Considering near space platforms to close the coverage gap in wireless communications: The case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

During the last few years, the telecommunications sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has witnessed a considerably high level of investment. However, full deployment of wireless communications in some regions experiences a coverage gap. This is not directly related to economic costs but the geomorphology of these areas which are vast and rugged. This paper presents the design of a wireless network that covers the entire country using Near Space Platforms (NSPs) whose purpose to alleviate coverage gaps. Existing works suggest the existence of many communications challenges in relation to developing such e-services in KSA where the coverage gap is at its worst. Additional factors that have been considered in this design include population density and size of region. It is estimated that around 17 NSPs could cover sufficiently the entire country, and additional platforms might be deployed as backup in case of communications blackouts. The proposed NSP cellular structure has been designed using MATLAB using parameters such as central cell radius, beam width and the tiers number, as well as the covered area's size and its population density.