BRINGING BROADBAND ACCESS TO RURAL AREAS: A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH FOR REGULATORS, POLICY MAKERS AND UNIVERSAL ACCESS PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS

8/9/2019 BRINGING BROADBAND ACCESS TO RURAL AREAS: A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH FOR REGULATORS, POLICY MAKERS

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BRINGINGBROADBANDACCESSTORURALAREAS:ASTEPBYSTEP

APPROACHFORREGULATORS,POLICYMAKERSANDUNIVERSALACCESS

PROGRAMADMINISTRATORS

THEEXPERIENCEOFTHEDOMINICANREPUBLIC


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ThispaperwaspreparedbyEdwinSanRoman,SeniorRegulatoryExpert,

Indotel,DominicanRepublic, forthe9thGlobalSymposiumfor

Regulators(GSR),

to

be

held

in

Beirut,

Lebanon,

10

12

November

2009

(www.itu.int/gsr09).PeterStern,Independentconsultant,reviewedand

editedthispaper.
http://www.itu.int/gsr09http://www.itu.int/gsr09


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TABLEOFCONTENTS

PARTI:INTRODUCTION

1. Bringingbroadbandtoruralareas......................................................................................... 52. Purposeofthecourseandthisbackgroundpaper................................................................ 6

PARTII:THEDOMINICANREPUBLIC'SRURALBROADBANDPROJECT

3. TheDominicanRepublic: Thenational context forpromotingbroadband access in ruralareas...................................................................................................................................... 9

3.1Geographical,political,demographicandeconomicoverview............................................. 93.2Thetelecommunicationssector.......................................................................................... 113.3Universalaccessandservice(UAS)intheDominicanRepublic........................................... 153.4TheDominicanRepublicsuniversalaccess(UAF)andhowitisused........................... 183.5TheGovernmentspolicyonInformationandCommunicationsTechnologies(ICTs)andthe

roleoftheregulator............................................................................................................ 18

3.6TheRuralBroadbandConnectivityProject.......................................................................... 20

PARTIII:METHODSANDTOOLSFORDEVELOPINGARURALBROADBANDPROJECT

4. Theimportanceoflocal knowledgeandconsultingwithstakeholders........................................................................................................................ 23

4.1Knowingthecountryandespeciallytheruralareas........................................................... 234.2Consultingwithpublicinstitutionsandlocalentities.......................................................... 244.3Consultingwithtelecommunicationsoperatorsandserviceproviders..............................254.4CooperationwithNGOsandotheragencies....................................................................... 26

5. Theimportanceofapilotprojectasawayoftestinganddemonstratingthetechnicalandeconomicfeasibilityofauniversalaccessandserviceproject............................................26

5.1Characteristicsofthelocationofthepilotproject.............................................................. 265.2Involvementoflocalauthorities.......................................................................................... 27


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5.3Involvementoftheyoung................................................................................................... 285.4HowtheymadeithappenintheDominicanRepublic........................................................ 29

6. Overviewofbroadbandtechnologies................................................................................ 356.1Wired................................................................................................................................... 366.1.1 DSLovercopperlocalloop............................................................................................ 366.1.2 Coaxial(ex.DOCSISandHFC)andfibreopticcablesystems........................................ 386.2Wireless............................................................................................................................... 386.2.1 Mobilecommunication................................................................................................. 386.2.2 Broadbandwirelessaccess(WiMAX,WiFi)................................................................... 436.2.3 Satellite......................................................................................................................... 476.2.4 Enduserequipment...................................................................................................... 48

7. Use of geographical information systems (GIS) and Google Earth in planning ruraltelecommunicationsprojects.............................................................................................. 49

7.1WhatisGIS?......................................................................................................................... 49

7.2BenefitsofusingGISinplanningruraltelecommunicationsprojects.................................49

7.3GoogleEarth........................................................................................................................ 51

PARTIV:PRACTICALMATTERSTOCONSIDERANDSTEPSTHATNEEDTOBEUNDERTAKENIN

DEVELOPINGANDIMPLEMENTINGARURALBROADBANDPROJECT

8. Developingaruralbroadbandproject................................................................................ 538.1Administrativemattersandlegalbasis............................................................................... 548.2Natureoflicensesandissuesrelatedtospectrum............................................................. 548.3Demandanalysis................................................................................................................. 558.3.1 Normalmethodfordeterminingdemandinruralareas.............................................. 56

8.3.2 ApproximationmethodusedinPeruandintheDominicanRepublic.......................... 57

8.4Theeconomicmodel........................................................................................................... 598.4.1 MethodusedinPeruandintheDominicanRepublic.................................................. 59

8.4.2 Determiningtheamountofthesubsidy....................................................................... 60

8.4.3 Otherconsiderations ................................................................................................... 60


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8.5Minimumsubsidyauctions.................................................................................................. 62

8.6Thetenderprocedure(transparencyandnondiscriminationintheevaluationofoffers)..63

8.7Thecontract........................................................................................................................ 658.7.1Paymentmethodforsubsidies......................................................................................... 65

8.8Supervisingtheimplementationoftheproject................................................................... 66

8.9Creationofdedicatedwebsitesforthecommunitiestobeserved.................................... 66

8.10Raisingawarenessamongthelocalpopulation................................................................. 68

8.11Capacitybuildingtoensuresustainabilityoftheproject.................................................. 69

9.Otherinnovativefundingmechanisms.................................................................................. 70

9.1Publicprivatepartnerships.................................................................................................. 70

9.2Privateinitiatives.................................................................................................................. 71

9.3Privateprivatepartnerships................................................................................................ 72

10.Sustainability........................................................................................................................ 73

PARTV:CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONS

11.Challengesandlessonslearned........................................................................................... 75

12.Conclusionsandbestpracticeguidelines............................................................................ 76

Annex1:

OTHERSUCCESSFULEXPERIENCES:THEPERUVIANRURALBROADBANDCONNECTIVITY

PROJECT


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PARTI:INTRODUCTIONTORURALBROADBANDACCESS

1. Bringingbroadbandtoruralareas

Broadband1, todays the principal means of delivering ICT applications, is considered by an

increasing number of policy makers and regulators around the world to be a basic

telecommunications service. Current universal access and service (UAS) policy for

telecommunicationsandICTsemphasizestheneedforaccesstobroadbandapplicationsinorder

toachievethegoalsofeconomicdevelopmentandsocialinclusionforallcommunities.Experience

has shown that the arrival of basic telephony (in any form, such as public payphones, fixed

residential or mobile lines) and broadband Internet constitutes a critical take off point in a

communitys path to economic and social development2. The impact is even greater in rural

communitieswhere local institutions,NGOsandyoungpeoplequicklybecomethemainusersof

ICTsopeningthewaytowhatcouldbeconsideredtobeavirtuouscircleofdevelopment(Picture

No1).Yet,inmostdevelopingcountries,accesstobroadbandservicesisgenerallyrestrictedtothe

capital city and sometimes toother important economic and political centres and surrounding

areas.

Inthe

communities

with

limited

or

no

access

to

basic

voice

services,

the

Internet

becomes

aless

expensivealternative,oftenservingasasubstitutefortheformer.Generally,itcostsverylittleto

access the Internet inpublic Internetcafs,whereausercanchat foranhourwith friendsand

family,conductbusinesswithpeopleallovertheworldandgetinformationoneducation,health,

government and othermatters for about the same cost as a threeminute call from a public

payphone.

Thisiswhyuniversalaccessandservice(UAS)policiesandtheinstitutionsinchargeofdeveloping

and implementing UAS policies and projects are promoting and, where necessary, financing

deploymentofinfrastructuretoprovidebroadbandaccessinruralareas.

1Theterm isused inthisdocumenttodescribehighspeedalwayson internetconnectionswhichareover

256kbps.2www.ictregulationtoolkit.org


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This was precisely the objective of the government of the Dominican Republic and the

telecommunications regulator, INDOTEL, in 2007 when they initiated an ambitious project to

providebroadbandaccessto508mostlyruralcommunitiesinthecountry.

PictureN

1:

Young

man

using

the

Internet

in

arural

area

of

the

Dominican

Republic

Source:EdwinSanRomn

2. Purposeofthecourseandthisbackgroundpaper

Thisdocument like theaccompanying ITU course, Bringingbroadbandaccess to rural areas: a

stepbystepapproachforregulators,drawsprimarilyfromtherealexperiencesinimplementing

successfulruralbroadbandconnectivityprojectsintheDominicanRepublicand,toalesserextent,

similarexperiences frompreviousprojects inPeru. It focuseson thepracticalaspectsof these

projects, including theprocedures followed, thechallengesencounteredand the lessons learnt.

Whiletheproceduresfollowed intheDominicanRepublicweresimilartothose inPeru,thetwo

countriesdiffersignificantlyinthetimetakenfromconceptionofaprojecttoitsimplementation.

In theDominicanRepublic,where there isonlyone institution involved in theprocess, it takes

typicallylessthanoneyearfromstarttoimplementationofaUASproject.InPerubecauseofall

therequirementsinnationallegislationandtheinvolvementofseveralgovernmentinstitutionsin

theapprovalprocess, itcaneasilytakeas longas threeyears.Theexperiences in implementing

rural broadband projects in both these countries serve as the basis for the course and this

backgrounddocument.


