3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions

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    Understanding the impact of free public WiFi hotspots using the choice framework
    (2020) Chauke, Hlelo
    Background – Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are said to bring with them a promise of addressing developmental challenges. The debate about the potential contribution of ICT to development is still controversial with limited empirical results to back it up. While there is currently published literature on the role of ICT in social change and development, there exists limited empirical evidence that supports the impact ICTs have on social change and development. This study builds on these existing concerns and tries to understand how free public WiFi hotspots that have been rolled out in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) impacts the development of city residents. Purpose – The purpose of this study was to explore and better understand the impact that free public WiFi hotspots have on the development of City of Johannesburg residents, and determine if any development at all was experienced. Design/methodology/approach – This study was guided by the interpretivism paradigm where an inductive approach was employed. The Choice Framework was utilised to theoretically underpin this study. This study followed an explanatory research approach where qualitative research design was employed. This cross-sectional study used non-probability sampling, where convenience sampling technique was selected as the appropriate sampling method for the study. Semi-structured open-ended interviews were conducted with twelve respondents in the City of Johannesburg. Practical implications – This study provides an understanding on how Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) projects, in this case, the free public WiFi hotspots rolled out in the City of Johannesburg impacts the development of the city residents. This research will enable ICT4D researchers and practitioners to better understand how these ICT4D initiatives are impacting the development of residents. This study will also help ICT4D project implementer to ensure that any barriers to the impact of free public WiFi hotspots on development is addressed to ensure that the CoJ addresses residents’ development needs. The study will provide direction that will guide ICT4D projects implementers on how to better roll out more of these WiFi hotspots in other parts of the CoJ and how to better address residents’ development challenges through free public WiFi hotspots. Findings – The study found that the availability of free public WiFi hotspots is various locations in the CoJ region does positively impact the development of residents, however, development is a choice. Only those who chose to use the free public WiFi hotspots will be able to achieve the development outcome to achieve the life that they value and have a reason to given the confines of their social structures. After all, it is only through the successful use of ICTs that real developmental benefits will be realised
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    Free wifi giving a voice to the community: a case of the Johannesburg public wifi in Soweto
    (2019) Mnisi, N
    Various authorsi have warned against the assumption that mere access to the internet by disadvantaged communities will automatically yield active citizens, participation and voice. This thesis focuses on uncovering the extent to which availability of free public wifi in a disadvantaged community can enable a voice for that community. This research, conducted at three wifi hotspots uses a mixed methods approach, with a questionnaire for quantitative analysis and observation for qualitative as the data collection methods. The findings of the research indicate that despite the government's efforts to get the Soweto community online through free wifi provision, key disadvantaged stakeholders in the community remain excluded. These include women, people over 40 years of age and older, the disabled and people who are too old or sickly to walk to the free wifi zones. However, the findings also suggested that the advantage of social media for community members lies in its ability to connect people to the decision makers directly, rather than reliance on a third party or mediator to receive feedback on issues raised. The findings suggest that community members who engage with government officials aim to solve issues relating to provision of basic services in many cases. Overall, the findings point to an incongruity between the expectations of what free public wifi can offer in terms of improving the well-being of disadvantaged communities, and the lived reality of those communities
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    Regional economic communities influencing policy: a study of information communications technology policy (on telecommunication) of four SADC countries
    (2017) Maulana, Godfree W.
