Technology Insights for Rural Connectivity

In October 2005, the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication (ARNIC) at the University of Southern California (USA) held a workshop - "Wireless Communication and Development: A Global Perspective" - as part of a multi-disciplinary effort to study the emergence of new communication infrastructures, examine the transformation of government policies and communication patterns, and analyse the social and economic consequences.

Eric Brewer of the University of California (UC) at Berkeley was one of the participants. In this 8-page paper, he argues that "rural connectivity has a chance to be a powerful new rural infrastructure that enables local economies and leads to education, social development, and in turn to other kinds of infrastructure. In the best case, rural connectivity will bring new options to these regions, produce a visible improvement in the quality of life, and reduce the pressure towards urbanization (with its associated societal costs)." To make this vision a reality, Brewer discusses four aspects of rural connectivity that he feels should affect both proposed solutions and policy: the limitations of cellular, the need to focus on non-mobile endpoints, the use of unlicensed
spectrum, and wireless links as an alternative for fiber.

To begin, Brewer notes that "The most impressive infrastructure rollout in [least developed countries, or] LDCs by far as been the deployment of cellular telephony. In addition to broad usage in China, India and other Asian countries, Africa has become
the fastest growing cellular market. But even this revolution has been primarily an urban phenomenon..." He then addresses several strategic points related to this growth:

• There is a myth that cellular technology will simply solve the connectivity problem, but "the reality is that it will solve it only where density is sufficient and legal and policy risks are low. The rural areas of LDCs rarely fit these criteria."
• "Rural connectivity is significantly more likely to be viable if we focus on non-mobile endpoints. Part of achieving this focus is education for both policy makers and investors on the cost of mobility, and on the need to distinguish between solutions for mobile handsets and solutions for rural connectivity, which can easily co-exist with the right policies."
• "[U]nlicensed spectrum is the right first step, especially for experimentation with rural solutions. However, when a solution emerges it should be moved to its own spectrum that is licensed and possibly even auctioned off (since its value is now known). One possible policy would thus be to commit future spectrum as the reward for meeting specific rural connectivity milestones...As one example, in the Indian state of Kerala, the state government led the deployment effort directly as part of the Akshaya project, using its control of the spectrum as part of the plan. This included a call for proposals and required demonstrations of rural wireless solutions, and has led to the largest rural wireless deployment to date, with roughly 400 connected rural kiosks."
• "[I]gnore fiber for now and build out backbones using long-distance wireless links."

The author then reviews some of the most promising wireless technologies for rural connectivity: CDMA450, long-distance WiFi links, and the new "WiMax" standard.

Click here for the full paper in PDF format.

Click here for the full paper in PowerPoint format.