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Whiletheproceduresdescribedhereareapplicableinmostothercountries,apersonresponsible

for initiatingand implementingsuchprojectsmustkeep inmind thatparticularrequirementsof

national legislation inone countrymayhaveanegative impactonwhatwouldbea successful

projectinanothercountry.

Inthisdocumentandtheassociatedcourse,itispresentedtheoverallcontextandgeneralaspects

ofruralconnectivityprojects,whichisillustratedwithexamplesfromtheDominicanRepublicand

toalesserextentfromPeru.Thedocumentisdividedintofiveparts:

PartI(Sections1and2)givesbackgroundinformationandoutlinesthepurposeofthecourseand

offersabriefdiscussionaboutthejustificationsfor,andpotentialbenefitsofbringingbroadband

toruralareas.

Part II (Section3)presents the context forpromotingbroadband ruralaccess in theDominican

Republicand includesabriefgeographical,political,demographicandeconomicoverviewofthe

country, its telecommunications sector,governmentpolicyon informationand communications

technologies(ICTs),theroleofthepolicymakerandregulator,andtheextentoftheirinvolvement

inpromotinganddevelopinguniversalaccessandservice.Specialattentionispaidtopoliciesthat

promotebroadbandaccess. Inthispartit ispresentedtheconceptoftheUniversalAccessFund

andhowitisused.ThispartconcludeswithabriefpresentationoftheDominicanRepublicsRural

BroadbandConnectivityproject.

Part III (Sections 47) elaborates on the generalmethods and tools needed to develop a rural

broadbandproject.Theimportanceoflocalknowledgeandespeciallyofruralareasandtheneed

to consult and involve themain stakeholders is discussed in Section 4. Section 5 explains the

importanceof

undertaking

pilot

projects

to

test

and

demonstrate

the

technical

and

economic

feasibilityof ruralconnectivityprojects.Section6givesageneraloverviewof technologies that

providebroadbandaccess.Section7describestheuseofgeographicalinformationsystems(GIS)

andGoogleEarthandhowtheycanbeusedwhenplanningruraltelecommunicationsprojects.


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Part IV (Sections 8 9) describes the practical steps in developing and implementing a rural

broadbandprojectandisillustratedwithexamplesfromPeruandtheDominicanRepublic.Section

8elaboratesonthecontentsofandthestepsinvolvedinthedevelopmentofaruralbroadband

projectandSection9discussesalternativeinnovativefundingmechanisms.Section10focuseson

sustainabilityissues.

ConclusionsandbestpracticeguidelinesaresummarizedinPartV(Sections1112)andAnnex1

givesabriefoverviewofthePeruvianruralbroadbandconnectivityproject.

In addition to public and country specific information available on the Internet and cited as

footnotes in this document, the two main outside references used in developing and

implementingtheprojectpresentedinthisdocumentandassociatedcoursearethefollowing:

TheITU infoDevICT RegulationToolkitmoduleonUniversalAccessandService;and

Peter A. Stern and David N. Townsend, New Models for Universal Access toTelecommunications Services in Latin America: Lessons from the Past and

Recommendations for a New Generation of Universal Access Programs for the 21st

Century, a Joint Study by the World Bank, Regulatel (The Forum of Latin American

TelecommunicationsRegulators),andtheUnitedNationsEconomicCommissionforLatin

AmericaandtheCaribbean(ECLAC),June20073

3 http://www.regulatel.org/SU_Peter_31_08_07/Full_reportCOMPLETEJune_11,2007.Edited_PAS_v.1.pdf


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PARTII:THEDOMINICANREPUBLIC'SRURALBROADBANDPROJECT

3. TheDominicanRepublic:Thenationalcontextforpromotingbroadbandaccess inruralareas

FigureN1:LocationoftheDominicanRepublic

Source:GoogleEarth

3.1 Geographical,political,demographicandeconomicoverview

TheDominicanRepublic occupies the eastern two thirds of the Islandof SantoDomingo (also

knownasHispaniola)borderedonthenorthbytheAtlanticOceanandonthesouthandwestby

theCaribbeanSea.Haitioccupiesthewesternthirdofthe Island.TheDominicanRepublichasa

landsurfaceareaof48,730km2andapopulationofmorethan9.5milliongivingitadensityof195

inhabitantsperkm2.

TheDominican

Republic

isademocratic

republic

divided

into

31

provinces

and

one

national

district.Therearethreelevelsofgovernment:thecentralgovernmentisresponsiblefornational

policiesincludingtelecommunications,ICTs,educationandhealth;eachofthe31provinceshasits

ownprovincialgovernment;andthereare383localgovernmentsthatincludemunicipalitiesand

district municipalities. Politically there is a fragmented multiparty system with three main

traditionalparties.


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The population is made up of mixed ethnic groups (73%) and black (11%) and white (16%)

minorities.During the courseof theirhistoryDominicanshaveemigrated toother countries in

searchforbettereconomicandsocialopportunities.ManyDominicanstodayareverydependent

ontheremittancestheyreceiveregularlyfromfamilymemberslivingabroad,mainlyintheUSA.

Indeed,theseremittancesrepresentabout10%ofGDP.

Like most all of its neighbours in the Caribbean the Dominican Republics economy was

traditionally based on the exports of sugar, coffee and tobacco. However,more recently the

servicessector(mainlytourism)hasovertakenagricultureastheeconomyslargestemployer.The

USArepresentsnearly75%of thecountrysexport income.Thecountryhasexperiencedstrong

economic growth since 2005. Yet according to 2007 figures, distribution ofwealth is still very

unequal:10%ofthepopulationreceivednearly40%ofthecountrysGNP.

AsaresultmainlyoftheCentralAmericaDominicanRepublicUnitedStatesFreeTradeAgreement

(CAFTADR)4,which came into force inMarch2007,GDP in2007, grewata rateof9%with

respecttothepreviousyear.In2007exportsreachedUS$7,237million,45%higherthanin2006.

NetreserveswereUS$2.3billionandtaxincomegrewatarateof23%thatsameyear.

PictureN2:ACaribbeanlandscape

4TheCentralAmericaDominicanRepublicUnitedStatesFreeTradeAgreement (CAFTADR)whichcreates

theUnitedStates'second largest freetradezone inLatinAmericaafterMexicohassevensignatories:the

United States,CostaRica,Dominican Republic, El Salvador,Guatemala,Honduras, andNicaragua. Itwas

approvedbytheU.S.CongressinJuly2005andthePresidentsigneditintolawonthe2ndofAugustofthat

year.TheAgreementwhichenteredintoforceonadateagreeduponbyallparties,hasbeenapprovedby

thelegislaturesintheDominicanRepublic,ElSalvador,Guatemala,HondurasandNicaraguabutnotinCosta

Rica.Interalia,theAgreementincludestradeinservicesincludingtelecommunications.


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Source:EdwinSanRomn

3.2 Thetelecommunicationssector

Telecommunications services have been provided by private companies since 1930. The

telecommunications market which was opened to competition in 1998 has been completely

liberalized for all services since 2002. Codetel (CompaiaDominicanade Telfonos), laterGTE,

VerizonDominicana andnowClaroCodetelheldamonopolyuntil1992whenaconcessionwas

awardedtoTRICOM,whichprovidesfixedandcellularmobileservicesandInternet(dialup,ADSL

andcablemodem)andcableTVservices.TRICOMwasabletostartprovidingservicesonlyafter

concluding lengthy interconnection negotiations with Verizon5. All America Cable and Radio

(AAC&R), laterCentennialandnowTrilogyDominicana(commercialnameVIVA),wasawardeda

licenseashort time later. By2008 therewere fourcompetingmobileoperators.ClaroCodetel

andOrangeDominicanawerethetwodominantoperatorswith,respectively54%and33%ofthe

marketshare;TricomandTrilogyDominicana(commercialnameVIVA) hadtogether13%ofthe

market;OneMaxandWind Telecom, the latest entrants, startedofferingwireless internet and

telephonyservicesin2008.TherearealsomanyISPsandthreesubmarinecablesystems(Antillas

1,Arcos,FibraLink)connect theDominicanRepublic to therestof theworld.Themostrecently

5http://nuevositio.tricom.net/historia.aspx


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completed,FibraLinkJamaica,asubsidiaryofColumbusCommunications6hasasubmarinecable

thatconnectsJamaicawiththeArcoslandingstationatPuertoPlata.

FigureN2:LogosofthemaintelecommunicationsoperatorsintheDominicanRepublic

Source:INDOTEL

AnewprocompetitionGeneralTelecommunicationsLaw(Ley15398),promulgatedinMay1998

created an independent, administratively decentralized telecommunications regulator, Instituto

Dominicanode lasTelecomunicaciones(INDOTEL),withjudicialandfinancialautonomyand legal

personality INDOTEL is the only government institution that has both the policy setting and

regulatory responsibilities for the sector7. It is headed by a fivemember Executive Council

appointedeveryfouryearsbytheExecutiveBranchoftheGovernment,coincidingwiththefour

yearmandateof thePresidentof theRepublic8.ThePresidentof theExecutiveCouncilhas the

rankofSecretaryofState.

