Commercially viable 2G/3G satellite backhauled connectivity for remote communities

Altobridge, a company based in Tralee, Ireland, has developed a highly efficient solar powered, mobile phone base station that connects isolated communities via satellite backhaul. Known as the Altobridge lite-site™, the unit enables mobile network operators to deliver cost-effective and commercially viable mobile voice and mobile broadband connectivity to unconnected communities.

ESA played a role in bringing this technology to the marketplace by providing some of the research and development support through its ARTES programme.

“When we reviewed this company’s product and proposal, we were pleased to provide R&D support because the Altobridge lite-site™ brings connectivity to rural communities that would otherwise wait years to be connected,” explains Michele Le Saux head of the ESA Telecom ground segment section. “Altobridge technology makes intelligent use of satellite bandwidth and has proven that a tough business case can work even with low average revenue per user.”

ESA supported Altobridge in implementing a number of new features; some in software, some in hardware. Software features included local switching of calls and intelligent handover to other nodes in the PLMN. In order to reduce deployment costs, the remote gateway unit was integrated into a single board computer contained inside the pico (low power/short range) Base Transceiver Station (BTS).

Through the ARTES programme, Altobridge was able to demonstrate that mobile services can be provided while making efficient use of satellite bandwidth through the Altobridge patented Call handling Model and Signalling Encoding Scheme. This scheme ensures that the system uses the least possible satellite bandwidth while supporting all necessary signaling for compatibility with PLMN requirements such as mobile authentication.

To date, Altobridge lite-site™ solutions have been successfully deployed in Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands and recently throughout Northern Iraq on the Asiacell network to expand its mobile coverage in rural Iraq.

In June this year, Altobridge was recognised by the World Economic Forum as a 2012 technology pioneer. The annual WEF awards recognise companies whose technology has the “promise of significantly impacting the way business and society operate”. Previous winners include Google, Twitter, Foursquare, Spotify, OpenDNS and Brightcove.

Commenting on the collaboration, Mike Fitzgerald, Altobridge Chief Executive said, “Several years ago we visited Malaysian Borneo and sat with unconnected communities there, gathering first hand, their communications requirements. We then worked hand-in-hand with the service provider to understand the unique challenges they faced in providing low cost mobile connectivity to remote communities. ESA has been a vital supporter in all key stages of R&D in this regard and without their support and expertise, getting to market would have been impossible”

For more information see the links in the column to the right.

Published 29 August 2012
Last updated at 06 August 2014 - 12:08