Trends and potential for the use of satellites for rural telecommunications in developing countries

Identifies those technological trends which have the potential of giving the satellite solution a substantial economic advantage over the terrestrial one. Significant advances have already been achieved in very small aperture terminal (VSAT) technology for burst mode TDM-TDMA transmission for low density data (64 kbps or less). Progressive reductions in voice encoded data rate from 64 kbps to 32, 16 and eventually to 9.6 kbps could help bring VSATs into the rural telecommunications market. Further, improvements in spectrum usage efficiency from TDMA or from more advanced modulation techniques like spread spectrum, combined with higher EIRP transponders, could significantly reduce both the cost of earth stations and space segment tariffs to the point where the economics of rural telephony and low-speed data services become attractive. However, it is important to consider exactly what impact such changes in satellite communication facilities could have, based on as assessment of the total requirements of local networks