Johannesburg — Wireless technologies have become increasingly more prevalent during the last two years. However, creating a wireless world has not been that easy, particularly in countries that have invested a lot in optimising their wired infrastructures.

This brings us to Africa, a continent that offers endless opportunities for implementing and developing wireless technologies.

So, what makes Africa different from any other continent, and why are we probably going to see a great deal more of wireless than our First World counterparts?

Firstly, Africa - excluding SA - has not invested as much in wired infrastructures. The reasons are quite obvious, lack of money, lack of skills and lack of resources - all elements that have burdened growth on the continent.

Another reason is lack of support infrastructure, whether human or technology related, this has always been a key stumbling block.

Wireless equals cheaper infrastructure

Stepping away from the historical reasons, there are also a number of positive reasons why wireless will be successful in Africa.

Wireless infrastructure is significantly cheaper to implement. Just looking at the cabling costs, already makes it a more viable option.

Then there's other infrastructure savings such as tunnelling and not having to destroy/move any buildings.

Also, due to the geographically dispersed nature of Africa, it is cheaper to deploy wireless, thus enabling users in the most rural areas to connect to their relatives and friends in more densely populated cities.

Looking at the more technical issues, wireless has experienced some setbacks due to the technology's lack of security. Again, Africa is empowered, as it can now take advantage of the most recent encryption and security advances in wireless.

The wireless fidelity (WiFi) Alliance, for example, recently announced WiFi Protected Access (WPA), a standards-based security mechanism that eliminates most 802.11 security issues.

WPA features both Temporal Key Integrity Protocol [TKIP] and 802.1x mechanisms, which provide dynamic key encryption and mutual authentication for wireless users.

All of this is indeed good news for African countries.

The continent is also set to benefit from emerging wireless technologies such as 802.20 and 802.16e.

802.16e is currently in development to add mobility to stations that primarily support fixed wireless networking in the 2GHz to 6GHz bands.

While 802.20 is specified for the 500MHz to 3.5GHz range for "full mobility". It offers an alternative to the Code Division Multiple Access and GSM-based 3G paths and will soon be legitimate for large-scale deployment.

Business investing in a wireless Africa

There are currently a number of enterprise initiatives creating wireless backbones in Africa.

It is reassuring that companies are working together - as opposed to against each other - aiming to create a wireless world that benefits all on the continent.

Many African countries have between three and five cellular operators - high, if you take into consideration that the average per capita GDP of these countries is estimated to be under $400 per annum.

Fortunately these companies are now realising that this approach is not beneficial for future business. They are now building and operating low-cost, easily maintainable common transmission infrastructures, while differentiating their services by focusing on superior client ownership and content strategies.

Enterprise initiatives also translate into job creation and skills development, which in turn contributes to the overall economic growth of a particular African country.

To sum it up, wireless is set to be a major technology influence in the next few years, with Africa benefiting significantly, if not the most.