    In the last three decades’ information and communication technology (ICT) has been a catalyst for an unprecedented social and economic revolution. In part, the revolution can be accredited to the rapid change in technology over the years, while on the other hand it can be attributed to reform changes which include, but are not limited to, the liberalisation of the sector. Countries introduced reforms in the ICT sector via targeted policy changes which facilitated change in the sector. They either formulated policies with the objective to remedy specific issues in their environment or adopted policies guided by the regional bodies. This study evaluates the extent to which country specific ICT policies adopt recommendations made by regional bodies. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is used for this research with four Member States ICT policies evaluated for conformity to the SADC recommendations, specifically with respect to the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communication and Meteorology. The policies are also evaluated against policy formulating techniques recommended when formulating policies. The focus of this study is the telecommunications policies of each of the chosen Member States and policy recommendations by SADC on same. The study employed desktop research and an analysis of the relevant documentation, which were interrogated for specific content with respect to previously identified policy objectives. These were then analysed against the SADC Protocol and the policy techniques. The policy formulating techniques are to ensure the policies under analysis are not conforming to the SADC recommendation due to poor policy writing techniques, however it is imperative for the reader to note that the research is on the conformity of the Member States to the policy recommendations by SADC. It emerged from the research that the Member States in SADC, under study, adopted policy recommendations made by SADC to varying degrees. There is also evidence of the use of specific policy-formulation techniques. Countries that have some evidence of use of policy techniques have better policy as evidence by achievements of the policy objectives. In order to formulate good policy not only must the regional body provide concise policy recommendations, the Member States must be able to formulate policy that would be in line with the recommendations. Regional bodies have an influence in member state policy formulation and there are benefits to be gained by regional economic communities if they have harmonised polices supported by Mwasha (nd). It also emerged that whilst there is policy reform in the ICT sector there is a dearth of research with regards to policy analysis and evaluation of the existing policies.
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    Threshold based multi-bit flipping decoding of binary LDPC codes
    (2017) Masunda, Kennedy Tohwechipi Fudu
    There has been a surge in the demand of high speed reliable communication infrastructure in the last few decades. Advanced technology, namely the internet has transformed the way people live and how they interact with their environment. The Internet of Things (IoT) has been a very big phenomenon and continues to transform infrastructure in the home and work place. All these developments are underpinned by the availability of cost-effective, reliable and error free communication services. A perfect and reliable communication channel through which to transmit information does not exist. Telecommunication channels are often characterised by random noise and unpredictable disturbances that distort information or result in the loss of information. The need for reliable error-free communication has resulted in advanced research work in the field of Forward Error Correction (FEC). Low density parity check (LDPC) codes, discovered by Gallager in 1963 provide excellent error correction performance which is close to the vaunted Shannon limit when used with long block codes and decoded with the sum-product algorithm (SPA). However, long block code lengths increase the decoding complexity exponentially and this problem is exacerbated by the intrinsic complexity of the SPA and its approximate derivatives. This makes it impossible for the SPA to be implemented in any practical communication device. Bit flipping LDPC decoders, whose error correction performance pales in comparison to the SPA have been devised to counter the disadvantages of the SPA. Even though, the bit flipping algorithms do not perform as well as the SPA, their exceeding low complexity makes them attractive for practical implementation in high speed communication devices. Thus, a lot of research has gone into the design and development of improved bit flipping algorithms. This research work analyses and focusses on the design of improved multi-bit flipping algorithms which converge faster than single-bit flipping algorithms. The aim of the research is to devise methods with which to obtain thresholds that can be used to determine erroneous sections of a given codeword so that they can be corrected. Two algorithms that use multi-thresholds are developed during the course of this research. The first algorithm uses multiple adaptive thresholds while the second algorithm uses multiple near optimal SNR dependant fixed thresholds to identify erroneous bits in a codeword. Both algorithms use soft information modification to further improve the decoding performance. Simulations show that the use of multiple adaptive or near optimal SNR dependant fixed thresholds improves the bit error rate (BER) and frame error rate (FER) correcting performance and also decreases the average number of iterations (ANI) required for convergence. The proposed algorithms are also investigated in terms of quantisation for practical applications in communication devices. Simulations show that the bit length of the quantizer as well as the quantization strategy (uniform or non-uniform quantization) is very important as it affects the decoding performance of the algorithms significantly.
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    Processes for regulating interconnection rates in India and South Africa
    (2013-02-19) Chetty, Sagadhevan
    South Africa‟s high telecommunication costs are attributed partly to high interconnection rates. High costs negatively impact developmental objectives. This paper analyses the processes engaged in by ICASA in regulating interconnection rates, using a qualitative case study methodology. Enabling legislation, regulatory administration and rules and the bringing to bear of regulatory rules on institutions are stages of regulatory processes that are examined. Perspectives are taken from processes executed by TRAI, India‟s regulatory authority. South Africa followed a market review process which contrasts with India‟s cost-based process. South Africa‟s process although arduous did not achieve the desired result of establishing cost based rates. The root cause is attributed to a combination of factors that include an onerous market review process prescribed by the ECA, institutional problems at ICASA and a politically driven process that ran alongside and engulfed the process managed by ICASA. India‟s process meanwhile has yielded some of the cheapest telecoms retail rates in the world. Gaps exist between processes in the two countries and lessons learnt provide an improved understanding of South African shortcomings.
