- Sofiene Cherif : Director of Sup-Com, Tunis, Tunisia
- Sami Tabbane : General Co-Chair of ComNet 2020, Hammamet, Tunisia
- Mohamed-Slim Alouini : Organizer of the 6G Summit on Connecting the Unconnected
- Bilel Jamoussi : Chief of the Study Groups Department of ITU Standardization Bureau (TSB), Geneva, Switzerland
9:00 - 11:00 (GMT+1)
Session 1: Global and Rural Connectivity
Chair: Mohamed-Slim Alouini
Title : Building Broadband Bridges – Wireless Access for Rural Empowerment Speaker : Jaap van de Beek (Luleå University of Technology, Sweden) Abstract : While urban parts of the world enjoy rapid improvements of their fixed and mobile communications networks, residents and visitors of remote and sparsely populated regions suffer a worse fate. Digital inequality is an increasing concern in many parts of the world. What has technology to offer for these regions where few people live, infrastructure cost per capita is high, and backhaul capabilities are fundamentally limited? This talk will first shed light on new ways to measure digital inequality for the purpose of monitoring, comparing and decision-making. Furthermore, it will address the intricate relation between technology, standards, spectrum regulations and operator business models in rural and remote parts of the world. Finally, we will find that, when properly combined with innovative network sharing models and in new bold spectrum regulatory regimes, new network architectures based on rural hot-spots and ultra large-cell base stations are key to the provision of terrestrial Internet access, everywhere.
Title : Technology to Enable Rural Connectivity – How Will We Overcome the Digital Divide in Future? Speaker : Muhammad Imran (University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK) Abstract : The digital divide is a main cause of growing gap between the rich and the poor. This is a growing problem in even western developed countries but it is severe in Africa and Asia. New generations of the technology should be designed keeping this in mind that these new technologies should be part of the solution for this problem. We will take 5G as an example of communication technology and identify the technical approaches as well as the practical initiatives which addressed the challenge of the digital divide.
Title : Support/Enable Rural Prosperity and Quality of Life Goals Speaker : Mo Shakouri (Community Broadband Initiative, Joint Venture Silicon Valley, San Jose, California, USA) Abstract : This talk will review NIST's Global Cities Initiative study focused on Agriculture and Rural Development. The goals of the study was to develop projects, best practices and a blueprint to assist rural communities and agriculturists increase productivity and quality of life. The talk identify on efforts aimed at ensuring viable rural communities for farmers and other residents by improving educational resources (including closing the homework gap), healthcare, ability aging in place, and economic development. Special attention to farming engage best practices for precision agriculture and livestock management, including better broadband-enabled access to markets.
Title : FRUGAL 5G – Bringing Broadband Faster to Rural Areas Speaker : Satya N. Gupta (Secretary General, ITU-APT Foundation of India, India) Abstract : As part of Digital India mission of the government to make “Broadband for All” a reality in the near future, there is
a great buzz about Wi-Fi everywhere specially in urban areas wherein people are expecting free Wi-Fi access in
times to come. Though there is not much talk about rural Wi-Fi. Everything on Tower (EOT) concept appears to
be the solution to provide broadband access to rural masses in a cost effective, timely, affordable & sustainable
manner.
For making delivery of high-speed broadband access in the hands/homes of rural people some very low cost, low
power & low maintenance technical solution is required which can reduce the cost to minimum possible by making
use of existing infrastructure and unlicensed spectrum which is free. Also in many villages of rural India there is
acute shortage of grid power supply which is also highly unreliable. In addition, there is unavailability of suitable
indoor space for installing the network equipment’s and keeping it safe and secured. Due to all the above
challenges there is a perceived lack of a business case for rural broadband access and that is why not many players
are talking about it. We at BLUETOWN trying to bring out an innovative concept which can lead to a sustainable
business model of hand delivery of broadband access to rural.
The availability of a robust and reliable broadband connectivity is most critical for the successful implementation
of some of the key social sector schemes and programmes in rural areas by the Central and State governments on
e-governance, education, health, employment and financial inclusion.
The benefits of the broadband connectivity to the rural population are immense with the convergence of voice,
data and video.
