WTL Shows Disruptive Solution to Connect More Unconnected Areas

World Telecom Lab (WTL) in a whitepaper released on Wednesday demonstrated how a disruptive solution can pave the way to connecting more of the unconnected.

WTL re-emphasized that a key goal for both the telecommunications industry and society at large is to “increase the penetration and coverage of networks to deliver access to more people in more areas. Even while growth in mobile and fixed connections has surged and data consumption has exploded, millions of people lack access to even basic telecoms services. It’s not only the ability to communicate more widely that matters: as many have noted, the potential of the Internet to transform lives has made it a key part of the United Nations’ 2030 goals for sustainability”.

Hinting on “Delivering Rural Coverage”, WTL disclosed two key innovations that enable a positive business case and hence profitable business to be realised.

“First, the rise of small cells, originally seen as solutions to enable more efficient urban coverage, has created a cost-effective and powerful range of solutions that can equally be applied to rural areas at a lower price point than traditional macro cellular radio access points.

Second, the link between the local coverage area and the transit network is known as the backhaul. If this relies on fixed or physical infrastructure, it may be prohibitively expensive. Alternative solutions, such as Line of Sight (LoS) coverage may not be possible.

“However, recent developments in satellite connectivity render this both an affordable as well as efficient means of providing longrange backhaul to interconnect with other networks.

“The unique combination of both small cell micro cellular radio access solutions and a means to cost-effectively implement IP backhaul via satellite links allows providers to reduce costs and create a positive business case for connecting remote rural regions that are beyond the reach of traditional solutions.

WTL said that her solution “Vivada” is the combination of small cells with satellite backhaul enables a localised network to be created that delivers connectivity and coverage within the context of a village.

“This micro cellular approach can be connected via IP backhaul to a transit network for access to external networks. It is a partnership between a rural connectivity provider, that is responsible for the installation and delivery of the network, and a locally-based entrepreneur who retails the available services to users in the locality.

World Telecom Labs (or WTL), boosted that as a specialist provider of IP signalling and routing solutions, the engineers have created a complete package that enables the turnkey delivery of voice and data connectivity solutions within the rural environment.

Crucially, it provides a simple template that can easily be replicated, allowing multiple villages to be connected.

It has a completely disruptive pricing model that dramatically lowers the cost of deploying connectivity infrastructure to remote and unconnected locations.

Vivada includes the following key components: Small cell radio access; Satellite modem; Billing and OSS; Optimised satellite routing solutions from WTL; SBC and SS7 over IP platforms from WTL Connectivity to the small cell radio access point is enabled via WiFi, which enables access to be shared easily through the area of the village, among other solutions provided by WTL.