Tuesday, August 30, 2011

VSAT for Rural Egypt... Better Than Nothing?

When I read in the news this morning that a new deal was reached to provide broadband access to never-before-serviced areas of Egypt, I got excited. That is, until I read the sub-heading. It seems that Egyptsat and Skylogic have reached a deal reported over $20 Million to provide satelite broadband to rural Egypt.

First of all, to be fair we have note that the term "rural" as it applies to a desert climate is not quite the same as when we use it in the U.S. Over half of Egypt has a population density averaging 5 people or less per square mile. of course, that doesn't mean there are households of 5 every mile. It means there are communities of 500 that are 100 miles apart.

So, when columnist Robert Briel reported that the deal would "provide broadband services to users beyond reach of terrestrial or wireless networks across Egypt" it's not too hard to imagine the accuracy of his statement. Remember that even wireless broadband needs wires as a backbone. It would seem obvious, then, that satellite broadband is the only answer.

But what have we forgotten? What about the costs to install thousands of satellite dishes? Maintain them? Service them? Will a customer be served well over time to have invested in a dish that will need replaced every 3 to 5 years (or more frequently in the desert climate). When we consider the long-term cost of the local access amortized over time, the reality is that laying a grid of fiber today could pay for itself in under a decade--which is less than 1/3rd it's expected service life. Is VSAT the best option that rural Egypt really has?

Labels: Egypt Internet, Fixed Wireless Broadband, satellite broadband, VSAT