As the time and cost are two critical elements for the implementation, the key question is how we can rollout the
broadband connectivity to the rural areas in the quickest and most cost-effective manner. The government is
highly dependent on the speedy implementation of broadband connectivity for the success of its ‘marquee’ Digital
India programme. The concept of “Everything on Tower” solution, enables, the creation of a public hotspots for use
of the telecom service provider to enable them to provide much needed broadband access to rural masses as a
business case without any perpetual subsidy. This makes use of an innovative rural access technology 5L
principles of value innovation namely; Low cost, Low Power, Low Maintenance, Local Control, Local
Content. It is based on the availability of the subsidised internet backhaul as a part of NOFN project of government
or through PSU telco like BSNL and making use of abandoned / discarded telecom towers or some other existing
structure of around 10 -15 meters’ height in rural areas.
In the absence of any possibility of needed ROI (Return on Investment) on the CAPEX, as well as restricted
potential for revenue due to affordability constraint, the success of rural Broadband business will depend upon the
Government’s policy and regulatory environment, investment support and incentives provided by the local
governments in creating underlying infrastructure as well as making use of the existing infrastructure of operators.
Also, involvement of a local entrepreneur or community under public private partnership (PPP) model with an
opportunity to create a business case through Government/ Public funded backbone infrastructure is the key for
sustainability of Broadband business in the rural areas. One option for this scheme can be involvement of an
independent infrastructure provider, who creates the access node as “Managed Hotspot Service Provider”
(MHSP).
Involving the local community/village local entrepreneur (VLE) which could be used by MHSP will require
selection and basic training to a local entrepreneur in a village or a cluster of villages through schemes like “Skill
India”. Government/local bodies will be required to provide majority financial support for initial setting up of the
infrastructure for Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) and help this entrepreneur to get funding from the bank/
financial institutions under the plans like “Startup India”.
11:00 - 11:15 (GMT+1)
Break
11:15 - 12:45 (GMT+1)
Session 2: Technology Insights for Rural Connectivity Chair: Jaap van de Beek
Title : Minimum Cost Design of Cellular Architectures to Serve Rural Areas: Formulations and Solutions Speaker : Luca Chiaraviglio (University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy) Abstract : We present a set of architectures to provide cellular connectivity in rural areas, while targeting the minimization of the total installation costs for the Base Stations and the backhaul equipment. After describing the main features of the considered architectures, we model the problem as a mixed integer linear programming formulation. We then solve the considered problem through efficient heuristics in a set of representative case studies. We then present the results of the adopted solutions, by discussing both the advantages and the disadvantages compared to a traditional cellular network.
Title : Intelligent Spectrum Management for 5G & Beyond Speaker : Fisseha Mekuria (CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa) Abstract : Radio frequency (RF) spectrum is the superhighway for the wireless communications systems and associated information and communication technology (ICT) services that are exponentially expanding. Standards Org. & spectrum regulators around the world are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of efficiently managing their national RF spectrum resources. Adoption of intelligent spectrum management (ISM) technologies that enable opportunistic sharing of spectrum is now a must to guarantee continuing development of future wireless network services and applications. This trend including smart spectrum sensing, software defined radios, and reconfigurable radio networks play an important role in addressing the demand for broadband connectivity and digital inclusion in underserved areas. ISM is also a crucial component and important technology in preparation for the gigabits wireless services in the upcoming next generation (5G & beyond) wireless ICT eco-systems. The invited seminar will share some of the outcomes from the CSIR research, development and innovation (RD&I) activities in the area of intelligent spectrum management research, and provide highlights for further RD&I opportunities. Emerging technology trends and tools that are necessary in the field of intelligent spectrum sharing & management developed by CSIR and its collaborating partners in academia, industry and other stakeholders in the ICT sector, will also be presented.
Title : Free-Space Optical Communications and Next-Generation Wireless Connectivity Speaker : Baris Erkmen(X (formerly Google[x]), California, USA) Abstract : Ubiquitous access to broadband connectivity has played a transformational role in our society in the past decades. The consumption of data has enjoyed exponential growth rate during this time, roughly doubling in volume every 18 to 24 months. On the other hand, the rate at which we are expanding broadband connectivity to under-connected populations has been nearly stagnant in some parts of the world, particularly in emerging countries with major infrastructure challenges. As a result, over half of the world’s population (approximately 4B people) do not have access to affordable and abundant broadband connectivity. Of this under-connected or unconnected population, approximately 2.6B are bandwidth-starved because broadband access is not economically viable. In this talk, we will introduce X's Free-Space Optical Communications (FSOC) technology, and highlight its potential transformational role towards changing the economics of access and closing the aforementioned digital divide. We will discuss some design insights and trades that have allowed us to balance abundance (broadband performance), affordability (cost-effective manufacturing of terminals at scale, coupled with novel pricing approaches), and imperfect availability (outages in poor-visibility conditions). We will share some of our significant milestones towards productization and scalable manufacturing. Finally, we will conclude with examples of our real-world pilot deployments and trials, demonstrating the impact of this innovative technology when applied to the global connectivity challenge.
