Toward a Broadband Services Delivery Model over Wireless Technologies to Resource-Constrained Public High Schools in South Africa by Tholo Johannes Pholotho Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MAGISTER OF TECHNOLOGIAE In the subject INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY at the University of South Africa Supervisor: Dr. Jabu Mtsweni July 2017 Student number: 53338987 Declaration I declare that the dissertation entitled TOWARD A BROADBAND SERVICES DELIVERY MODEL OVER WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES TO RESOURCE-CONSTRAINED PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA is my own work, and that all sources used or quoted in the study have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. __________________ 4 July 2017 Mr Tholo Pholotho Date 1 Acknowledgements My first appreciation goes to GOD for his guidance throughout this journey. My appreciation also goes to my supervisor, Dr Jabu Mtsweni who was always willing to provide me with guidance, suggestions, encouragement and motivation to enable me to complete this work. I would like to also thank the Senior Manager of Sekhukhune District Municipality with the permission he granted to conduct the research case study in the public schools at Great Tubatse Municipality (GMT). To the educators from the Greater Tubatse Municipality high schools, I say a million thanks for your contributions to this study. Without the financial assistance provided by Telkom SA and Armscor through a bursary grant, I would have had difficulty in completing my research. Finally, I would like to thank my family and colleagues for their patience, support and understanding. 2 Abstract Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are capable of expanding access to quality education, educational resources, and also provide teachers with new skills. Nevertheless, a majority of rural public schools have limited ICTs, mainly due to geographical landscape, lack of service delivery and poverty. As a result, they currently seem not to be adequately benefiting from current advancements in ICTs. The main objective of this research study was to investigate an appropriate broadband services delivery model using wireless access technologies, such as a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) and Enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) to deliver electronic-based educational information to resource-constrained public high schools. An exploratory case study approach was adopted to identify and understand the challenges faced by rural schools in the Greater Tubatse Municipality (GTM), including educational services and content considered by the schools as relevant and useful. The research results indicate that resource-constrained schools in the GTM are facing challenges of lack of access to electronic educational information and services, and as a result, teaching and learning becomes limiting and challenging. Based on the research findings, the results show that having access to learning material via electronic platforms could afford educators and learners the opportunity to interact with the outside world, improve learning and teaching and benefit the community as a whole. The broadband services delivery conceptual model (BSDCM) was proposed, developed and evaluated to address the lack of electronic educational information and services for resource- constrained public high schools. The BSDCM is composed of both technical and non-technical components that consider requirements of all role players, ICT challenges, policy makers and Information Communication Technology for Education (ICT4ED) interventions. The proposed model addressed some of the challenges regarding lack of access to educational content. However, it is recommended that the ICT4ED policies governing the use of mobile devices in the classrooms be introduced by the relevant authorities. In addition, a comparative analysis of other network technologies should be conducted to establish if the TCP/IP header 3 compression on Point to Point Protocol (PPP) improves the performance of the network in resource-constrained environments. Furthermore, it is recommended that further research and experiments be conducted to determine if other various third party content providers could create and deploy various educational services and content for different computing platforms using the proposed BSDCM. Keywords: Broadband, e-Education, Information Communication Technologies, Resource- constrained schools, Greater Tubatse Municipality, Public Schools, Electronic Access, Case Study, Educational Information. 4 Table of Contents Declaration ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 5 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... 10 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ 12 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 1- Introduction ................................................................................................................. 17 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 17 1.2 Background .................................................................................................................... 18 1.3 Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 20 1.4 Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 21 1.5 The Goal and Objectives of the Study ........................................................................... 22 1.6 Overview of Research Methodology .............................................................................. 24 1.7 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................... 24 1.8 Scope and Limitations .................................................................................................... 25 1.9 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................... 25 1.10 Dissertation Chapter Outline .......................................................................................... 26 1.11 Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 2- Use of ICTs in Education: South African Context ..................................................... 29 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 29 2.2 ICTs in Education........................................................................................................... 30 2.2.1 Importance of Using ICTs in Education ................................................................. 30 2.2.2 Content and Services Considered as Relevant for Teaching and Learning ............ 33 2.2.3 Challenges Regarding Lack of ICTs in Rural Public Schools ................................ 35 2.3 Broadband Penetration in the Rural Areas ..................................................................... 37 2.3.1 Fixed-Line Access Technologies for Rural Deployment in South Africa .............. 38 2.3.2 State of Mobile Networks in South African Rural Areas ....................................... 39 2.4 Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 3- Mobile Service Delivery Platforms (MSDPs) ............................................................ 49 5 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 49 3.2 Overview of General SDP .............................................................................................. 50 3.3 Service Delivery Platforms Basic Requirements ........................................................... 52 3.4 Existing Mobile Service Delivery Platforms ................................................................. 54 3.4.1 Mobi4D Platform .................................................................................................... 54 3.4.2 SPRING Mobile Service Platform .......................................................................... 57 3.4.3 SPICE Mobile Service Delivery Platform .............................................................. 59 3.4.4 OPUCE Service Delivery Platform ........................................................................ 61 3.4.5 IMS Service Delivery Platform .............................................................................. 63 3.5 Comparison of Existing MSDPs ...................................................................................