DigI:Selela

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Selela

Figure 1: Selela at the border of the Serengeti National Park

In Selela 2G networks from various operators are present, though none of them has a 3G coverage at the market place, the dispensary or the school. The main reason is that the 3G towers are too far away, in the case of Tigo the distance is more than 20 km from Selela to the Tigo tower on the hill-side close to Mbo wa Mtu.

As shown in Figure 1, the tower is on a mountain ridge north of Mbo wa Mtu. We have performed network measures, with good reach up to 7-9 km, indicated by the two green dots in the right area of Figure 1. Our mobile network measures, performed both at Selela and Mbaash, showed a received signal level of -106 dBm, which is not sufficient for communications. Through setting up a water pipe of 6 m, and adding a directive antenna (see Figure 2 and Basic Internet Solutions), we achieve a gain of about 18 dB, such that the receive power is -88 dBm - which gives a decent connectivity to establish our information spot.

Figure 2: In Selela the market place got connected, reaching to a tower more than 20 km away

Current installation

Currently the market place is connected, based on a 3 m pole connected to an existing pole on the roof, reaching up to about 6 m over ground. The mobile network connects to the 3G Tigo tower through directive antenna more than 20 km away. The connectivity is UMTS 900 MHz connection.

  • Equipment includes:
  • (1) Internet Link
  • (1) LNCC
  • (1) Raspberry Pi

See list of equipment at Selela_Market_(TZ)


Future extension

The potential extensions include a link to the school, and the link to the dispensary. However, we first need to clarify on how to attach the pole to the buildings.

Figure 3: Measuring Mobile Networks in Selela, we became an attraction
Figure 4: The Market Place in Selela

Selela is one of the DigI:Villages