DakNet: rethinking connectivity in developing nations

Abstract

DakNet provides extraordinarily low-cost digital communication, letting remote villages leapfrog past the expense of traditional connectivity solutions and begin development of a full-coverage broadband wireless infrastructure. What is the basis for a progressive, market-driven migration from e-governance to universal broadband connectivity that local users will pay for? DakNet, an ad hoc network that uses wireless technology to provide asynchronous digital connectivity, is evidence that the marriage of wireless and asynchronous service may indeed be the beginning of a road to universal broadband connectivity. DakNet has been successfully deployed in remote parts of both India and Cambodia at a cost two orders of magnitude less than that of traditional landline solutions.