6Columbus Communications is a newly established,Barbadosbased companywhich owns Cable Bahamas, the only

cableTVcompanyintheBahamas,theBahamasInternetCableSystem(BICS),asubmarinecablesystemconnectingThe

Bahamas totheUSA,theCableCompanyofTrinidad&Tobago(CCTT),thedominantcableTVoperator inTrinidad&

Tobago,and85%oftheArcossubmarinecablesystem.7http://www.indotel.gob.do/component/option,com_docman/Itemid,587/task,doc_view/gid,66/(article76).8ThePresidentoftheRepublicwhoiselectedevery4yearsbypopularvote,appointsallministersandgovernorsofthe

32 provinces and promulgates all laws approved by theCongress,which ismadeup of a150memberChamber of

Deputiesanda32member(oneperprovince)Senate.


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IntheperiodsinceLaw15398wasproclaimed,telecommunicationshasbeenamongthesectors

experiencing the highest ratesof growth in theDominicanRepublic. The sector hasplayed an

importantrole inthediversificationoftheeconomy fromprimary industriessuchasagriculture,

mining and fishing, to manufacturing and services based activities such as tourism and

transportation9.Between2005and2008, the telecommunications sector grewyearon yearby

more than15% (24.8% in2005and2006)and representedbetween10%and15.6%ofGNP.10

(Figures3and4)

FigureN3:GrowthoftheTelecommunicationsSectorintheDominicanRepublic

-

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

%g

rowtheachye

ar

Source:BancoCentral

FigureN

4:

%

of

GNP

represented

by

the

Telecommunications

Sector

in

the

Dominican

Republic

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

%o

fGD

Source:BancoCentral

9ThepartofGNPofprimaryindustries(agricultural,miningandfishing)hasdecreasedfrom25%in1980to15%in2002.10

Source:BancoCentraldelaRepblicaDominicana(preliminaryfiguresfor2008).


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Table1showsthenumberoftelephone lines,penetrationratesandgrowthoffixedandmobile

linesasofDecember2008:

TableN1:BasictelecommunicationsindicatorsNumberof

lines

Penetration

rate

Annual

growthrate

Fixedtelephones 985,711 10.3% 8.7%

Mobiletelephones 7,210,483 75% 30,8%Source:INDOTEL

Eightysevenpercentofthemobilelinesareprepaidanditisestimatedthattodayover65%ofthe

territoryandover90%ofthepopulationhaveaccesstobasictelephoneservices througheither

fixedormobileconnections.

TherehasalsobeensignificantgrowthinthenumberofInternetusersandsubscribers.Between

2000and2008thenumberof InternetuserswhoaccessedtheInternetmainlyin Internetcafs,

universitiesand theirworkplaces increasedbymore than ten fold.During thesameperiod the

numberof Internetsubscribers increasedbynearly fivetimesand Internetusers increased from

2.4%tocloseto26.7%.

PictureN3:AntennainMiches,innortheasternDominicanRepublic

Source:EdwinSanRomn


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Law 15398 also established a Universal Access Fund (Fondo de Desarrollo de las

Telecomunicaciones), which is administered by INDOTEL. Each operator of public

telecommunicationsservicescontributes2%ofitsgrossincome.FortypercentoftheFundisused

to financeregulatoryactivitiesof the INDOTELand60%, to financedevelopmentprojectswhich

are awarded through minimum subsidy auctions. There are two types of projects which are

eligible for funding: (i)DevelopmentProjects,which formpartofbiannualuniversalaccessand

serviceprojectplansandareapprovedeverytwoyearsbytheExecutiveCouncil,and (ii)Special

ProjectswhichareofastrategicandsocialnatureandcanbeapprovedbytheINDOTELExecutive

Councilonanasrequiredbasissolongastheydonotsurpassadefinedmaximumamount11.

3.3 Universalaccessandservice(UAS)intheDominicanRepublicOneof themain functionsof apolicymaker and regulator inhelping societybridge the digital

divide is tobe theprimeenabler, facilitatorandpromoterof telecommunications infrastructure

deploymentand,especially,broadbandaccessthroughoutthecountry.IntheDominicanRepublic

this task is carried out by INDOTEL, the only government organization responsible for

telecommunicationsrelatedmatters.

Aspartof itsmandatetopromoteUAS, INDOTEL in2001 issued apolicypaper,SocialPolicyon

Universal

Service

andRegulations

for

the

Telecommunications

Development

Fund

which,

inter

alia,

proposes biannual plans for projects to extend universal access and service to yet unserved

areas12.

DefinitionsforuniversalaccessanduniversalservicecanbefoundinBoxNo1.

11http://www.indotel.gob.do/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_details/gid,656/Itemid,739/

12http://www.indotel.gob.do/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_details/gid,612/Itemid,739/


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BoxN1:DefinitionsofUniversalAccessandUniversalService

Universalaccessisdefinedasthereasonableavailabilityofnetworkfacilities

and services, on either a private or a shared, public basis, to citizens and

institutionswithinagivencommunity."

Universal service is defined as being "a more absolute condition, inwhich

telecommunications services are delivered ubiquitously to households or

individualsthroughoutanarea,andthusarebothaccessibleandaffordable,

withnopracticalimpedimentstosubscriptionandusage.

Source:NewModelsforUniversalAccess toTelecommunicationsServices in

LatinAmericaandITU infoDEVICTRegulationToolkitmoduleonuniversal

access/service

Inadditiontonationalstrategiesthatpromoteuniversalaccessandservicethroughbroadband,it

is important that the countrys legislation also addresses the financingmechanismsneeded to

achievethesepolicies including thedeploymentofbroadband infrastructureand theacquisition

andinstallationofterminalequipmentsuchascomputers,PDAs,smartphonesandotherdevices

thatneedbroadbandconnections. Incountrieswhereby lawtheuniversalaccessfunddoesnot

financetheprocurementofterminalequipment,changesinthelawwouldberequired.

Oneof INDOTELsprimaryefforts inpromotingbroadbandand theuseof computershasbeen

directed towards the installation of local community Informatics Training Centres (CCIs13) and

supplyingthemwithcomputerssince2004.ThenumberofcomputersineachCCIvariesaccording

tothepopulationandcapacityoftheorganizationinchargeofmanagingeachCCI.INDOTELalso

provides theentire technical infrastructure includinghardware, software,andabackupelectric

supplysystem.

Themainpurposeof thesecentres is to trainpeople in theuseofcomputers.Theyare freeof

chargeandopentoanyonewhowantstolearnhowtouseacomputer.SomeCCIsalreadyhave

connections to broadband Internet, while others are being connected as the deployment of

broadbandinfrastructurereachestheirarea.

13Centro de Capacitacin en Informtica (CCI) are community informatics training centres, some with

Internetaccess,andwherethecomputersarefundedthroughINDOTELsUniversalAccessFund.


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ItisimportanttonoteherethattheCCIsareadministeredbylocalpeopleandorganizationsfrom

thecommunityinwhichtheyarelocatedandwhomanageandensurethesustainabilityofthese

centres, for example, paying instructors and all associated running costs. In planning their

deployment, INDOTEL identifiedcivilsocietyorganizationsand individualswhowerewillingand

capableofundertakingthistask.

ByJanuary2009thereweremorethan867CCIsinoperationand462wereintheprocessofbeing

created.The initiativecanso farbeconsideredtohavebeenagreatsuccess,withthousandsof

peoplethroughoutthecountryregardlessoftheirsocialandeconomicalstatus,age,sexandrace,

havinglearnthowtouseacomputer.Mostcentreshavemonthlygraduationeventsforstudents

whohavesuccessfullycompletedthestandard6monthcomputertrainingcourse14.INDOTELhas

funded the cost of these CCIs and other universal access and universal service projects with

resourcesfromtheUniversalServiceFund15.

PictureN4:WomanandchildfromRioLimpio,northwestoftheDominicanRepublic

Source:

Edwin

San

Romn

14Eventhoughallcentersgivetrainingcourses,onlysomeofthemhavepublicgraduationevents.

15Seereference11.


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3.4 TheDominicanRepublicsUniversalAccessFund(UAF)andhowitisused

UniversalAccessFunds (UAFs)are commonlyusedasa financialmechanism to createanextra

levelofeconomicincentivesforprivateinvestmentinnetworkexpansionandservicedeliverywith

theobjectiveofachievinguniversalaccessandservicegoals16.

In theDominicanRepublic, there is a twoyearplanning cycle forUAF financedprojects.Once

projects are approved by INDOTELs Board, their execution can begin, the first step being the

elaboration of a bidding document. This document explains the purpose, objectives and

characteristicsoftheproject,aswellasitstechnicalspecificationsandtermsofreferenceofthe

biddingprocess.ThenextstepisforINDOTELtoinitiateatender,whichgiventhecharacteristics

oftheprojectcanbenationalorinternationalinscope.Potentialinvestorsaregivenacertaintime

topreparetheirbidswhichareevaluatedaccordingtoastricttenderandadjudicationprocedure

after the bids have been submitted. The company with the bid thatmeets all the technical

specificationsandasksfortheleastamountofsubsidyfromtheFundisawardedtheproject.Bids

are evaluated by an INDOTEL tender evaluation team, consisting of a project manager, a

telecommunicationsengineer,aneconomist,alawyerandanassistant.Dependingontheproject

theteammayhaveadditionalsupportfromothertechnical,legaloradministrativesources.

