With less than 1% of Africans able to access a broadband connection, Intel's chairman Craig Barrett is advocating for a wireless solution to Africa's long stagnating connectivity problems.

While computer access and Internet connections stagnates in Africa, mobile phone penetration is expanding exponentially. Africa’s mobile phone growth rate has been the highest of any region over the past 5 years, averaging yearly increases of almost 25%.

Mr Barrett, who is in Africa as part of the Intel World Ahead programme, said: "In every African country, except some of the more established economies, cell phones vastly outnumber fixed line phones.

Many African NGOs are now beginning to utilize mobile phones in their campaning work. In Gugulethu a small city near Cape Town, an experimental SMS-based software program called Cell-Life is being used to help administer antiretroviral drugs to people with HIV/AIDS. Two doctors and one nurse keep in contact with one another and their 500 patients via text messages sent from local counselors  "The doctors don't get to see as many patients as they would like," Anand said. "This allows them to pinpoint patients who aren't doing well. And, of course, monitor those patients that are benefiting from drug therapy."  (http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/06/wireless06_ed3_.php).

Current broadband technologies are allowing many developing countries to access the Interent without the need of extensive on-the-ground infrastructure. Wimax, a long range wireless system currently connects PCs and laptops, and will expand to include a broadband network.

Cost however remains a limiting factor for many of the technology solutions to connecting Africa and other developing countries.  The current cost to stay connected in Niger is almost 4 percent of an average income, compared to o.1% in Sweden.  (http://www.codata.org/archives/2003/03march/papers/ForeroPineda.pdf).

Amil Husain is the Global Youth Coordinator for the UN Millennium Campaign where much of his work focuses on mobile and online advocacy projects