Abstract
A quantitative assessment of TV White Space in Tanzania was conducted to assess the level of spectrum utilization as well as a key milestone towards the use of white space for affordable broadband communication. Two approaches have been used; pollution and protection viewpoints and experimental spectrum measurements based on energy detection principle. The study focused on 470–694 MHz UHF spectrum band which is used for digital terrestrial television in Tanzania. It was found that, more than 120 MHz is available as white space in various locations in Tanzania when pollution and protection view point was used and about 184 MHz are available as white space in Dodoma urban using experimental spectrum measurements and almost 100% of the available frequencies are not used in Dodoma rural. Both approaches revealed that there is low spectrum utilization and therefore presents a best case towards development of dynamic spectrum access technologies in Tanzania.
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Notes
- 1.
While TV transmitters’ information is publicly available in other countries including US, it is not so in Tanzania. This information is only available upon request to Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority.
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Acknowledgments
Mr. Jabhera Matogoro, a first author of this study would like to extend his thanks to NAM S&T Centre of New Delhi and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India for the award of Six Months Research Training Fellowship for Developing Country Scientists (RTF-DCS) where he participated in TV White Space Research Project in India. This work was also supported by various stakeholders in different capacity, including; The University of Dodoma, Higher Education Students’ Loans Board, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Internet Society, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority.
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Matogoro, J., Mvungi, N.H., Justinian, A., Karandikar, A., Singh, J. (2018). Towards Affordable Broadband Communication: A Quantitative Assessment of TV White Space in Tanzania. In: Mekuria, F., Nigussie, E., Dargie, W., Edward, M., Tegegne, T. (eds) Information and Communication Technology for Development for Africa. ICT4DA 2017. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 244. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95153-9_29
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