Broadband Access for Rural Regeneration with DVB-RCS

The objectives of the BARRD project were the integration and trial of a communications system that exploits the unique features of two wireless technologies. The system was expected to be particularly relevant to some rural communities, which are suffering, when compared with urban communities, from a lack of broadband communications (the so-called digital divide). The new system provides a broadband system that is easy and quick to install. The system can be shared by end users making it cost effective. The expected benefits brought by the project are the availability of cost-effective broadband communications in small rural communities that are, and will remain, outside the reach of typical terrestrial communications networks. Further support is expected for the growing trend of knowledge-based workers migrating from the cities to the countryside, and for the regeneration of rural economies. The project also aimed to extend the range of applications and hence market for satellite technologies.