The project proposes to take a pragmatic approach to the "last mile" issue, by studying each technological solution relatively to local socio-economic conditions and to specific constraints and costs (like power supply or international Internet connectivity). The objective is to define a set of optimal technology/context mixes, by focusing on a limited – yet representative – number of sub-Saharan African countries.

Africa as a whole is characterized by a very low penetration rate of fixed networks (e.g. 0.7% in Senegal, 3% in Cameroon). By contrast, a significant and rising part of the population owns a mobile phone: 25% on average. Both the rurality of the population and its insolvency acts as a brake upon prospective deployment of fixed infrastructures taking into account the huge investments necessary to install wired solutions. While satellite-based access solutions (VSAT) are too expensive to be deployed widely, a growing set of alternative technologies have emerged and could be used to serve the local loop: WiFi, WiMax, CDMA, HSPDA… These technologies raise hope for ambitious broadband access roll-outs through contained capital expenditure.

In first analysis, none of the candidate technologies is likely to be in a position to fit all situations. What might derive from intended investigations are certain technological choices (some of them possibly of a hybrid nature) adapted to given market profiles. At any rate, the quality of interactions with "field" actors will be a key success factor for the project, as technological recommendations will be highly contingent upon local contextual factors.

Thus the proposed modus operandi consists in conducting an exhaustive in-lab analysis of each technology and then evaluating its supposed validity via interactions with local actors and/or via field tests.