12:45 - 14:00 (GMT+1)
Lunch
12:45 - 14:00 (GMT+1)
Lunch
14:00 - 16:00 (GMT+1)
Session 3: Spatial Backhaul Solutions
Chair: MUHAMMAD ZEESHAN SHAKIR
Title : Hybrid High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) Communication Systems for the Global Connectivity in the 5G/6G Eras Speaker : Morio Toyoshima (NICT, Tokyo, Japan) Abstract : There are many unconnected areas on the Earth. Satellite communication acts as the important role to cover these areas and contributes to the rapid deployment of the communication system for these areas. In order to accommodate the large number of users, the broadband satellite communication is needed and requires the use of Ka-band, which services are now emerging all over the world. However, the radio frequency resources such as the allocated frequencies and bandwidths are limited and become exhausted, the flexible technologies on the frequency assignment and the beamforming in the spectral and special fields are needed to overcome the efficient frequency usage under the limited spectral bandwidth situation. A next generation hybrid high-throughput satellite communication system using RF and light-wave communications is being studied in the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan. There are three kinds of RF communication systems and one optical communication system for the hybrid high-throughput satellite communication system, which will be embarked in space. Here, the research and development activities on space communications in the NICT are introduced.
Title : Telesat LEO: the Key Enabler for a Truly Global Connectivity Speaker : Mario Neri (Telesat Ltd, UK) Abstract : In a world requiring high throughput connectivity
available everywhere and at all time, only a LEO satellite solution
can provide what markets and population require. In this talk, the
Telesat LEO constellation will be described, with a focus on those
technical characteristics that make it a true enabler for connecting
the unconnected.
Title : Satellite Technology Advancement for Connecting the Unconnected Speaker : Laith Hamad (OneWeb, UK) Abstract : This talk will show how new satellite technologies play a vital role in connecting the very last and remote areas where other means of telecommunications are either not available or not commercially visible.
Title : Lynk—Affordable Everywhere Coverage for the Phone in Your Pocket Speaker : Margo Deckard (Lynk Global Inc, USA) Abstract : Lynk’s mission is to provide connectivity to all 7.7 Billion people everywhere on the Earth. To
deliver affordable ubiquitous connectivity, we are building a cellular nanosatellite
communications network. This network functions as “cell towers in space.” Existing
smartphones, GSM/LTE capable feature phones, and cellular Machine-to-Machine/Internet of
Things (M2M/IoT) devices anywhere on Earth will be able to connect to our orbiting cell towers
with no modifications to the devices’ hardware or software and no additional user terminals. In
February 2020, we successfully sent an emergency cell broadcast alert from a satellite to
unmodified cell phones on the ground.
Currently, about 90% of the planet, and 75% of the Earth’s landmass, has no cell tower
connectivity. Building land-based cell towers in uncovered regions becomes economically
unsustainable when revenue falls below about $20,000 per year per square mile, due to high
capital and operational expenses. Lynk’s orbiting cell towers will provide ubiquitous coverage
at 4 orders of magnitude lower CAPEX and OPEX expense than traditional ground-based cell
towers – a few dollars per square mile. Where $10,000 or $1,000 or $100 in revenue per
square mile for phone service might be insufficient to justify the expense to build traditional
ground-based cell towers, these levels of revenue will be highly profitable for Lynk. We
provide service to everyone by filing in the connectivity gaps everywhere. In solving this
fundamental economic problem, Lynk serves a huge existing market – to include last mile
connectivity, gap coverage, humanitarian and disaster relief operations, digital money,
maritime operations, and search and rescue.
