Intel backs wireless Africa plan

[gkd_uk]

Africa needs to embrace wireless broadband as a potential solution to the digital divide, the chairman of Intel Craig Barrett has said.
"It's cheaper, easier and more efficient to communicate wirelessly," he told the BBC News website.

Less than 1% of Africans have access to broadband and only 4% use the net.

The International Telecommunications Union has predicted that the Intel-backed Wimax system could become the dominant mobile standard in Africa.

The continent's geography and political barriers have made it difficult to roll out wired broadband.

There is a shortage of fibre cable links between African countries and very few states have extensive copper wire networks for ADSL broadband.

Mr Barrett, who is in Africa as part of the Intel World Ahead programme, said: "In every African country, except some of the more established economies, cell phones vastly outnumber fixed line phones.

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[Scripter]

Ok that aplies to Africa.
Although in south africa i know for a fact more than 40% average homes uses wireless.
It has hit the stores with impact and becoming the new trend.
So when he said Africa, he ment the continant alone, although South Africa has been growing rapidly, and neighboring countries grow slower.