can spectrum be designed to encourage investments in the rural areas
5.1.6 How can policy makers decrease price of broadband in rural areas
5.1.7 How can Ghana learn from the experience of other countries?
5.1.8 How can the “broadband gap” between urban and rural areas be addressed?
5.1.9 How can Gov’t increase education and ICT Skills in the rural areas
5.2 Strategies to increase broadband penetration in rural areas in Ghana
Chapter Six Expected Benefits of broadband penetration in rural Ghana
6.1 Benefits
6.2 Agriculture
6.3 Education
6.4 Industry
6.5 Health
6.6 Governance
6.7 Finance
6.8 Commerce
6.9 Communications
Chapter Seven Conclusion
7.1 Project Expectations
7.2 Long term strategy
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