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    The effects of mobile number portability on consumers in South Africa
    (2012-09-19) Dube, Thenjiwe Franscinah
    The European Union introduced the concept of global reforms in the 1990s, in order to open markets for competition. The trajectory of reforms in South Africa took the following shape: first, liberalisation of markets in the telecommunications industry. Second, were the privatisation of incumbents, and lastly, the creation of regulatory agencies, which were mandated by the American Telecommunications Act of 1996 (No. 103 of 1996) to promote competition. These changes opened the market for the licensing of cellular network operators, to compete with the dominant fixed line provider on voice and data services. Competition in its nature, aims to improve services, provide affordable prices to consumers and flexible products where consumer can exercise choice. One of the highlights of competition in the telecommunications sector came through the legislative requirement for the industry to introduce number portability. There are different types of number portability but for purposes of this study, focus shall be on mobile number portability (MNP). This study examines the extent to which MNP has benefited consumers who have ported their number in South Africa. The first chapter provides a background on the global reforms in the telecommunication sector, and this is followed by reforms in South Africa. The second chapter provides a literature review on the effects of MNP, and looks at the regulatory framework of MNP, processes of porting, and the results of the introduction of MNP in various countries. The study found that policy and regulations on MNP had both positive and negative effects. Consumers are now able to switch operators whilst keeping their numbers, thus exercising their right to choice. However, prices still remain uncompetitive and quality of service is yet to improve.
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    Independence as an effective pillar to regulation in the Nigerian telecommunications sector
    (2012-09-19) Fufore, Abbas Mohammed
    Regulator independence has been widely acknowledged by a large segment of experts as significant for the growth and development of the telecoms industry. However, the impact of regulatory independence on industry growth has not been prominently analysed from the perspective of developing countries. This study was therefore conceived and designed to determine whether the degree of independence of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has had any effect on the growth and development of the telecoms industry in Nigeria. The parameters for regulator independence examined include; stability of tenure, relationship between the regulator and the various arms of government, fiscal and organisational autonomy, regulator legitimacy as well as the regulator authority to regulate. While the parameters for growth examined include: access to service, usage of service, geographical spread, and quality of service, competition and pricing. A connection between the degree of regulator independence and industry growth and development was subsequently established. A descriptive method of analysis was adopted using the TRE technique of assessment and the study confirmed that the NCC is fairly/reasonably independent. Furthermore, evidence from both primary and secondary sources indicated a remarkable but modest growth and development in the Nigeria telecoms industry from 2001 to 2010. The study found that Nigeria’s communication sector development was positively affected by the degree of independence of the regulator and government policy choices in the 1990s. The result of this study may be an indicator of the success of the telecoms market liberalisation programme embarked upon by the Nigerian government. ii The telecoms market liberalisation facilitated the entry of many telecoms companies providing various services as a result of which Nigeria attracted considerable foreign investments making the country one of the fastest growing and biggest telecoms market in Africa. As a consequence of this development, the mobile sector of the telecoms industry has seen triple digit growth rates for five years in a row since competition was introduced. A number of additional players have also entered the market under a new unified licensing regime which is expected to boost the country’s underdeveloped Internet and broadband sector. Third generation mobile and wireless broadband services are being rolled out at a rapid pace. All this development is supposedly as a result of the creation of an independent regulator, the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC). On the other hand, this study shows that regulatory independence by itself is not a sufficient condition to promote sector growth. This is because, despite the fact that the study found the regulator (NCC) to be fairly and reasonably independent, Nigeria remains at relatively moderate levels of market penetration ― around 50% ― as reported by Baez and Kechiche (2010, p.5).
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    Exploring business models in Africa's undersea cable market for broadband development
    (2012-05-29) Patel, Ashraf A.
    Cannot copy abstract
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