DEF India's video: Wireless For Unconnected

The Tribal Health Initiative is an organisation in the tribal village of Sittlingi in the district of Dharmapuri in Tamilnadu. Dr. Regi George and Dr. Lalitha Regi started the organisation in 1992 with the vision to better the quality of life of the people of the region. The whole region is a connectivity dark area and while this was a challenge that the organisation was able to work around earlier, it wasn't something they could ignore when the Covid-19 pandemic happened. The pandemic drastically set the organisation back and that is when Digital Empowerment Foundation and the Internet Society stepped in to provide connectivity. They connected all the four locations with a stable Internet connection using free unlicensed spectrum and line of sight towers. They also trained the local community to maintain and manage the network.