TV white spaces, I presume?: the quest for TVWS in Malawi and Zambia

TV White Spaces (TVWS) technology and regulation has the potential to make connectivity both technically and economically feasible in rural Africa where affordable access remains a challenge. The superior propagation characteristics of TVWS technology make it particularly well suited to connecting remote communities. Evidence collected from our measurements in Malawi and Zambia suggest that most UHF spectrum is already available both in urban as well as in rural areas and could be used to provide Internet connectivity. In this paper we present the findings of a TVWS spectrum measurement initiative in Malawi and Zambia. We introduce an open hardware device that geo-tags spectrum measurements and saves the results on a micro SD card. The device can also be used to record the use of spectrum over long periods of time.