New IIT Bombay-led network standard offers to improve rural connectivity | Explained Premium

Discover how the IEEE-2061 standard aims to provide affordable rural connectivity through innovative network architecture solutions.

Mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives. We use them to communicate with our friends and family, conduct financial transactions through UPI, connect to the Internet, etc. The connectivity for these devices is enabled via a cellular (mobile) wireless network.

A cellular network, such as a 5G network, includes a set of network equipment connected by communication links. They work together to move data between different devices and to other networks, e.g., the Internet. A cellular network can be divided into two sub-networks: the access network (AN) and the core network (CN).

The AN consists of base stations that provide wireless connectivity to mobile devices in a limited geographical area, called the coverage area. A network operator usually installs base stations across the length and breadth of the region to be covered. You would have seen these stations in the form of towers with boxes with antennae on top.

The CN of a cellular network has equipment that provides connectivity to other networks, such as the Internet. Unlike AN base stations, the CN operates in a central location, and possibly far from any of the base stations. The CN is linked to a base station by an optical fibre link called the backhaul.

Data from a user’s device must pass through both a base station and the CN to reach its desired destination, such as the Internet or another user’s device. Even if two users are nearby and are connected to the same or adjacent base stations, the data must pass through the central CN. It may not be apparent to the reader but the CN is essential to support user mobility, a key feature offered by cellular networks.

Even though cellular networks seem omnipresent, their deployment and use vary significantly between urban and rural areas. This is especially true in developing countries like India. According to the latest Telecom Subscription Data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, urban tele-density in the country is 127% while the rural tele-density is 58%. Put another way, on average, an urban user has one or more mobile connections (1.27) whereas only one out of two persons (0.58) is connected. This data suggests an urban-rural digital divide. The situation in most other developing countries is similar or worse.

An important factor impeding the deployment and/or use of cellular networks in rural areas is the relatively lower income of the people here. A big chunk of the rural population finds mobile services unaffordable. Other relevant characteristics of rural areas are lower population density, populations distributed in clusters (villages) often separated by vast empty spaces, and remoteness. Taking fibre infrastructure to a far-off village, in the Himalayas, say, to connect the base station there may neither be cost-effective nor easy.