3.5 TheGovernmentspolicyon InformationandCommunicationsTechnologies (ICTs)andtheroleoftheregulator

Governmentinvolvementand,mostimportantly,politicalsupportatthehighestlevelareessential

ifacountrywishestoimplementanationalstrategytotransformthecurrentpremodernintoa

postmodernsociety,namely,onebasedoninformationandknowledge.ICTsplayakeyrolein

this fundamental transformation. Justas important is theactiveparticipationof thepublicand

privatesectorsandcivilsocietyinthedesignandexecutionofprojectswhichpromotetheuseof

ICTsthroughout

society.

16http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/Section.3272.html


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EDominicana17 is a national strategy which has as its mission to promote the use and

appropriation of Information and Communications Technologies in the Dominican Republic by

meansof initiativesthatcreatesynergiesbetweenthegovernmentalsector,thecivilsociety,and

theproductivesector,toofferallitsinhabitantsbetteropportunitieswhichwillcontributetotheir

development,by

bringing

them

welfare

and

progress

in

the

exercising

of

their

capacities.Itsvision

is toplace the country in aposition that will allow it to compete in the new scenario of a

globalizedworld, by achieving sustainable development in the economic,political, cultural, and

socialscope,and toassume thechallengeofconverting inequalityandSocialexclusionfrom the

digitaldivideintoadigitalopportunity.

PictureN5:AccessinginternetinaCCIinDonJuan,provinceofMontePlata

Source:EdwinSanRomn

Theobjectivesof edominicana18are grouped into eight thematic areas, namely, infrastructure

and access, social inclusion, education, training, awarenessraising, development of contents,

digitalstate,andindustry.Theobjectivesrelatingtoinfrastructureareto:

i. provide access to broadband19services for allDominicanswith a speedof at least 128Kbpswithinaradiusofnomorethan5kmoftheirhomes;

17ExtractedfromNationalStrategyfortheInformationandKnowledgeSociety,20072010:

18http://www.cnsic.org.do/media/plan_edominicana/ObjetivosgeneralesdelaEDominicana.html#Topic11,


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ii. achieve an Internet penetration of 40% of the population with at least 30 % of theconnectionshavingaspeedof128kbpsormore;

iii. achieveapenetrationrateofpersonalcomputerusersofatleast50%ofthepopulation.

Thesethreeobjectivesaretobeachievedby2010by:

a) developing sustainablemodels with prices within reach of the whole population as ameansofencouragingubiquitousaccesstoICTinfrastructure;

b) stimulating the ICTmarketandcontributing to itsgrowth throughjointeffortsbetweenthegovernmentandtheprivatesector;

c) reducingthecostsofbroadbandaccessbyencouragingcompetition;and,d) promotingtheuseoftheInternetinsmallcompaniesandthroughoutthepublicsector.

3.6 TheRuralBroadbandConnectivityProject

WhatconvincedINDOTELtogiveaspecialimpulsetothedeploymentofbroadbandinruralareas

wasthefactthatinJuly2007only62(16%)outofthecountrys383localgovernmentshadfixed

linesandbroadbandInternetservice.MostofthesearetheDominicanRepublicsmostpopulated

citiesand theirsurroundings includingthecapital,SantoDomingo.Thismeant thatmanyof the

lesspopulatedmunicipalitiesand ruralareashadnoaccessofanykinddespite the factpeople

livinginthesemunicipalitieswerejustasanxiousastheirneighbourslivinginmorepopulatedand

richerareastohavebroadbandservices.

ByMay2007morethan400CCIshadbeenestablishedacrossthewholecountrybutduetothe

lackoftelecommunicationsinfrastructureonlyafewhadaccesstobroadband.Localorganizations

responsibleformanagingthesecentreswereunhappywiththissituationandmadesurethattheir

dissatisfactioncametotheattentionofJoseRafaelVargas,thePresidentofINDOTEL,whooften

19Thiscapacitywasconsideredasbroadbandat the timeedominicanawas launched,currentlyminimum

speedforbroadbandaccessis256kbps.


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attendedCCIinaugurations.Vargaswasbesiegedeverywherebydemandsfromlocalauthorities,

residents,studentsandtheyoung,forbroadbandandhometelephoneservices.

PictureN6:ACCI

Source:INDOTEL

As a result in 2007 INDOTEL took an important decision to launch the Rural Broadband

Connectivity Project aspart of the governments eDominicana strategy. TheProjecthas as its

objective to bring residential, public telephones and broadband20services to 508 localities21

throughout the country that had no residential telephone connections or broadband Internet

access.BroadbandserviceswerealsotobemadeavailablethroughInternetcafsandtelephony

throughpubliccallcentres22.

TheProject includedaprogramofawareness raising, training in theuseof the telephonesand

computersaswellas inthemanagingpubliccallcentresandcybercafs.Trainingwasproposed

20Downloadanduploadspeedsof256/128to1,500/256Kbpsunderconditionssimilartothose found in

thebigcitiessuchasSantoDomingoandSantiago.21

Those508localitiesincludeallmunicipalitiesanddistrictsmunicipalitiesofthecountryand179localities

ofthe16poorestprovincesinthecountry.22

Publiccallcentresarepublicplaceswhereapersoncanmakeatelephonecallandpayforitincash.


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forbothendusersandentrepreneursand included thedevelopmentof locally generatedweb

pageswithimportantinformationabouteachcommunity,suchaslocation,howtoreachit,tourist

attractions,productsmadeinthecommunityandthenamesofthelocalauthorities.Topromote

entrepreneurshipitwasalsoproposedthattheInternetaccessandpubliccallcentresbemanaged

bylocalentrepreneurs.

Before finalizing the tender documents for this ambitious project, INDOTEL had estimated the

totalcosttobeUS$4650000,includingallapplicabletaxes.

The conditionsof the tenderprovided thatasyetunassigned frequencies couldbeused in the

projectifrequestedbythebidderfreeofcharge.

Whenthepublictenderwasofficiallylaunchedon23August2007,20potentialbiddersacquired

thedocument.Of these, fivecompleted the initialrequirements; twoprequalifiedbutonlyone

presented a technical and economic proposal. This was ClaroCodetel, which eventually was

awarded the project deposited its offer on 8 January 2008, the closing date of the tender. It

requestedzerosubsidiesandofferedtocompletetheprojectin345daysbutaskedfortheuseof

2x15MHzoffrequencyinthe3.5GHzband.

Followingmarketandfieldstudies,ClaroCodeteldecidedtodeployADSLwheretherewerefixed

linesand3G(UMTS)wirelessaccesswheretherewasnoexistingfixedlineinfrastructure.Bythe

endofJanuary2009,108ofthe508localitieshadbeenconnectedanditwasplannedtohaveall

508connectedbytheendofSeptember2009.

Beforelaunchingthefullscaleproject,however,INDOTELdecidedtodoapilotproject(described

in detail in Section 5 below) in a small community called Los Botados, near the capital, Santo

Domingo,toconfirmthatthewholeprojectwasviableeconomicallyand technically.


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PARTIII:METHODSANDTOOLSFORDEVELOPINGARURALBROADBANDPROJECT

Inthispartitisshowedwhyitisessentialtohavelocalknowledgeandtoundertakeconsultations

withstakeholders, topresent theproject to them, tosecure theirsupportand involvementand

thentorunapilotprojecttotestandproveitstechnicalandeconomicfeasibility,essentialforthe

regulator, operators and service providers alike. It is also showed how recent innovations in

wireless technologies and geographical information systems (GIS) andGoogle Earth have been

usedfordevelopingandimplementingruraltelecommunicationsprojects.

4. Theimportanceoflocalknowledgeandconsultingwithstakeholders

4.1. Knowingthecountryandespeciallytheruralareas

A thorough knowledge of the country, its geography, demography and social and economic

characteristicsisessentialintheelaborationofanyuniversalaccessandserviceproject.Similarly,

it is important to have a good appreciation of the existing telecommunications infrastructure,

where it is located, its characteristics and plans for its expansion to ensure that rural

telecommunications projects take into account the actual situation in the target areas. The

practicalway

of

doing

this

isto

establish

aproject

technical

evaluation

team

typically

composed

of

atleastaneconomistandatelecommunicationsengineerandhavethemvisitthetargetareasto

gather all the essential technical, economic, geographic, social, political and other information

necessaryforthedesignoftheprojectorprojects.

IntheDominicanRepublictheprojecttechnicalevaluationteamconsistingoftwoengineers,an

economist and a lawyer drew the following general conclusions about telecommunications

infrastructureinruralareas:

Smallentrepreneurswereusingavarietyoftechnologicalsolutionsincludingsatelliteandwireless and,with theirown limited resourceshad already installedpublic telecentres,

cybercafs and public call centres forwhich the local population often paid very high

prices.


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Somepeoplehadhometelephones23installedattheirownexpenseandwithoutanyhelpfromthenetworkoperators,anexampleofwhatpeopleintheruralareasarewillingtodo

tohaveatelephoneevenifthecostsarehigh.

ManypeoplealreadyknewabouttheInternetandwerewillingtopaytohaveaccessinapublicplaceorevenathome.

