Nigeria: the country wants to use the waves not used by broadcasters for broadband internet

In Nigeria, authorities plan to use the white space of television to deploy broadband internet. The idea came out of a collaboration between the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to make broadband available in rural areas.

The project, which is expected to make 56 per cent of Nigerians more affordable, will exploit the untapped broadcasting waves. This would allow reaching hard-to-reach areas for broadband relay infrastructure, but already covered by broadcast equipment.

This model is starting to be more and more mentioned by African countries having difficulties to offer Internet on all their territory. In South Africa, for example, start-up AfriCanopy is also working on the use of the white space of television to provide broadband internet in the KwaZulu-Natal region.

Agence Ecofin