VCom brings Africa online

In sub-Saharan Africa, where you can drive for hundreds of miles without seeing a single phone line, it’s easier to check your e-mail than your voice mail, thanks in part to VCom. Although wireless broadband is available on the continent using the 2.5GHz-to-3.5GHz spectrum, the equipment needed to receive these signals can run $700 or more per customer — far too expensive for one of the poorest regions in the world.

VCom’s solution: employ the unused 600MHz UHF spectrum to deliver broadband Internet for a fraction of the cost. For approximately $150, Africa’s netizens can purchase a receiver with cable modem speeds and functionality, including the possibility of VoIP service. Using existing low-cost radio towers, VCom deploys service to a new region in as little as two to three days using nonproprietary equipment.

Utilizing standard cable equipment also means that new features developed for cable systems such as VoIP are also immediately available to VCom users.

Already, thousands of citizens in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Nigeria have subscribed to UHF Net, says VCom spokesperson Hugh Wood. In Malaysia, the national government is using VCom’s technology to connect schools to the Internet.

VCom anticipates that before long it can bring UHF Internet to other poor rural regions, including some in North America.