PictureN7:Gettingtoknowthecountry

Source:EdwinSanRomn

4.2. Consultingwithpublicinstitutionsandlocalentities

Consultationsarecriticaltothedraftingofthebiddingdocumentandshould involveallormost

ICT stakeholders24. These consultations should have as theirmain objectives the gathering of

information, linkingstakeholders,andassessingthesizeofthemarket.Beforemeetingsareheld

with operators and ISPs, the consultation team needs to have a good understanding of

stakeholdersneeds,expectations,currentlevelsofconnectivityandhowtheyarecurrentlyusing

ICTs. For example, during the Dominican Republics Rural Broadband Connectivity Project the

23Fixedtelephonesconnectedviathemobilenetwork.

24TheconsultationteaminDominicanRepublicwastheprojecttechnicalevaluationteam.


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MinistryofEducation,theMinistryofHealth,andlocalmunicipalitieswereconsultedtoassessthe

needfortelecommunications,especiallyInternetservicesandtogetabetterunderstandingofthe

infrastructure they currently had. The local governments were invited to support and to get

actively involved in the project. These consultations revealed the degree of unanimity among

stakeholdersontheneedforbroadbandaccessandalsoageneraldissatisfactionnotonlywiththe

lackofbroadbandaccessandservicesinruralareasbutalsowiththehighcostsandpoorquality

ofsatelliteaccess.

4.3. Consultingwithtelecommunicationsoperatorsandserviceproviders

Once theobjectivesof the initial consultationprocesshavebeenachieved,having face to face

meetingswitheachoftheoperatorsand, inparticular,withthe incumbent isan importantnext

step. In theDominicanRepubliceachofthesemeetingsstartedwithashortpresentationabout

the project and was followed with an open discussion about the deployment of broadband

infrastructurethroughoutthecountryandthereasons for itsabsence incertainunderprivileged

areas,especiallyinruralareas. Theoperatorswerealsoencouragedtotalkabouttheirplansfor

expandingtheirnetworksinruralareas.

Consultationswithoperatorsshouldideallybeheldafterthetechnicalprojectevaluationteamhas

completeditsfieldvisitsbecauseitwillthenbepossibletorefertorealinstancesofpeopleinrural

areasaskingforbroadbandandindicatingtheirwillingnesstopayforit.Thesemeetingshavethe

additionalbenefitthattheyallowprojectteammemberstoestablishcontactwiththeregulatory,

technical and other experts from these organizations. This is very important as the project

progressesthroughitsdifferentimplementationstageswhereeasyandquickaccesstothesekey

people isessential to getquick replies tourgent requests for various typesof informationand

data.

Consultations with operators were an integral part of the implementation of the broadband

projects in theDominican Republic,where invitationswere sent by INDOTEL to the CEOs and

regulatory experts of all of the major operators. At least one representative of each major

companyattended themeetings.Their feedbackwasveryusefulandwas taken intoaccount in


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planningtheseprojects.Itgreatlyenhancedtheprojectsandhadtheadditionalbenefitofinciting

theoperatorstoparticipateinthetenderprocess.

4.4. CooperationwithNGOsandotheragencies

Establishing contact with civil society agencies and especially nongovernmental organizations

(NGOs)shouldnotbeunderestimatedbecausemanyofthemworkinruralareas.Theyareoften

veryinterestedinbroadbandprojectsbecausetheyunderstandthebenefitsofhighspeedaccess

andhaveaverygoodappreciationofdemandforservicesthatrequirebroadbandaccess.Almost

allusethe Internetasaworking toolandwanttohaveaccessavailable forstaffsituated inthe

ruralareas.

SomeCCIsareconnectedviaVSATsbutareexperiencingseriousdelayproblems,poorqualityof

serviceandhighprices.SincemanyofthesearemanagedandusedbyNGOstoprovidecomputer

training in the communities theyare serving, theyarewilling topay theoperationalexpenses.

Contacting these organizations was made easier because INDOTEL had all their contact

information.

5. The importanceofapilotprojectasawayoftestinganddemonstratingthetechnicalandeconomicfeasibilityofauniversalaccessandserviceproject

Oneofthemostimportantstepsindevelopingaruraltelecommunicationsprojectistoshowthat

itistechnologicallyviableandsustainable.Thisiswhyapilotprojectishighlyrecommendedand

whyintheDominicanRepublicapilotwascarriedoutaspartoftheRuralBroadbandConnectivity

Projectasaprefeasibilitystudytoprovethatitispossibletobringbroadbandtoruralareasusing

lowcosttechnologieswhenthereisademand.

In this section it is discussed the characteristics of an ideal location and the importance of

involving localauthoritiesandespeciallyyoungpeople. It isalsopresentedtheLosBotados

pilot

projectwhichwasfundedbyINDOTEL,thelocalgovernmentandatelecommunicationsoperator.

5.1. Characteristicsofthelocationofthepilotproject


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The ideal location forapilotproject isonewhichhas littleornoaccess to telecommunications

servicesbut issituatednear the capitalcityora largepopulationcentre thathasaccess to the

network.InDominicanRepublic'sruralbroadbandaccesspilotproject,asmallcommunityof3,986

inhabitants,located35kmoronehourfromthecapital,SantoDomingo,calledLosBotados,was

chosen.LosBotados is located inaruralareawherethemaineconomicactivity isagriculture. It

hadminimaltelecommunicationsservicesinMay2007whenitwasselectedforthepilot.Only5

familieshadfixedWILL(WirelessLocalLoop)telephonelineswitharatherpoorqualityofservice;,

therestof thecommunityhad to travel5km toYamasa, thenearest town,5km tomakeand

receivephonecalls.

PictureN8:MunicipalityofLosBotados

Source:EdwinSanRomn

5.2. Involvement oflocalauthorities

Giventhatthelocalauthoritieshaveafundamentalroleinsecuringlocalsupportfromthestartof

the project to its completion, raising awareness among them about the importance of

telecommunications,especiallybroadbandandhowitwillbenefitthecommunityisfundamental

to the success of the project. Local authorities play a very important role in explaining and

promotingthebenefitstothecommunityofaccesstotelecommunicationsanditsapplications.In

communitieswhere localauthoritiesarenotfamiliarwiththesebenefits, it isnecessarytowork


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withotherlocalorganizations,especiallyyoungpeople,whowillinturnbringthemessagetolocal

politicians.

WhentheLosBotadospilotprojectwas launched inNovember2007,themayor,RamonSantos,

wasnewtocomputers;however,notlongafterINDOTELwasablegethissupport,MayorSantos

rapidly gained a good understanding of the importance of ICTs, the importance of having

broadbandaccess,andthebenefitsthiscouldbringtohiscommunity.

PictureN9:LosBotadosMayorRamnSantos

Source:EdwinSanRomn

5.3. Involvementoftheyoung

The importance of involving thewhole community and especially young people should not be

underestimated. It is young peoplewho aremost familiarwithwhat the latest in technology,

telecommunicationsandbroadband Internetaccess canofferandwillultimatelybe thebiggest

usersoftheInternetandalltheapplicationsthatbroadbandcandeliver.EventhoughLosBotados

had virtuallyno telecommunications servicesor training centresmanyof its youngpeoplehad

alreadyhadcontactwith ICTsandwereusingthem incybercafsandtrainingcentres innearby

towns.


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PictureN10:YoungpeopletryingtheInternet

Source:EdwinSanRomn

5.4. HowtheymadeithappenintheDominicanRepublic

Oncethetargetcommunityhadbeenselectedandthesupportofthe localauthoritieshadbeen

obtained,INDOTEL

started

examining

the

best

technological

and

economic

options

available

for

providing broadband access. As part of this exercise, it contacted all operators that had

infrastructuredeployedinthevicinityofLosBotados.

INDOTEL'sownstudyconcludedthatthecheapestandmostfeasiblesolutionwastobuildaradio

linkofalmost25kmwithamidwayrepeaterbetweenLosBotadosandLaNaviza,whereVIVAhad

anetwork. Ithelpedthat INDOTELwasabletosecurethe involvementofthepresidentofVIVA,

who after agreeing to participate in the project, instructed his technical staff to give the pilot

projecthiscompanysfullsupport.

Underanagreementwith INDOTEL,VIVAwasrequiredtobuildthisradio link, installaWiFihot

spotinLosBotados,andcarryoutinitialtestsonthenetwork.Foritspart,INDOTELselectedand

providedlowcostradioequipment.


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UnfortunatelytheinitialtrialbyVIVAtechniciansprovedunsuccessfulandtheywerenotableto

establishthedesiredpointtopointwirelesslink.VIVAstechniciansfailedtoestablishthelinkdue

to their lack of experience inworkingwith lowcost equipment.Theyweremore familiarwith

installingandworkingwithmorerobustandpowerfulequipment.INDOTELsteamwas,however,

notconvincedthatthe linkwouldnot functionandaskedtheoperatorto let themmakea final

test.Duetotheinaccessibilityofthesiteandthetimeneededtoreachitbyroad,INDOTELsteam

hiredahelicoptertotransportitstechnicians,whosucceededinestablishingthelinkinlessthan

onehour.OncethelinkwasestablishedwithequipmentsuppliedbyINDOTEL,VIVAinstalledaWi

Fihotspot inLosBotados, installed the link to itsexistingbroadbandnetwork inLaNavizaand

startedtoprovidebroadbandservicestothecommunityandtotheCCIon11August2007.

