Its great to see that entrepreneurship is alive and well in South African townships. Thanks to the use of technology and a generous sponsorship from MTN our fellow entrepreneurs now have high speed internet access on their doorstep. What a great opportunity to create lasting on line business networks support each other and grow together.

Ben
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Entrepreneurs use HSDPA and EDGE to provide shared Internet access...

Johannesburg, June 21st - Mobile operator MTN has teamed up with entrepreneurs in the South African province of Gauteng to provide high-speed wireless Internet access to 'Internet cafes' in townships lacking affordable fixed-line connections. The pilot project, which uses MTN’s 3G network to connect 10 sites to the Internet, is part of a GSM Association Development Fund programme to adapt the latest mobile technologies to the needs of the developing world.

MTN is using the cutting edge 3G technology HSDPA to provide a high-speed connection to a local entrepreneur’s payphone shop in the Alexandra township near central Johannesburg - one of the first 'Internet cafes' in the world to use HSDPA. People renting time on the computers situated in the booth will be able to access the Internet at speeds of up to 1.8 megabits per second. The other nine sites are connected to the Internet via an EDGE network, allowing download speeds at about 120 kilobits per second.

The early rollout of high speed Internet services by South African mobile operators demonstrates that technologies, such as HSDPA, are not solely the preserve of affluent developed countries and that mobile networks can bring far more than voice and text services to people in developing countries. To help accelerate uptake of 3G in both the developing world and the developed world, the GSMA recently launched a '3G for all' programme designed to make 3G services and handsets more affordable.

“This ground-breaking MTN project highlights the great potential of mobile networks to provide high-speed Internet access to the many parts of the developing world that lack extensive fixed-line telephone networks,â€