How to deliver the Internet to remote corners of the planet: GCI, Google and Facebook projects
Approximately half of the inhabitants of rural areas of India, China, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Russia, the United States and Great Britain do not have access to the Network. Difficulties with this are experienced by the inhabitants of remote corners of the planet, for example, Alaska. Therefore, the American operator General Communication (GCI) has built a new radio relay ( RRL ) network of 5,000 km TERRA, covering the south-western part of the northernmost state. One hundred and nine towers with microwave transceivers deliver the Internet to homes and offices of 45 thousand people.
Under the cut, read: why did you need such a large-scale project and what other solutions for delivering the Internet to remote areas are in the world - drones, balloons and optical communication lines.
/ Pexels / Pixabay / CC
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The project is a long-term provider General Communication is needed to implement the law on telecommunications , in which it is noted that all Americans must have access to basic communication technologies at fair and reasonable prices. Alaska is seriously behind most states in this regard. 81% of residents here do not have broadband internet.
In the US, private companies usually refuse to take the risk of creating a network infrastructure in rural areas without government subsidies. Construction in remote areas is expensive, and the client base is not large enough to justify the investment. In Alaska, costs are even higher than in other hard-to-reach areas, given the permafrost and off-road factor — transporting equipment becomes a problem, and construction season reduces long winters.
But GCI was able to get government support and start building a hybrid network in Alaska. Before TERRA, local residents used satellite communications. Compared to fiber and microwave transceivers, it was slow and expensive to use. At the beginning of the year, the average download speed here was only 2 Mbit / s.
The technology of data transmission via microwave is not new. Back in the 1950s, AT & T and other telecommunications companies built huge microwave networks of hundreds of towers and repeaters to provide the United States with national communications. The same thing happened in the UK. Subsequently, the network was replaced by fiber optics, which was faster.
And although the fiber is almost crowded out microwave, it loses RRL in areas such as Alaska, from a practical point of view. Local mountain ranges, permafrost, covering 85% of the land, and fishing constitute an obstacle to the laying of cables.
Install the tower turned out to be easier. They were hoisted to the tops of the mountains and erected in the villages with the help of helicopters. As a result, 109 towers located every 15–65 km connected dozens of tiny villages. TERRA towers are expected to last 50 to 60 years.
/ Wikimedia / Johnragla / CC
With all the advantages in areas with difficult terrain and a small population of RRL there are drawbacks. For example, the problem becomes the issue of nutrition. Most of the TERRA towers are far from the power grid, and the permafrost adds the risk of melting snow, which can lead to the destruction of installations.
But there are alternative designs in the world. One of them is the atmospheric optical communication line (FSO). It provides data transmission at a speed of 1.25 Gbit / s using lasers. Google suggests using technology as part of its networking project.
/ Wikimedia / Adamantios / CC
The optical link also has bottlenecks. FSO transmits information through an open environment - the atmosphere. Therefore, factors such as fog and the appearance of physical obstacles affect the quality of communication.
There are also other projects in this area. For example, Facebook is developing the Aquila drone , which should provide the Internet for remote corners of the world. The social network has already connected 2 billion people in the world. Google has a similar Loon project , which uses high-altitude balloons.
/ Wikipedia / iLighter / CC
Russian operators also participate in Internet delivery programs to where a small number of potential subscribers live or work in extreme environmental conditions. So, Megafon is deploying its solutions in the tundra and in the mines. In the operation of the mobile station for miners on the Kola Peninsula, the operator uses the RRL. A "Beeline" distributes femtocells to provide coverage of hard-to-reach places.
PS In our corporate blog there are other materials on the topic:
Under the cut, read: why did you need such a large-scale project and what other solutions for delivering the Internet to remote areas are in the world - drones, balloons and optical communication lines.
/ Pexels / Pixabay / CC
')
Radio Relay System in Alaska
The project is a long-term provider General Communication is needed to implement the law on telecommunications , in which it is noted that all Americans must have access to basic communication technologies at fair and reasonable prices. Alaska is seriously behind most states in this regard. 81% of residents here do not have broadband internet.
In the US, private companies usually refuse to take the risk of creating a network infrastructure in rural areas without government subsidies. Construction in remote areas is expensive, and the client base is not large enough to justify the investment. In Alaska, costs are even higher than in other hard-to-reach areas, given the permafrost and off-road factor — transporting equipment becomes a problem, and construction season reduces long winters.
But GCI was able to get government support and start building a hybrid network in Alaska. Before TERRA, local residents used satellite communications. Compared to fiber and microwave transceivers, it was slow and expensive to use. At the beginning of the year, the average download speed here was only 2 Mbit / s.
The technology of data transmission via microwave is not new. Back in the 1950s, AT & T and other telecommunications companies built huge microwave networks of hundreds of towers and repeaters to provide the United States with national communications. The same thing happened in the UK. Subsequently, the network was replaced by fiber optics, which was faster.
And although the fiber is almost crowded out microwave, it loses RRL in areas such as Alaska, from a practical point of view. Local mountain ranges, permafrost, covering 85% of the land, and fishing constitute an obstacle to the laying of cables.
Install the tower turned out to be easier. They were hoisted to the tops of the mountains and erected in the villages with the help of helicopters. As a result, 109 towers located every 15–65 km connected dozens of tiny villages. TERRA towers are expected to last 50 to 60 years.
/ Wikimedia / Johnragla / CC
Solutions from other companies
With all the advantages in areas with difficult terrain and a small population of RRL there are drawbacks. For example, the problem becomes the issue of nutrition. Most of the TERRA towers are far from the power grid, and the permafrost adds the risk of melting snow, which can lead to the destruction of installations.
But there are alternative designs in the world. One of them is the atmospheric optical communication line (FSO). It provides data transmission at a speed of 1.25 Gbit / s using lasers. Google suggests using technology as part of its networking project.
/ Wikimedia / Adamantios / CC
The optical link also has bottlenecks. FSO transmits information through an open environment - the atmosphere. Therefore, factors such as fog and the appearance of physical obstacles affect the quality of communication.
There are also other projects in this area. For example, Facebook is developing the Aquila drone , which should provide the Internet for remote corners of the world. The social network has already connected 2 billion people in the world. Google has a similar Loon project , which uses high-altitude balloons.
/ Wikipedia / iLighter / CC
Russian operators also participate in Internet delivery programs to where a small number of potential subscribers live or work in extreme environmental conditions. So, Megafon is deploying its solutions in the tundra and in the mines. In the operation of the mobile station for miners on the Kola Peninsula, the operator uses the RRL. A "Beeline" distributes femtocells to provide coverage of hard-to-reach places.
PS In our corporate blog there are other materials on the topic:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/344120/
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