Rural Communication

This Industry Connections program is intended to contribute toward the goal of global (including rural community) digital inclusion by developing solutions for rural and remote areas using suitable technologies. Rural areas of countries continue to be sparsely covered and are not considered as a viable business case by telecommunication operators. Recent growth of teledensity in urban areas, fueled by mobile technology, has meant that the digital gap between rural and urban areas has widened.

Rural populations need to be provided with viable connectivity solutions by connecting remote areas to the broadband core networks. Choosing efficient, cost-effective, and fast-deployment technologies—whether wired or wireless networks—will improve accessibility.

Rural connectivity will open up new opportunities for the communities and will lead to improvement in their quality of life. Internet connectivity will provide people with more options to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Information on healthcare, agriculture, education, employment opportunities, etc. can be accessed by the people through the internet. COVID-19 reinforces the need for affordable connectivity, and this effort focuses on the challenges, opportunities, and solutions in providing sustainable, reliable, and affordable connectivity to rural areas.

Proposed deliverables and outcomes from this Industry Connections activity may include documents (e.g., white papers, reports), proposals for standards and guidelines, conferences, webinars and workshops, databases, computer code, etc.

There will be multiple deliverables:

• White papers identifying the broadband requirements in rural communities
• Reports identifying gaps in existing standards
• New standards projects based on the gaps
• New standards projects for recommended practices
• Workshops and events
• Webinars

We welcome new participants from large and small corporations, academia, industry, government agencies, and any individuals that are interested in the Rural Communication program.

Members will include but are not limited to:

• Users and producers of systems and components for networking systems, telecommunications carriers, service providers, semiconductor manufacturers, test houses, content providers, technology providers, and academia.
• External standardization bodies and industry organizations will be encouraged to participate in enhanced cooperation.

To learn more about the program and how to join the Rural Communication activity, please express your interest by sending an inquiry to the activity chair whose information can be found in the Contacts section.