PictureN11:TechnicalteamatLaNaviza

Source:EdwinSanRomn

Theenthusiasmofyoungpeoplewasoverwhelming. Itdidnot take long for them toputWiFi

cardsintotheircomputersandgoonline.Thedaythatthelinkandhotspotwereturnedon,ten

computersfromtheCCIand11privatecomputerswereconnectedtotheInternetviabroadband.

TheCCI started tooperate full time andmany children, youngpeople and evenadults started

attendingtrainingcourses.InNovember2007,thegraduationofmorethanonehundredpeople

fromabasiccomputercourseturnedouttobeagreatandfestivecommunityeventattendedby


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manyrelatives,godfathersofthegraduatesandothers.Thiswasconcreteevidencethatpeople

inruralareasarejustasmuchateaseastheirbrothers,sister,cousinsandfriendsinthecitiesand

largeurbanareasinadaptingtothenewtechnologywhengiventheopportunity.

PictureN12:GraduationceremonyinLosBotados

Source:EdwinSanRomn

Thearrivalofbroadband inLosBotadoschanged the livesofmanypeople inaveryshort time.

FredyOrtega(Yendy),isacaseinpoint.Heusedtobeamotorcycletaxidriverwithaninterestin

technology, ingeneral,and computers, inparticular.Oncehiscommunityhadbeen connected,

Fredy tooka short training course in SantoDomingoandbecame anexpert inassemblingand

repairingcomputers.HesetupasmallcybercafwheretheyoungpeopleofLosBotados,who

didnothavecomputers,couldaccess Internetbypayingasmallfee.HehasalsobecomeanICT

teacherintheCCIinDonJuan,acommunitysome15kmfromLosBotados.Inaveryshorttime,

Yendywent from earning a living by driving people around on the back of hismotorcycle to

becomingasmallentrepreneurandteacherofcomputersandsoftware.


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PictureN13:CybercafinLosBotados

Source:EdwinSanRomn

ItsoonbecameevidentthatthetencomputersattheLosBotadosCCIwerenotenoughtomeet

demand.Followingthemayor'srequest,INDOTELdecidedtoprovidetenmorecomputerswhich,

however,neededtobeassembled.Theyweregiventoagroupofyoungpeoplewho,underthe

supervisionof the formermotorcycle taxidriver,assembled themand installedWiFi cards ina

matterofonlyfivehours.

PictureN14:Youngpeopleassemblingcomputersforinternetaccess


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Source:EdwinSanRomn

Thearrivalofbroadbandprovidedabigcreativestimulusforotheryoungpeopleasillustratedby

thecasesofWilfridodePaulaandJeanCarlosdeLen,twouniversitystudents,wholivedinthe

smallcommunity

of

La

Yauta,2km

from

the

Los

Botados

hotspot.Not

long

after

broadband

was

available in Los Botados,Wilfrido and Jean Carlos,who like their friends in Los Botados also

wantedtobeabletoconnectfromtheirhomes,puttheirmindstogetherinanattempttofigure

outhowtheycoulddothis.TheyboughtaUS$15WiFicardandstartedlookingforwaystoget

connected.Usingonlyoldkitchenpotsandcoaxial cables theybuiltanantenna,whichallowed

themtoestablishawirelessbroadbandlinkwiththeWiFitransmitterinLosBotados.Sincethey

did not have enoughmoney to build a tower, they attached their homemade antenna to a

coconuttree(picturesNo16and17).

PictureN15:Antennamadeofkitchenpots

Source:EdwinSanRomn

Theirefforts

made

the

headlines

not

only

in

national

newspapers

and

on

local

television

but

also

in the internationalmedia includingUNIVISION,anAmericanbroadcasterwithan international

audience.ReportersvisitedLaYautiainterviewedthemandtooknoteoftheinstallationstheyhad

connected.


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PictureN16:Homemadeantennaincoconuttree

Source:EdwinSanRomn

InJanuary2009,theywerehonouredwiththeNationalYouthAward,andinFebruary2009,they

receivedscholarshipstostudyinformationtechnologyintheInstitutoTecnolgicodelasAmericas

(ITLA)inSantoDomingo25andtoparticipateinaoneweekleadershiptrainingcourseinMiami.

PictureN

17:

Home

made

antenna

in

coconut

tree

25http://www.itla.edu.do/


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Source:EdwinSanRomn

VIVAisprovidingInternetaccessservicestothewholeofLosBotadosforfreeandthecommunity

is covering all the costs of the CCI since August 2007. Since then, the support given by the

telecommunicationoperators to thepilothasbeen veryproactive.Asa resultof thispilot, the

peopleof

Los

Botados

cantoday

choose

between

two

companies

that

offer

mobile

telephony

services and wireless Internet services, and one of them, ClaroCodetel, now also offers a

connection through fixedwireless residential lines. The pilot opened the eyes of the national

operators to the telecommunications demand andpotential businessopportunities throughout

thecountry.

The inauguration of the pilot project in Los Botados was a turning point in INDOTELs Rural

BroadbandConnectivityProject.Manyguestswereimpressedbytheprojectssuccessandcoupled

withthefullpresscoverageoftheevent,stakeholdersnolongerneededtobeconvincedthatsuch

aruralbroadbandprojectwasviable.

6. Overviewofbroadbandtechnologies26

Several different technologies can be used to build broadband networks. Each has a different

impacton the cost, acceptability and feasibilityof a ruralbroadband connectivityproject. This

sectiongivesashortoverviewofbothwiredandwirelesstechnologiesthatarecurrentlyavailable

or that are in the process of being developed. Their use is illustratedwith reference to rural

broadband projects in the Dominican Republic, supported by the example of similar projects

carriedoutinPeru.

Whileitisimportantthatregulatorsandthoseinchargeofpromotingruralbroadbandprojectsbe

well informed about current and future technologies, their costs and suitability for a given

applicationand their evolution, it is very important thatno specific technologybe imposedon

operatorsand serviceproviderswhowillultimatelybegiven the responsibility forbuildingand

operatingthesenetworks.Theprinciplesofcompetitivemarketandtechnologicalneutralitymust

beallowedtoprevailtoensurethatthebest,mosteconomicalandsustainablesolutionischosen



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fromamongallavailable ICTtechnologies.Technology isneither independentofthemarketnor

thesoledeterminingfactorforthesuccessofaruralbroadbandproject.

6.1. Wired

6.1.1. DSLovercopperlocalloop27

Wireddigitalsubscriber lineorDSLuses thecopper local loopof the telephonenetwork to the

homeorbusinesstoprovidehighspeeddataaccesswithspeedsupto52Mbitpersecond(Mbps).

Data traffic is transmitted over the same copper pair as voice telephony but in a different

frequencybandseparatedusingafilterorsplitter.Thedatachannelcanbeconnecteddirectlytoa

datanetworkortotheInternet.ThereareseveralversionsofDSLincludingADSL(whereAstands

for asymmetrical) and VDSL (where V stands for very high bit rate). Themost common and

economicversion,ADSLLite,cansupportdownlinkspeedsofupto1.5Mbpsanduplinkspeeds

ofupto384Kbps. TableN 2showsanoverviewDSLtypes.

FigureN2:ADSLNetworkStructure(MDF=maindistributionframe)

Source:www.eaccess.net/en/company/img/etc/ttl_enterprise_sub5.gif

27SeereferenceN2.
http://www.eaccess.net/en/company/img/etc/ttl_enterprise_sub5.gifhttp://www.eaccess.net/en/company/img/etc/ttl_enterprise_sub5.gif


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TableN2:OverviewoftypesofDSL

Source:ITU

ThethroughputcapacityofDSLdependsofthelengthoftheaccessloopasisshowninfigureN6.

FigureN3:Dataratevs.looplength

Source:DSLForum


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DSLisusedmainlyinareaswhereawiretelephoneconnectionexists,suchasurbanandsuburban

areas.ThedeploymentofDSLinsuchareasiseasy,costeffectiveandconsiderablycheaperthan

othertechnologies.

6.1.2. Coaxial(ex.DOCSISandHFC)andfibreopticcablesystems

Coaxialcablesystems,whenbuiltwithDataoverCableService InterfaceSpecification (DOCSIS),

can support downstream speeds of up to 30Mbps and upstream speeds of 3Mbps. Building

networkswithDOCSISgivestheusuallyunidirectionalcableTVnetworksbidirectionalcapability.

Fibreopticcablesystemscansupportspeedsintheterabitpersecond(Tbps)range.Theyallowfor

better quality than coaxial cable because there is no crosstalk, no electromagnetic or radio

interference,andtheyarelessexpensivetomaintain.

Inruralareasofmanycountries,therearesmallcableoperatorswhocanpotentiallyofferagood

alternative to providing broadband Internet access and telephony; however, interconnection

requirementsandregulatoryimpedimentsinsomecountriesoftenmakeittoodifficultandcostly

forthemtoprovidetheservicelegally28.

