On delivering broadband telecommunication services to rural and remote areas

The dawn of the information age brought to light technical and economic challenges in delivering broadband telecommunication services to rural and remote communities; challenges created by tiny pockets of subscribers scattered over a vast area. This paper focuses on aspects of telecommunication network planning pertaining to the provisioning of broadband services in rural and remote areas. Dealing with such challenges calls for an appropriate system engineering approach and the utilisation of suitable network building blocks, which could differ significantly from those of the urban areas. The paper views the customer access line as the crucial network building block in determining the optimal architecture of a telecommunication network. A wideband VHF radio-based customer access line capable of bridging distances of up to 100 kilometres would make a significant difference in deploying cost-effective broadband infrastructure in rural and remote areas.