Title :
Unlocking the Stratosphere to Connect the Underconnected
Speaker : Jeff Smith (Airbus Defense and Space, UK) Abstract : a summary of the market challenges, innovative
solutions and various approaches to provide multiple connectivity
solutions from high altitude platforms.
Title : Stratobus TM for 6G Missions
Speaker : Michel Masselin (Stratobus TM, France) Abstract : Stratobus TM is a stratospheric airship that can stay at a fixed point, at 20km altitude for a
whole year. It can embark various sensors and equipment (up to 250 kg and 5 kW) and
perform long-term surveillance missions over a large zones. Stratobus TM is simple to operate,
low in carbon footprint and cost effective compared to satellites, airplanes or UAVs.
Stratobus TM can offer many missions for the :
- The missions for border surveillance or Homeland security
- The environment missions, such as locale oil spills detection and proof, detection of
pollutants and/or small particles, forest fires, toxic algal bloom, precision agriculture,
cadastre high resolution mapping, etc…
- The commercial telecom missions in 4G/5G in direct access or backhauling and
broadband
In this presentation, we would present the following updates about the Stratobus TM program,
which are :
- The main design features of the Stratobus TM platform and the progress made in the
development
- The various commercial telecom missions potentials
- The frequency allocation allowed by ITU
- A preliminary implementation of a 4G/5G/6G direct access payload onboard
Stratobus TM
- A preliminary implementation of a 4G/5G/6G backhaul payload onboard Stratobus TM
Title :
Exclusive First Access to 6G Using Helikite Airborne Base Stations
Speaker : Sandy Allsopp (Allsopp Helikites Limited, Hampshire, England, UK) Abstract : Traditionally, there has always been a long delay between the development of new cellular technology
and its deployment throughout a territory in such density as to make it attractive to new users. This is
because the low height of masts, and their subsequent short radio line-of-sight range, means that huge
numbers of base stations, at huge cost, need to be deployed to give good coverage of an area. This is
very frustrating to many people who need the new technology sooner to improve their businesses and
quality of life.
Airborne Helikite cellular base stations can overcome these problems by providing instant long range
coverage of the latest cellular technology for a limited number of customers. The base stations may be
5G, 6G or any future cellular technology.
Helikites are extraordinary, patented, lighter-than-air hybrid aerodynamic tethered aerostats that are
orders of magnitude smaller, cheaper and easier to use than traditional aerostats. They are able to lift
base stations to great altitude permanently and economically, thus providing a second layer of 6G or 5G
service right over the older 4G infrastructure. The Helikites great altitude ensures complete coverage
over many square miles. So, a customer will immediately have both 4G/5G plus 6G at his disposal
throughout his city or rural areas and will not have to wait until the entire country is linked up with
thousands of mast-sited base stations.
Title :
SuperTower: An Introduction to Tethered Aerial Cell Towers
Speaker : Ben Glass (Altaeros,
Massachusetts, USA) Abstract : Altaeros has pioneered the development of autonomous aerostat systems,
which provide an ideal platform to expand wireless broadband access in
challenging environments. Whether our customers are looking for an
emergency response capability after natural disasters, building an IOT
solution for remote industries, or are bridging the digital divide in
rural communities, Altaeros’ range of SuperTower aerial cell towers
provides an invaluable tool to accelerate the deployment of 4G, 5G and
other future technologies. At the core of all of Altaeros' SuperTower
platforms is our Aerostat Autopilot software which provides multiple
layers of advanced automation and artificial intelligence based
control, driving unparalleled reliability and performance in aerostat
operations. With Aerostat Autopilot, SuperTowers eliminate the
expensive labor required to operate traditional aerostats, which
account for up to 80% of the total cost. Altaeros is delivering the
much needed innovation and operational efficiency to allow the use of
aerostat platforms for telecommunications and other commercial
applications.