6.2. Wireless6.2.1. Mobilecommunication

AccordingtotheITUinfoDevICTRegulationToolkitThedevelopmentofmobiletechnologiesand

services in the last two decades has had massive implications on the ICT landscape. Mobile

technologiesenablemobilityandflexibilityintheuseofICTservices.Whilethesetechnologieshave

primarily been driven by voice telephony but in their development, they embrace the whole

portfolio of converged services,particularlywhen it comes towireless standards and the new

generationmobiletechnologies29.

28Manyofthemarealreadyinterconnectedillegally,throughfixlines.



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SecondGeneration

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is the most popular standard for mobile

telephonyintheworld.Sinceboththesignallingandspeechchannelsaredigital,ithasbeeneasy

toadaptthissecondgeneration(2G)mobilesystemtodatacommunications(3G).

TheubiquityoftheGSMstandardhasbeenanadvantagetobothconsumersandoperatorswho

canbuyequipmentfromanyofthemanyvendors.Thestandardalsooffersshortmessageservice

(SMS),alowcostalternativetovoicecalls,whichisnowsupportedbyallothermobilestandards.

In addition, newer versions of the standard are backwardcompatible with the original GSM

phones. Release'97ofthestandardaddedpacketdatacapabilitiesthroughGeneralPacketRadio

Service (GPRS)andRelease '99 introducedhigherspeeddata transmissionusingEnhancedData

Rates forGSMEvolution (EDGE).EDGEsupportsdataspeedsup to236.8Kbpswithendtoend

latencyoflessthan150msec.

GSMoperatesmainlyon900and1800frequencybands.InNorthandSouthAmericaitoperates

alsointhe850and1900MHzbands.

CDMA (Code DivisionMultiple Access) is a spread spectrum technologywith a special coding

scheme(whereeachtransmitterisassignedacode)toallowmultipleuserstobemultiplexedover

thesamephysicalchannel.CDMA(IS95A)orCDMAOneisthesecondgeneration(2G)versionof

CDMA.Thesocalled2.5Gversion,CDMA(IS95B),offersspeedsupto64Kbps.

CDMAoperatesinthe450MHz,700MHz,800MHz,850MHz900MHz,1700MHz,1800MHz,and

1900MHzfrequencybands.

CDMAhasevolvedthroughseveralstepstoitsthirdgeneration(3G)dataonly(CDMA1xEVDO)

anddataandvoice (CDMA1xEVDV)versions.FigureN7shows themigrationpaths forCDMA

andGSMto3rdGenerationmobiletechnologies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP#Standardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP#Standardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP#Standardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread-spectrumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread-spectrumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread-spectrumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread-spectrumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP#Standardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone


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FigureN4:GSMandCDMAMigrationPathsto3G

Source:SternandTownsend(2007)

ThirdGeneration(3G)andIMT2000

Third Generation (3G) is used to describe mobile services which provide advanced voice

communicationsandhighspeeddataconnectivity, includingaccess to the Internet,mobiledata

applicationsandmultimediacontent.The InternationalTelecommunicationUnion (ITU),working

with industry standardsbodies fromaround theworld,hasdefined the technical requirements

andstandardsaswellastheuseofspectrum for3Gsystemsunderthe IMT2000 (International

MobileTelecommunications2000)program,which,interalia,requiresthatIMT2000(3G)deliver

improved system capacity and spectrum efficiency over 2G systems and that it support data

services atminimum transmission rates of 144 kbps inmobile (outdoor) and 2Mbps in fixed

(indoor)environments.

Basedon these requirements, the ITU in1999approved five radio interfacestandards for IMT

200030.Threeofthefive,WCDMA,CDMA200031,andTDSCDMAarebasedonCDMA(figureNo

8). In October 2007, ITU added the WiMAX air interface specification as the 6th

IMT2000

technologyandmodified thegeneralnamingconventions for IMTtechnologies:3Gtechnologies

continue to be known as IMT2000; 4G technologieswill be known as IMTAdvanced, and

collectively,allofthe3Gand4GtechnologieswillbeknownassimplyIMT.

30ITURRecommendation 1457.

31CDMA2000isalsoknownbyitsITUname,IMT2000CDMAMultiCarrier(MC).


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FigureN5:IMT2000TerrestrialRadioInterfaces

Source:http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g.asp

WCDMA and CDMA2000 are two 3rd Generationmobile standards which are being used in

DominicanRepublicandPeru.

WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), designated by the ITU to be the main

technical standard for 3rd Generation or UMTS mobile communications standard, supports

transmissionspeedsofup to384kbps inanoutdoorenvironmentandup to2Mbps ina fixed

indoorenvironment.Itoperatesinthe850MHz,1900MHzand2100MHzfrequencybands.

ManyGSMoperatorsinLatinAmericaareupgradingtoWCDMAHSPA32whichisbecomingavery

promisingandcosteffectivewaytoprovidebroadbandaccessinunservedareaswithspeedsupto

384Kbps.InDominicanRepublic,undertheRuralBroadbandConnectivityProject,morethan300

localitiesarebeingprovidedwithbroadbandaccessviaWCDMA HSPA.

CDMA2000 (Code DivisionMultiple Access 2000) or IMT2000 CDMAMC is a hybrid 2.5G/3G

CDMAstandardusedfordigitalradio,totransmitvoice,dataandsignallinginformation(suchasa

thedialled telephone number)betweenmobilephones and cell sites.CDMA2000designates a

familyofmobilestandardsthatincludes:

CDMA1x,whichdoubles thevoicecapacityofCDMAOneanddeliverspeakpacketdataspeedsof307kbpsinmobileenvironments;

CDMA20001xEVDO,whichcomesinthefollowingversions:

32WCDMAHSPA,High Speed Packet Access an extension ofWCDMA to provide high bandwidth and

enhancedsupportforinteractive,backgroundandstreamingservices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.5Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_radiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_radiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_radiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_%28telecommunication%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_sitehttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_%28telecommunication%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_radiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.5G


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o CDMA20001xEVDORel.0 deliverspeakdataspeedsof2.4MbpsandsupportsapplicationssuchasMP3transfersandvideoconferencing;

o CDMA20001xEVDORev.A increasespeakratesonreverseand forward links tosupport awidevariety of symmetric, delaysensitive, realtime, and concurrent

voiceandbroadbanddataapplications;and

o CDMA2000 1xEVDO Rev. B which provides integrated voice and simultaneoushighspeedpacketdatamultimediaservices.

CDMA20001xEVDORev.AandCDMA20001xEVDORev.Barebothbackwardcompatiblewith

CDMA20001xandCDMAOne.CDMA2000supportsdatacommunicationspeedsrangingfrom144

kbpsto2.4Mbps.

Therehasbeen growing interest inusingCDMA in the450MHzband, for rural, suburbanand

sparselypopulatedareasforbothmobileandfixedapplications. Thisisduetotherelativelylarge

cell sizes that arepossible at this frequency,whichmakes deployment less expensive because

fewerbasestationsarerequiredtocoveragivenareaasshowinTableN3.

TableN3:TheoreticalcellsizesthatcanbeachievedusingCDMA20001xinthedifferentfrequency

bands

Frequencyband(MHz) CellRadius(Km)

CellArea

(Km2)

NormalizedCell

Count

450 48.9 7,521 1

850 29.4 2,712 2.8

1900 13.3 553 13.6

2100 10 312 24.1

Source:ResponsebyLucentTechnologiestoQuestionnaire2,usageofLowerFrequencyBandsintheAPRegion,2nd

MeetingoftheAPTWirelessForum,Shenzen,PRChina,September58,2005.

The single, largesthurdle to thedevelopmentofCDMA450 is commercial.The lownumberof

handsetoptionsavailable,theirhigherprice,andthefactthatfewoffermultibandcapability,has

been an impediment to growth of this standard. In addition, the development of innovative

approachestoruralnetworkdesignandmarketingbytheGSMoperatorshaslimitedthemarket
http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revBhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#revAhttp://www.cdg.org/technology/3g_1xEV-DO.asp#rel0


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for CDMA 450. The International 450 Association33and a number of mobile operators have

createdanalliance toaggregatepurchases inabid todrivedown costsof terminalequipment

throughbulkpurchasesandtonurtureamarketforentryleveldevices.

InPeru,asmallruraloperatordeployedthefirstcommercialCDMA450networkinLatinAmerica

in2005andhassinceFebruary2009beendeploying infrastructureforfixedbroadbandtelephone

accesstomorethan800smallcommunitiesacrossthecountry34.

TableN4indicatestheyearofitslaunchandthenumberofworldwidenetworksandsubscribers

forseveralmobileInternetandbroadbandaccesstechnologies.

TableN4:Mobileinternetandbroadbandaccesstechnologies

Source: ITU, Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2008: Six Degrees of Sharing, based on data from CDMA

DevelopmentGroup,GSMA,UMTSForum,GSA,WiMAXForum,3GAmericasandother

6.2.2. Broadbandwirelessaccess(WiMAX,WiFi)

WIMAX (Worldwide InteroperabilityforMicrowaveAccess)isawirelessbroadbandtransmission

standard for data, which can be used in a variety of ways including pointtopoint links and

portableInternetaccess.Itdoesnotneedcables.WiMAXisbasedonIEEEstandard802.16which

33http://www.450world.org/

34http://www.televiasperu.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_%28telecommunications%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_%28telecommunications%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_%28telecommunications%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_%28telecommunications%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_%28telecommunications%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_%28telecommunications%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_%28telecommunications%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_%28telecommunications%29


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is also known as the BroadbandWirelessAccess (BWA) standard andprovidesup to 75Mbps

symmetricbroadbandlinks.ItcanbeusedasanalternativetocableandDSLforlastmilewireless

broadbandaccess.SeeFigureN9.

