Rethinking Wireless for the Developing World

Many rural regions in developing and developed countries with low user densities do not have good connectivity solu- tions. To date, networking research has largely focused on urban areas of the industrialized world. In this paper, we make the case for research on new appropriate wireless tech- nologies that can provide low-cost, rapidly deployable con- nectivity solutions for low user-density regions. To this e nd, we compare and contrast the connectivity requirements that arise in the two domains and pinpoint the new research chal- lenges that arise in low user-density environments. We de- scribe our research efforts in this space and also share our initial experiences in deploying low-cost WiFi-based Long Distance (WiLD) networks in India, Ghana and the San Francisco Bay Area.