Skip to main content
Book cover

International Conference on Information and Communication Technology for Develoment for Africa

ICT4DA 2017: Information and Communication Technology for Development for Africa pp 320–330Cite as

Towards Affordable Broadband Communication: A Quantitative Assessment of TV White Space in Tanzania

Part of the Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering book series (LNICST,volume 244)

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.

Keywords

  • White space
  • Spectrum analyzer
  • Energy detection principle
  • Dynamic spectrum access

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-95153-9_29
  • Chapter length: 11 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-319-95153-9
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 1.

(Source: Google maps)

Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.

Notes

  1. 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.

References

  1. TCRA: Telecommunication Statistics as at March 2007 (2007). https://www.tcra.go.tz/index.php/2007/March-2007. Accessed 29 June 2017

  2. TCRA: Quarterly Communications Statistics Report: January–March 2017 Quarter. Dar es Salaam (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  3. McHenry, M.A., Tenhula, P.A., McCloskey, D., Roberson, D.A., Hood, C.S.: Chicago spectrum occupancy measurements & analysis and a long-term studies proposal. In: TAPAS’ 2006, Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Technology and Policy for Accessing Spectrum, Article No. 1 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  4. López-Benítez, M., Umbert, A., Casadevall, F.: Evaluation of spectrum occupancy in Spain for cognitive radio applications. In: VTC Spring 2009 - IEEE 69th Vehicular Technology Conference, Barcelona, pp. 1–5 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Martian, A.: Evaluation of spectrum occupancy in urban and rural environments of Romania. Rev. Roum. des Sci. Tech. - Ser. Electrotech. Energ. 59(1), 87–96 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Pintor, A.L.C., To, M.R.S., Salenga, J.S., Geslani, G.M., Agpawa, D.P., Cabatuan, M.K.: Spectrum survey of VHF and UHF bands in the Philippines. In: TENCON 2012, IEEE Region 10 Conference, Cebu, pp. 1–6 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Mehdawi, M., Riley, N., Paulson, K., Fanan, A., Ammar, M.: Spectrum occupancy survey in HULL-UK for cognitive radio applications: measurement & analysis. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Res. 2(4), 231–236 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Van de Beek, J., Riihijarvi, J., Achtzehn, A., Mahonen, P.: TV white space in Europe. IEEE Trans. Mob. Comput. 11(2), 178–188 (2012)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  9. Fadda, M., Popescu, V., Murroni, M., Angueira, P., Morgade, J.: On the feasibility of unlicensed communications in the TV white space: field measurements in the UHF band. Int. J. Digit. Multimed. Broadcast. 2015 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Barnes, S.D., Jansen Van Vuuren, P.A., Maharaj, B.T.: Spectrum occupancy investigation: measurements in South Africa. Meas. J. Int. Meas. Confed. 46(9), 3098–3112 (2013)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  11. Nekovee, M.: Quantifying the availability of TV white spaces for cognitive radio operation in the UK. In: 2009 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops, Dresden, pp. 1–5 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Naik, G., Singhal, S., Kumar, A., Karandikar, A.: Quantitative assessment of TV white space in India. In: 2014 Twentieth National Conference on Communications (NCC), pp. 1–6 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Brown, T.X., Pietrosemoli, E., Zennaro, M., Bagula, A., Mauwa, H., Nleya, S.M.: A survey of TV white space measurements. In: International Conference on E-Infrastructure and E-Services for Developing Countries, pp. 164–172 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kumar, P., Rakheja, N., Sarswat, A., Varshney, H., Bhatia, P., Goli, S.R., Ribeiro, V.J., Sharma, M.: White space detection and spectrum characterization in urban and rural India. In: 2013 IEEE 14th International Symposium on “A World Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks” (WoWMoM), Madrid, pp. 1–6 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Mishra, S.M.: Maximizing Available Spectrum for Cognitive Radios. University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Hata, M.: Empirical formula for propagation loss in land mobile radio services. IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol. 29(3), 317–325 (1980)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  17. RF Explorer: RF Explorer User Manual. http://j3.rf-explorer.com/download/docs/RFExplorerSpectrumAnalyzerUserManual.pdf. Accessed 27 June 2017

  18. Rohde-Schwarz: Monitoring Software R&S ARGUS. http://www.rohde-schwarz-ad.com/docs/specmon/TI_ARGUS.pdf. Accessed 17 May 2017

  19. Makris, D., Gardikis, G., Kourtis, A.: Quantifying TV white space capacity: a geolocation-based approach. IEEE Commun. Mag. 50(9), 145–152 (2012)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  20. Harrison, K., Mishra, S.M., Sahai, A.: How much white-space capacity is there? In: 2010 IEEE Symposium on New Frontiers in Dynamic Spectrum Access Network (DySPAN), Singapore, pp. 1–10 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Zennaro, M., Pietrosemoli, E., Mlatho, J., Thodi, M., Mikeka, C.: An assessment study on white spaces in Malawi using affordable tools. In: 2013 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC), San Jose, CA, pp. 265–269 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Dinh, C.H., Van Tien, P.: Assessment of TV white space in Vietnam. In: 2014 International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Communications (ATC 2014), Hanoi, pp. 637–640 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  23. United Repubic of Tanzania (URT): 2012 Population and Housing Census Population Distribution by Administrative Areas. National Bureau of Statistics, Dar es Salaam (2013)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

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.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Informatics and Virtual Education, The University of Dodoma, P.O Box 490, Dodoma, Tanzania

    Jabhera Matogoro, Nerey H. Mvungi, Anatory Justinian, Abhay Karandikar & Jaspreet Singh

Authors
  1. Jabhera Matogoro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nerey H. Mvungi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anatory Justinian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Abhay Karandikar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jaspreet Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jabhera Matogoro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa

    Fisseha Mekuria

  2. Information Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Dr. Ethiopia Enideg Nigussie

  3. Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

    Waltenegus Dargie

  4. Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland

    Mutafugwa Edward

  5. Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Tesfa Tegegne

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

About this paper

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

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

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95153-9_29

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-95152-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-95153-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)