IEEEstandard802.162004orIEEE802.16d,namedaftertheIEEEworkingpartythatdevelopedit,

isfrequentlyreferredtoas"fixedWiMAX"sinceitdoesnotsupportmobility.IEEE802.16e2005,a

modification of IEEE 802.162004, often referred to as IEEE 802.16e allows formobility and is

thereforereferredtoas"mobileWiMAX".

As mentioned earlier, in October 2007 the ITU Radiocommunication Conference decided to

includeWiMAXderivedtechnologyintheframeworkoftheIMT2000setofstandards.

WhiletherehasbeenbroadinterestandenthusiasmforWiMAXtechnologyanditspotential,the

business case for this standard and its ultimate success will be determined, as with other

technologies, by market factors, including competition, demand, affordability of services,

customerdensity,priceandavailabilityofenduserterminals35.Thecurrentmainimpedimentfor

thewideuseofthistechnologyinruralareasremainsthehighcostoftheenduserterminals.

FigureN6:ActualusesofWiMAXtechnology

Source:WiMAXAplicacionesyServicios.Siemens.JaimeMartnez.

35SeeAnnex5ofSternandTownsend,2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_broadbandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_broadbandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_broadbandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_broadbandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_broadbandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_milehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_milehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_milehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAXhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAXhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_milehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_broadband


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WiFi(WirelessFidelity)isaWirelessLocalAreaNetwork(WLAN)technologyandstandard,which

primarily provides shortrange, wireless, highspeed data connections between mobile data

devices(suchaslaptops,PDAsandtelephones)andnearbyWiFiaccesspoints.Thereareseveral

variationsof theWiFistandard,referred toas IEEE802.11.Themostcommon is IEEE802.11b,

whichprovidesspeedsupto11Mbps. IEEE802.11gand IEEE802.11aarefasterversionsofIEEE

802.11bwiththeformersupportingspeedsupto52Mbps.Many IEEE802.11gand IEEE802.11a

devicesarebackwardcompatiblewiththeoriginalIEEE802.11b.

WiFi is a very good and cost effective solution for covering large areas in rural and unserved

areas.Hotspotswithamplifierscaneasilycoverrangesofupto8km.Thelowcostequipmentand

terminalsmake itaffordablefor low incomepopulations.NonmobiletechnologiessuchasWiFi

andwirelessmeshnetworksbuiltusingWiFitechnologyarewellsuitedforsmall,localinitiatives

for which large and expensive centralized projects are not feasible. Typically, nonmobile

technologiescansupportVoIPalternativesto2Gtelephony.

FigureN10illustratesanetworkthatcombinesaWiFilocalaccessmeshnetwork,withapoint

topointWiFitransportlink.

FigureN7:AccesswithaWiFimeshandWiFitransport



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WiFihasbeendeployedwithsuccessinmanyuniversalaccessandservice(UAS)projectsinrural

and remote areas to provide Internet points of presence. Themain advantages, especially for

developingcountries,are36:

i. theavailabilityofhighdatathroughputrates(comparedwithmany3Gtechnologies);ii. itsflexibilityforsmallnetworkstodevelopoutsideoflargecentralizedorganizations;iii. theuseofradiofrequenciesthatareexemptfromlicensinginmanycountrieswhere

WiFifrequenciesareintendedtobeusedbyequipmentwithverylimitedrangeand

indoorapplications, forwhich interferencedoesnotneed tobecontrolled through

licensing;and

iv. thepossibilitiesofacquiringcheapstandardequipment that isreadilyavailableandhasbeentypeapprovedformanycountries.

Table N 5 summarizes the basic specifications for various versions of the WiMAX andWiFi

standards.

TableN5:ThebasicspecificationsforvariousversionsoftheWiMAXandWiFistandards

Standard

(technology)

Release

date

Frequency

Band(s)

Radio

technology

Maxnet

datarate

Maxindoor

range

Max

outdoor

range

IEEE802.11 (WiFi) 1997 2.4GHz DSSS 2Mbit/s 20m 100m

IEEE802.11a(WiFi)

1999 5GHz OFDM 54Mbit/s 35m 120m

IEEE802.11b

(WiFi)

1999 2.4GHz DSSS/CCK 11Mbit/s 38m 140m

IEEE802.11g

(WiFi)

2003 2.4GHz OFDM,

DSSS

54Mbit/s 38m 140m

IEEE802.11n

(WiFi)

2009 2.4GHz,5

GHz

OFDM,DSSS 600Mbit/s 70m 250m

IEEE802.16d(FixedWiMax)

2004 211GHz OFDM 75Mbit/s variable 1550km

IEEE802.16e

(MobileWiMax)

2005 0.76GHz OFDM/

OFDMA

15Mbit/s variable 1.55km

Source:ITU

36SeeAnnex5ofSternandTownsend,2007.


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6.2.3. Satellite

Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) are themost common satellite communication systems

usedforvoiceandInternetapplicationsinruralandremoteareas;however,thehighcostofthe

equipmentandespeciallythespacesegmentcomparedwithterrestrialradioandwirelessaccess

networks limitsVSATapplications toquiteremoteareas.VSATshavebeenusedsuccessfully for

providing fixed public access to telephony and broadband Internet in remote areas in many

countries.Many good examples can be found in Peru, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican

Republic,Mongolia,Nepal,SouthAfricaandothercountries.

VSAT systems are sometimes alsoused asbackbonenetworks for remote ruralexchangesand

mobilebasestations(PictureN18).

PictureN18:VSATtransportnetworkinfrastructureinPuno,inthePeruvianhighlands

Source:FITEL

FigureN11showsaBroadbandWirelessAccess(BWA)withsatellitetransport.


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FigureN8:BroadbandWirelessAccess(BWA)withsatellitetransport


6.2.4. Enduserequipment

Advances in technology aswell as economies of scale are lowering the costs of terminals for

broadband users ofwhich there are basically two types: (i) terminals that allow the Internet

connectionathomeknownasCPE(CustomerPremiseEquipment)and(ii)terminalsthatallowthe

usertousetheInternetandtonavigate,alsoknownasenduserdevices.

The costofCPEs is fundamental toestablishing theviabilityofaproject. Itcanbe thedeciding

factorincaseswhere,forexample,thenetworkcanbebuiltcosteffectively.

Convergenceandtechnologicaladvancesaremergingpreviousdistinctionsbetweentypesofend

userdevicesas illustratedbytherangeofdifferentdevicesthatareavailabletoday: (i)personal

digital assistant (PDA); (ii) combined phones, video cameras and music players; (iii) internet

enabledmobilephonessuchasBlackberryoriPhonethatenableemailandwebbrowsingamong

otherwirelessservices;and, (iv)powerfulhandheld3Genduserdevices thatoffertripleplay

services: i.e. telephony, Internetand IPTVandmobileTV, suchasPalm computers,PlayStation

portables,etc.


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7. Use of geographical information systems (GIS) and Google Earth in planning ruraltelecommunicationsprojects

7.1. WhatisGIS?

Geographical information systems (GIS) combine hardware, software and data to capture,

manage,analyzeanddisplayallformsofgeographicallyreferencedinformation.Userscancreate

interactive queries, analyze spatial information and edit data and maps. GIS is a structured

geographicaldatabasethatmakesworldwidegeographicdataavailableintwoformats:

i. theVectorModeluses threegeometricelements includingpoints, linesorpolylinesandpolygons,whichcorrespondtodiscreteobjectsandthereforedefinitelimits;

ii. the Raster (Matrix) Model divides a given space into regular cells where each cellrepresentsauniquevalue.Thismodelfocusesonthepropertiesofspaceratherthanthe

accuracyofthelocation.

GIS allows simultaneous spatial analysis of different layers of information representing census

information, elevation, road networks, hydrographical data, infrastructure and

telecommunicationsnetworkelementsandprojectinformation,etc.

7.2. BenefitsofusingGISinplanningruraltelecommunicationsprojects

GIScanbeusedinplanningtelecommunicationsprojectstofacilitatethedecisionmakingprocess,

includingdecidingwheretoputbasestationsandrepeatersforawirelessprojecttooptimizethe

designandcoveragefootprintand,ultimately,thebestlocationfortheproject.

The decisionmaking process, which requires that data be collected, processed, and analyzed

before the results can be presented and decisions canbe taken, is facilitated by the fact that

informationfromthedifferentlayersmentionedabovegivesanalmostexactdeterminationofthe

bestcoverageareasfordeployingtheproject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial


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Gatheringgeoreferenceddata suchasgeographical,demographic,economicand infrastructure

informationis,however,themostdifficulttaskwhenusingGISand,ifithastobedonemanually,

Documents

BRINGING BROADBAND ACCESS TO RURAL AREAS: A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH FOR REGULATORS, POLICY MAKERS AND UNIVERSAL ACCESS PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS