Page 108 - SAMENA Trends - March-April 2022

SAMENA TRENDS

ARTICLE

The New Economics Of Cellular Backhaul

Fast, reliable, and aordable broadband internet access provides
numerous societal and cultural benefits including improved
economic opportunities, better access to health, education, and
government services, nearly unlimited entertainment options, and
much more.
Rural and remote populations may not have
reliable internet access for years to come.

Nearly four billion people worldwide still do not have reliable
access to broadband internet, and despite the heroic upgrades
made by network providers over the past few years, just 50
percent of worldwide mobile connections used 4G as of 2020.
Only 72 percent of urban households and 37 percent of rural
households across the world have broadband access at home,
and in developing countries, these numbers are even lower (65
percent and 28 percent, respectively).

Technological advancements have made building a cell site easier
and cheaper than ever before, but the cost of connecting those
towers to the core network can be prohibitively high, given the
cost of running fiber to each cell tower. If nothing can be done to
reduce the price of middle-mile broadband connectivity, the rural
and remote world will remain unconnected.

Christophe Bauer
Vice President, Commercial Sales
Astranis

108 MARCH-APRIL 2022