Internet service provider iWayAfrica and off-grid renewable-energy operator and technology integrator Winch Energy are preparing to embark on a pilot programme to bring high-quality, affordable broadband connectivity to five rural communities in Uganda.

The companies will deploy ‘The Winch Hub’, which is a remote solar kiosk with integrated very small aperture terminal (VSAT) equipment to provide satellite Internet, mobile phone charging and printing services to Bunjako Island, a fishing village, home to a population of 20 000 on the shores of Lake Victoria.

The pilot of The Winch Hub, which is a customised, containerised off-grid solution designed to provide energy and communication services in rural environments, aims to demonstrate the commercial and economic sustainability of the multiservice using a box approach.

It also forms part of a proof of concept for a larger project of more than 250 hubs and remote power units to be installed in rural villages providing electricity, WiFi, water pumping and cold storage services to households, schools, health centres and businesses across the country.

“Around 80% of Uganda is unserved by reliable means of electricity, with around 65% of the population remaining without access to the Internet. Demand for these services among rural populations is significant,” says Winch Energy Group and Winch Energy Uganda director Tom Wrigley.

Discussions are now under way with local companies to manufacture and assemble the technology in Uganda, a move that is expected to bolster the local economy, open up export opportunities, transfer key skills to local personnel and shorten the delivery time to customers.

“Operating as Jolaspot, the Ku-Band WiFi access service will be available through several access points in the village with voucher purchases from the The Winch Hub, which will also offer mobile phone charging and printing facilities,” iWayAfrica VSAT wholesale services division MD Michèle Scanlon concludes.