1.0 INTRODUCTION
Rural areas of Zimbabwe continue to be sparsely covered and are not considered as a viable business case by mobile telecommunication operators. Recent growth of tele density in urban areas, fueled by mobile technology, has meant that the digital gap between rural and urban areas has widened. Rural populations will need to be provided with mobile telephony and wireless broadband access, by connecting remote areas to the broadband core networks. Choosing efficient, cost-effective and fast-deployment technologies – whether wired or wireless networks – will improve accessibility. The key challenges for the provision of telecommunication services in rural areas are driven by both technological and economic considerations. Setting up backhaul connectivity remains a high-cost exercise. Erratic power supply or complete lack of energy sources is a major barrier, and photovoltaic power supply is increasingly becoming a viable alternative. The requirement to maintain sufficient backup systems raises operational costs substantially.
In the 1990s, the term digital divide was introduced as a way to describe the gap between those who have access to computers and the internet and those who do not. Mobile technology is now being sold as the bridge across the digital divide. The last decade has seen advances in digital electronics devices such as computers smaller, cheaper and faster. These significant changes have promoted the rapid development and market growth of small computers and electronic gadgets that can be carried from place to place. It has also revolutionalised the consumer market place where computers are now commonly embedded in everything from household appliances to automobiles, just to mention but a few. Zimmerman (1999) defines mobile networks as the use of networks devices that usually interact in some manner with the control of a central