Title :
AeroSites: Tethered Lighter-Than-Air RAN Solutions and the Future of Rural Wireless Infrastructure
Speaker : Rob Reagan (RTO Wireless, California, USA) Abstract : Aerostats have been used by the military for communications and surveillance operations for over 50 years. RTO Wireless is leading the effort to convert the military aerostat systems for commercial applications and deployments. RTO provides AT&T FirstNet with aerostats for emergency restoration of wireless networks after significant outages. RTO is working with Microsoft under its Airband program to facilitate Rural Broadband, Sustainability, Digital Alliance and FarmBeats initiatives. RTO is entering a development partnership with Purdue University on using the aerostat for rural broadband and agricultural applications. More Info
18:15 - 18:30 (GMT+1)
Break
18:30 - 19:30 (GMT+1)
Session 5: Impact of Global Connectivity Chair: Muhammed Imran
Title : Sustainability Impacts of Connecting the Unconnected Speaker : William Farr (Facebook Connectivity, California, USA) Abstract : As challenging as the task of connecting the unconnected across the planet is, understanding and accommodating the direct and indirect sustainability impacts associated with progress towards this goal is even more daunting. Sustainability in this context includes not only environmental sustainability, but also social and economic sustainability, e.g., the United Nations seventeen Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 .
Sustainability issues will be increasingly dominant in the 2020’s. In 2019 the top three global risks identified by the “Global Risks Report” relate to climate (global warming & CO2) sustainability. But sustainability goes beyond those associated environmental indicators such as carbon emissions, toxicity, ozone depletion and soil acidification. It includes interconnected economic and social issues such as hunger and poverty, education, gender equality, decent work, responsible consumption, and peace and justice. Connectivity has both positive and negative impacts in all sustainability domains.
Now that more than half of the global population now has access to the internet, connectivity has become the nervous system of our global society. Connectivity is thus central in its impact to sustainability issues. With one billion people coming online between 2014 and 2019, and another billion expected by 2024, mainly in less economically developed regions, the indirect impacts associated with connectivity can exceed the direct impacts of the Information and Communications Technologies industry by one to two orders of magnitude.
As we continue to connect the unconnected, we must make sure those connectivity solutions are also part of sustainability solutions at all levels of community from local to national to international by building a strong and positive role for connectivity in achieving sustainable development goals. We hypothesize that by creating and linking the benefits of connectivity to sustainable development goals we can create increased “demand” that will result in stakeholders creating incentives and actions for expanded connectivity deployments, thus accelerating the task of connecting the unconnected in a globally responsible fashion.
Title : Experiences in Open Innovation International Networks for Providing Access to Internet: A Policy View Speaker : Gonzalo Leon (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain) Abstract : Open innovation models have been implemented since the beginning of this XXI century as a wise approach to accelerate the development of products and services where several partners should cooperate with in order to share knowledge and risks. When this model was pursued at international level for conducting R&D activities the creation of sustainable international cooperation networks, maybe at several levels, was a key factor. Then, partners located in several countries should play specific roles adapted to the service to be created or deployed by keeping proactivity and commitments.
One of the areas where open innovation can play a prominent role is in facilitating connectivity in peri-urban or rural areas by using innovative approaches where several types of partners, public centers, private firms, and specifically citizens, are needed to cope with multidimensional factors to be successful in complex networks of interactions.
This invited speech will summarize the experiences carried out by the UPM during 2018 and 2019 (in several R&D projects) in cooperation with Facebook Connectivity to launch open international networks to expand Internet connectivity with a threefold objective:
- To analyze the advantages of virality models for expanding the access to Internet in specific communities by reducing the acquisition cost of new users and testing expansion metrics.
- To test the involvement of rural communities in the use of innovative bioelectricity generation technologies by combining technical and socioeconomic factors to increase commitments between selected partners.
- To design open innovation-based governance procedures to cooperate remotely with the minimum use of management efforts in order to ensure scalability and adequacy to funding requirements.
The collected experiences are extrapolated to provide an innovative approach for bottom-up public services creation, instead of relying in top-down conventional approaches, based on the involvement of (incentivized) volunteers and the use of data provided by citizens by using their own communication equipment. This approach requires the joint participation of public entities, NGOs, citizens, service providers, and governmental units located in several regions or countries with a permanent coordination scheme to be effective.
Finally, some recommendations are extracted from the policy perspective to ensure the sustainability of innovative bottom-up public services and the capacity to extrapolate results to wider regions. This policy view is provided both at the institutional and governmental level to offer a better understanding of win-win requirements between involved partners.
The winners of the Student and Early-Career Researchers Competition are :
- First Place :
Mohamed Amine Lahmeri (KAUST, Saudi Arabia)
- Second Place : Shuping Dang (KAUST, Saudi Arabia)
- Third Place : Yassine Hmamouche (IMT Atlantique, France)
