If you’ve ever travelled to a remote area, you’ll know that there are some locations where it’s impossible to connect.
By Theo Van Zyl, head of wireless at Vox
While it might be okay to miss an email or a social media post for a short while, this is the harsh reality for people who call these small communities home.
A lack of connectivity in remote locations can have far-reaching effects, impacting nearly every aspect of daily life from accessing employment, healthcare and learning opportunities to making use of basic civil services.
While the solution may seem straightforward—build more base stations, lay more fibre, and develop innovative connectivity solutions — there are several economic factors that must be considered.
Remote communities are often sparsely populated, making infrastructure development both costly and complex. The further these communities are from urban centres, the higher the cost of laying infrastructure, and difficult terrain only adds to the challenge. With fewer people to serve, the return on investment for sophisticated infrastructure simply isn’t viable in many cases.
Moreover, many remote residents still rely on outdated technologies and may not even be aware of newer, faster options. This lack of awareness can hinder adoption. Additionally, to access 5G, for example, customers need compatible devices.
Unfortunately, the cost of these devices means that they remain often out of reach for the average consumer.
But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways to overcome remote connectivity challenges. Below are a few options.
Satellite solutions
Traditional satellite technology has often been touted as a possible solution to remote connectivity challenges.
But cost is a major factor. Although some satellite services have reduced in price over time, the cost of initial setup and the monthly service fees are far too high for lower-income communities. These costs will need to come down dramatically to be a consideration for many remote customers. And having to pay three times the price of a fibre connection to access a satellite service is only viable for a very small percentage of businesses in these communities.
Something like low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which have created much buzz lately and offer connectivity comparable to an LTE network, mark a step in the right direction but they are still a very, very expensive technology.
Wireless services
By transmitting signals from a local tower or base station to fixed antennas or receivers installed at the user’s location, fixed wireless internet offers dedicated and hugely reliable bandwidth for remote users. But, yet again, this comes at a hefty cost.
For a small spaza shop, it isn’t viable. For a large mine or a big solar farm, the cost might be justifiable. This being said, some towns across the country have invested in Vox Wireless LITE MTN, which delivers connectivity that extends for about a 15km radius beyond the town limits and delivers coverage in and around the town that was not previously available.
Some of the towns where this has been deployed include Paarl, Saldana Bay, Welkom and Klerksdorp, among others
Innovative alternatives
And then there are the more innovative solutions, like HAPS (High Altitude Platform Station) systems. HAPS systems are essentially radio stations located on an object flying in the stratosphere (at an altitude of 20-50 kilometres) and at a specified point relative to the Earth.
Then UAV (Unmanned Area Vehicles) or more commonly drone formations provides connectivity to areas for temporary coverage to assist with disaster relief or to keep everyone connected at an event or tourist hotspot. The UAVs need to communicate to close by base stations or satellites that deliver mobile signals to areas with no coverage.
While there is no single solution that ticks all the boxes for people living in remote areas, recent progress across the telecoms industry means that there are a number of options for these customers to choose from.
And when you consider that improving internet connectivity can, over time, boost a country’s gross domestic product (GDP), it makes sense for us to continue working to get creative and work together to overcome the many barriers these communities face.