Ben Parker asked about experiences on solar powered VSAT I don't have time to give details now but can't let the question go by without brief reference to the Solo. It is designed for rural Africa. I saw the second generation prototype during field trials in Oke-Ogun. I undertand that some pre-production versions are now under assembly. Not being a "techie" I don't know if there is any difference between "VSAT" and the satelite connection that Solo was making use of then.
As a potential purchaser I know I won't get hold of one until someone in Africa sets up a small, locally financed company, to do small scale assembly (about 100 units a month). The ethos behind Solo development is not just to make the *end product* available in rural Africa, but to *benefit local economies* and to *enable technology transfer through local assembly*. It is an imaginative combination of leading edge technology and cottage industry scale assembly! Hurdles to be overcome are things like problems relating to getting components through customs, and getting a critical mass of initial orders, to give a small company the confidence to go forward. That's why I keep plugging the Solo - I want one, and I want the project I support in Oke-Ogun to be able to get them - so I need other people to want them too. Pam McLean ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
