Satellite rural communications: telephony and narrowband networks

Rural communications are important for large and developing countries, and telecommunications systems have been implemented depending upon the available technology at the time. Rural users do not generate the same amount of revenue as urban users do, thus lowering incentives for rural telecommunications investment with service to those regions delayed as long as possible. Voice and data communications are essential to the economic development of a region, and it has been shown that traffic increases rapidly as soon as the service is available. Satellite‐based digital networks provide efficient long‐distance service to rural communities at lower cost than similar land‐based wired networks with acceptable quality. Small earth stations along with Wireless Local Loops can provide both local and long‐distance service efficiently and at low cost, offering digital multimedia services on a global scale. This paper focuses on the description of different narrowband technologies used to service rural communities, namely basic telephone and low‐bit‐rate data (<64 kbps) applications through the use of satellite and terrestrial wireless systems. A basic network economic planning description is presented, and important parameters such as satellite network size, topology and multiple access are identified in order to improve the process of effective and cost‐efficient rural communications network design. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.