Wireless Telecommunications Infrastructure for Rural Communities

Rural community telecommunications services are far behind the state-of-the art as found in urban areas. As a result, rural communities may not participate in the benefits of access to the National Information Infrastructure now being defined. Recent advances in wireless communictions technology, and FCC authorization of Personal Communications Services (PCS), present an opportunity to define a low-cost, high performance infrastructure for voice, data, and video communications. This applied research effort seeks to verify the technical feasibility of wireless local or metropolitan area-network (LAN/MAN) technology as a basis for this infrastructure. A LAN/MAN would function as a real-time community forum where users could access information related to distance learning, health care, local government activities, local community activities, and local business activities; and also obtain high-speed connectivity to other networks such as the Internet. The Phase I research will define the functional elements of a system to provide such services. A review of recent research has identified pertinent technologies and product types that will be modeled and analyzed. This will validate key aspects of system architecture and define key performance requirements for system elements. Planned coordination with residents of rural Colorado communities will verify that the proposed services are appropriate for the rural markets.