Something about communication technology on our journey

This post is for you who is a bit interested in how technology makes our postings possible.

Tanzania is a country where less than 15% of the population have access to electricity.

Less than 15% have a bank account, and only about 5% of the population is eligible for a bank loan.

According to this article there are 15 million mobile phone users in Tanzania, accounting for around 25% of the population. Another source states that by 2013, the penetration will reach 100%

In the Maasai villages we visited it seemed that the penetration was higher. In Ngaruka, where there was not even a network coverage, the people estimated that around 3 out of 4 owned a mobile phone.

The postings of this blog has been done entirely via the mobile network. We have three solutions

• A Vodacom Data account on my Samsung Galaxy makes it possible to to connect from the phone. Postings can be made by taking a picture and then e-mailing it to the blog account.
• A USB stick from Zantel connects my computer to Internet where Zantels network is available. This only seem to work in the cities. On the other hand, when it works it is quite speedy, up to 1Mbit
• The last resort is to use the Samsung Galaxy as a Mobile Access Point, thus creating an instant WiFi network. This is how I am doing this post now. The speed here at the foot of Ngorongoro mountain is about 128kB. A bit slow, but it works.

The cost of 2GB Data is about 38000TZS which amounts to around 20EUR. Much cheaper, and a lot faster than using the Internet connection at most hotels. And you can connect to Internet anywhere this way.

It is a connected world!