Abstract
The initiatives to bridge the divide have been hindered by a number of factors, but mostly by infrastructural and cost demands of the current technology used. Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) comes at a time when the need to communicate is at its highest. Designed to provide throughput similar to that of wired networks, WiMAX wireless and mobility features promises hope to underserved areas. WiMAX Mesh topology connects subscribers to the Internet without being connected to the Base Station (BS). Without relying on basic infrastructure like roads, tunnels or network backbones, WiMAX mesh will provide answers to long existing connectivity demands for underserved areas. This paper proposes a different approach, one that will lower the subscriber’s cost and hence help to bridge the divide by using communities to set mesh networks and eliminate the ‘middleman’. It provides insight into WiMAX, citing its mesh capabilities as the key-enabling factor in bridging the divide. The results found from a survey conducted about the problems facing developing countries are incorporated and used to show how this topology will suite developing countries’ environments.