Information and Communication Technology for Development for Africa. First International Conference, ICT4DA 2017, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, September 25–27, 2017, Proceedings

Research Article

Towards Affordable Broadband Communication: A Quantitative Assessment of TV White Space in Tanzania

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  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-319-95153-9_29,
        author={Jabhera Matogoro and Nerey Mvungi and Anatory Justinian and Abhay Karandikar and Jaspreet Singh},
        title={Towards Affordable Broadband Communication: A Quantitative Assessment of TV White Space in Tanzania},
        proceedings={Information and Communication Technology for Development for Africa. First International Conference, ICT4DA 2017, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, September 25--27, 2017, Proceedings},
        proceedings_a={ICT4DA},
        year={2018},
        month={7},
        keywords={White space Spectrum analyzer Energy detection principle Dynamic spectrum access},
        doi={10.1007/978-3-319-95153-9_29}
    }
    
  • Jabhera Matogoro
    Nerey Mvungi
    Anatory Justinian
    Abhay Karandikar
    Jaspreet Singh
    Year: 2018
    Towards Affordable Broadband Communication: A Quantitative Assessment of TV White Space in Tanzania
    ICT4DA
    Springer
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-95153-9_29
Jabhera Matogoro1,*, Nerey Mvungi1,*, Anatory Justinian1,*, Abhay Karandikar1,*, Jaspreet Singh1,*
  • 1: The University of Dodoma
*Contact email: jaberamatogoro@udom.ac.tz, nhmvungi@udsm.ac.tz, anatory@engineer.com, karandi@ee.iitb.ac.in, jaspreet.singh@iitb.ac.in

Abstract

A quantitative assessment of TV White Space in Tanzania was conducted to assess the level of spectrum utilization as well as a key milestone towards the use of white space for affordable broadband communication. Two approaches have been used; pollution and protection viewpoints and experimental spectrum measurements based on energy detection principle. The study focused on 470–694 MHz UHF spectrum band which is used for digital terrestrial television in Tanzania. It was found that, more than 120 MHz is available as white space in various locations in Tanzania when pollution and protection view point was used and about 184 MHz are available as white space in Dodoma urban using experimental spectrum measurements and almost 100% of the available frequencies are not used in Dodoma rural. Both approaches revealed that there is low spectrum utilization and therefore presents a best case towards development of dynamic spectrum access technologies in Tanzania.