We are just getting started! Join our event series with 75+ influential speakers now—just $25 for students and $49 for the general public.

On September 28, our event series launched with the 6G Summit on Connecting the Unconnected, a three- part track led by Mohamed-Slim Alouini of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

Our first session, An Overview of the Possibilities, provided insights about the nature of and reasons for the digital divide and key ideas for helping to close it. 

The next two sessions highlighted the technical, economic, and political issues, and solutions for providing the networks that will connect the unconnected. These sessions included:

From the Middle to the Core

Moderator: Ana García Armada, Universidad Carlos de Madrid III

Panelists: Tom Choi, Curvanet; Baris Erkmen, Google X; Anton Monk, ViaSat; Ruth Pritchard-Kelly, OneWeb

It All Begins with Access

Moderator: Andrea Goldsmith, Princeton University

Panelists: Brian Barritt, Facebook; Helka-Liina Määttäsen, Ericcson; Edward John Oughton, George Mason University; Ken Riordan, HAPS Alliance

Our panelists and moderators brought diverse views and deep knowledge to these sessions. To check out their excellent presentations with detailed economic and technical comparisons, please register for The Decade of Digital Inclusion or log into our event platform if you are already registered.

Here are the top five takeaways from our panel of experts:

1.   Techno / Economic Solutions to Connect the Next Billion are Driven by Geography and Income

While a variety of factors determine the technical solutions and business models best suited for an area, most of these variables boil down to geography and income. 

Affordable services in Least Developed Countries (LCDs) may be in the range of $1.50–$4.00/month and possibly even lower, according to Anton Monk. Service provider business models are driven by this average revenue per user (ARPU) and costs, one of the largest of which is spectrum availability (see below). 

Geography is the other major determinant of the best techno/economic solution. This includes population density, distance from metro areas, topology, and altitude. Each of these factors dictates the most efficient and effective network alternatives.

Regardless of geography, we know that powering networks in LCDs is as critical as building them. We need smaller units, powered by alternative sources such as solar—which can be a very expensive power source, as well—bicycle, and other creative means.

2.   There is No One-Size-Fits-All Solution

There are a number of technology options for serving unconnected areas and, as noted above, the best choices depend on geography and income. 

Some technology, such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, can provide critical coverage in areas that are difficult to reach with terrestrial services. According to Tom Choi, we must look critically at the economics. These services may be best suited for enterprises and higher-income consumers, as power and equipment costs are likely too high for lower-income areas. 

Other technologies that can play a role include fixed wireless, high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) systems, wireless optical communications, and more. Detailed discussions of each of these technologies and their markets is in the on-demand replays for these sessions.

Bringing affordable and accessible connectivity to parts of the world where there is none might also mean starting with 4G, which could be a major improvement over the current options. It may mean providing service in living areas and common spaces of homes, rather than in every room or depending on solutions that have slightly less than 99.999% reliability, the gold standard in developed countries.

3.   Uncontested and Uncongested Spectrum Drives Innovative Business Models

Spectrum is one of the top costs in building networks. There are several innovative approaches to making spectrum more readily available and less costly for network providers:

·   Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) is available in the US and enables spectrum sharing with no license needed. This model is being used by wireless ISPs (WISPs) serving rural areas and is leading to innovative business models and service options. Panelists urged other countries to adopt CBRS to speed deployment.

·   Partnering with operators who have spectrum and are not using it.

·   Wireless optical systems have the potential to deliver high throughput, low power consumption and good range. We will learn more as the technology is further deployed.

4.   Serving Unconnected Areas Poses New Regulatory Challenges

Spectrum stands as the single biggest challenge for non-incumbents, while many incumbents – who own spectrum – do not prioritize serving remote or under-connected areas. 

Satellite providers face their own regulatory hurdles, according to Ruth Pritchard-Kelly and Helka-Liina Määttäsen, as requirements from regulators can take a year or more to come down while companies are racing against the clock to build technology. In addition, we need to move to a place where users can buy satellite receivers without a license.

As Edward John Oughton reminds us, telecommunications is a cash cow in many countries, providing funding for housing, sanitation and other basic services. Unless and until money goes back into the infrastructure, if will be difficult to achieve network deployment and affordability goals. 

5.   Everyone Can Play

As Brian Barritt mentions, there are so many ways to get involved in connecting the rest of the world. There is a strong move toward democratization of connectivity and networks. One example is Magma, a community providing open source software to build carrier-grade networks. 

For those who want to pursue a career in the wireless industry, there are so many challenges to solve through wireless. This is the decade where the industry needs students’ ideas, technical expertise and lived experiences.

Connecting the next billion will also require policy, communications and boots on the ground to help consumers connect and become digitally literate. There are roles for all interests and skill sets.

Baris Erkmen provides a good overview of the future we look forward to in which affordable and effective connectivity will leverage many different access technologies and different connections through the network, in a way which is seamless to consumer. While we may think that the opportunity is for the unconnected themselves to get connected, Ken Riordan sums it up well when he says, “The opportunity is for all of us. We, the connected, will be better off when we can hear all voices.”