Broadband for Africa 非洲的新宽带

Another big step forward for Africa: Broadband

媒体英语会带大家一起学习 BBC 撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

手机的到来已经使非洲发生了决定性变化，现在那里有一半的人都拥有手机。

那么下一个飞跃将是什么呢？BBC 非洲事务编辑Martin Plaut 报道说，投资商们正在把钱投资到高速宽带网上面。

Just fifteen years ago hardly anyone had a mobile phone in Africa. Today they can be seen in almost every market and on almost every street.

But the next big thing, predicts Moez Daya, will be cheap, fast broadband. This will allow streaming - live access to television, radio and other media via the internet.

Some will come through cables that have been laid around the coast. But Mr Daya, formerly chief executive of one of Africa's largest cell-phone operators, Celtel, and now working with Satya Capital, says broadband can also be delivered by satellite.

Local operators will then redistribute the product through aerials on the roofs of their customers. Mr Daya says this should be commercially feasible.

Moez Daya: “I would imagine that a twenty dollar subscription for a bandwidth of somewhere around four megabits a second is entirely achievable and feasible, and probably commercially sensible”.

Within two years, says Mr Daya, this could mean African children playing internet games, just like their Chinese or American counterparts, while their fathers sit and enjoy football on their mobile phones.