About

SteveSong-003_800px

I am something of a jack-of-all-trades in the world of affordable access to communication infrastructure. I am at various times a researcher, an entrepreneur, a community mobiliser, and an advocate for cheaper, more equitable, more pervasive access to communication infrastructure. This year (2020) I am a half-time Fellow in Residence at the Mozilla Foundation.  I also work on policy and regulation issues for the Association for Progressive Communications’  community network support project.  Lastly, I am also a research associate with the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC). I have written extensively on African telecommunications infrastructure and Internet issues in general since 2008.  Since 2009, I’ve actively maintained public maps of undersea and terrestrial fibre optic infrastructure in Africa. Here is a more complete list of resources that I maintain or contribute to.

I am also the founder of Village Telco, a social enterprise (now defunct) that manufactured low-cost WiFi mesh VoIP technologies to deliver affordable voice and Internet service in under-serviced areas.

Prior to that I was lucky enough to have a fellowship for three years with the Shuttleworth Foundation to work on telecommunications and access issues in South Africa.  And before joining the Foundation, I spent 10 years at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa funding and engaging in research into Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) issues, mostly in Africa.

If you’d like to get in touch with me, please use the contact form.

10 Comments

  1. March 2008 « Helen King 18 April 2008 at 5:26 pm

    […] countries is just 3%. That is the reason why I am so excited about the Village Telco project that Steve is currently working […]

  2. A great read about techno-geek rebellion « innovating education 13 January 2009 at 9:27 am

    […] you Mark Surman for leaving a copy in the office, and Steve Song for recommending I read it 🙂 Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Little […]

  3. Стив Сонг об инновациях, связи и африканском континенте « Русские приключения OpenBTS 10 December 2009 at 6:31 pm

    […] в сеть видеозапись выступления Стива Сонга (Steve Song) на TEDx, в котором он рассказывает о Village Telco и Mesh Potato, […]

  4. Africa’s digital evolution continues | capetocongo.com 22 February 2011 at 2:13 pm

    […] courtesy of Steve Song at his blog, Many Possibilities. He used to be a specialist at ICTD – Information and Communication Technology for Development, and […]

  5. Connectivity for Development | Blog | Google Creating a Map of Africa’s Broadband Cables 11 August 2011 at 4:15 pm

    […] Sub-Saharan Africa office is funding a project by Steve Song to create a comprehensive map of all terrestrial broadband fibre-optic cables in Africa.  Using […]

  6. Google Creating a Map of Africa’s Broadband Cables | TechChange | The Institute for Technology and Social Change 12 August 2011 at 9:09 pm

    […] Sub-Saharan Africa office is funding a project by Steve Song to create a comprehensive map of all terrestrial broadband fibre-optic cables in Africa.  Using […]

  7. Song of Africa | Touch Points by Steve Finikiotis 17 August 2011 at 9:25 pm

    […] everyone interested in Africa’s connectivity revolution has seen the handiwork of Steve Song, a South African social entrepreneur who wants to make telecommunications accessible to more […]

  8. Google Creating a Map of Africa’s Broadband Cables « News & Reveiws 31 August 2011 at 4:47 am

    […] Sub-Saharan Africa office is funding a project by Steve Song to create a comprehensive map of all terrestrial broadband fibre-optic cables in Africa.  Using […]

  9. Scaling Impact By Giving Stuff Away | Roshan Paul 27 September 2011 at 4:48 pm

    […] first met Stephen Song through the Ashoka Globalizer program, where he helped us develop our framework for thinking […]

  10. Scaling Social Impact by Giving Away Value | TechChange | The Institute for Technology and Social Change 27 September 2011 at 7:30 pm

    […] first met Stephen Song through the Ashoka Globalizer program, where he helped us develop our framework for thinking about […]

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