Rural connectivity will open new opportunities for the communities and will lead to improvement in their quality of life. Internet connectivity will provide people with more options to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Information on healthcare, agriculture, education, employment opportunities, etc. can be accessed by the people through the internet. COVID-19 reinforces the need for affordable connectivity and this effort focuses on the challenges, opportunities and solution in providing sustainable, reliable and affordable connectivity to rural areas.
The goal of the workstream is to provide connectivity to the unconnected and under connected region of the world. Some of the activities and standards this practice is working on are efforts to move the bar to this end.
IEEE P2030.10™ IEEE Draft Standard for DC Microgrids for Rural and Remote Electricity Access Applications
Universal Broadband Service and the Pandemic
This article was originally published in the IEEE Communications Standards Magazine.
“Universal Service” has a long history as a goal for telecommunications networks.