Radiocommunications — Facilitating wireless access

Rural areas are generally characterized by a number of small and isolated villages. Typically, these villages depend administratively and economically on bigger urban centres, and in most countries, the national (backbone) networks provide appropriate connectivity to these centres. The challenge for rural telecommunication systems, however, is to provide connectivity and services relevant to these small, isolated, and often-remote villages. This is where radiocommunications can come to the rescue.

Most rural telecommunication networks could not exist without a sizeable radiocommunication component. Basic telecommunication services such as traditional telephony (including voice, fax, narrow-band Internet) may be provided via radio-relay links connecting villages to urban centres or between themselves. Satellite may provide additional connectivity in certain geographic conditions, for example when distances are great or where the terrain is mountainous, or between remotely situated islands.

For broadcasting services such as radio and television, satellite systems provide the most efficient solutions. At present, study groups of the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU–R) are developing a new series of recommendations on digital radio broadcasting and digital cinema. These recommendations will allow the provision of new services, in particular low-cost digital radio.

Third generation (3G) mobile telecommunication systems, promoted by ITU as IMT–2000, will also offer a wider set of services to mobile and remote area customers, from “traditional” land mobile telephony to multimedia applications such as broadband Internet and Web access, data communications and video-telephony. Perhaps most importantly, IMT–2000 handsets can also be used as a means of connecting other devices (such as personal computers and personal digital assistants) to a network at up to four times the speed of today’s asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) connections — and all without wires.

Rural areas are mainly agricultural and their economies rely heavily on advance knowledge of weather conditions. ITU–R has contributed largely to the recent improvements in weather reports through its efforts to enhance meteorological system standardization, and its collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization. The work of ITU–R is highly topical in the development of rural telecommunications.