Analysis of QoS Requirements in Developing Countries

DANIEL TAIRO Greenwich University, UK __________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: The world’s dependency on information technologies is at its highest with Internet providing access to information from different parts of the world. While the developed world is capitalising on this, developing countries are still struggling with poor or no technological infrastructure. This has led to lack of access to the Internet in many areas of these countries leading to the exclusion from the online communities. Few areas that get access to the Internet are still struggling with lack of Quality of Service (QoS) assurance. This paper presents the QoS required for developing countries using Tanzania as a case study. It discusses issues surrounding QoS requirements for the modern world and compares this with the situation in developing countries. It presents the results from a study conducted in Tanzania on QoS requirement around the country. It examines the present, perceived and required QoS and compares this with the standard QoS recommendation from key studies. The results show that most Internet connections are well below the recommended quality. The Internet penetration is still low. While many Internet users engage in basic Internet use such as e-mail and web browsing, they are also keen to have reliable connections. The findings are also useful for other countries sharing general characteristics with Tanzania.