Currently around 45% of the world’s population, some 3.4Bn people, does not have access to affordable internet connectivity. With internet and particularly broadband access being shown as a major force for development, this “global digital divide” is hindering sustainable, equitable development.
The ‘problem terrain’ of technical or economic connectivity is found outside urban and suburban population concentrations, not just in the developing world but also in pockets in even the most developed countries. Satellites can provide coverage virtually everywhere, but current solutions remain too expensive for widespread two-way communication. However, satellite downlinks can be combined with lower capacity, but cheaper, other solutions (primarily Mobile), to form more affordable Hybrid Networks.
Forsway, Europe’s leading hybrid network solution provider, has developed a unique broadband communications solution, combining existing satellite and terrestrial (e. g. mobile, ADSL) services to provide affordable digital broadband access. Our Xtend solution can bridge the digital divide now, rather than when new infrastructure (often expensive, fibre based) projects are ready – if they at all will be implemented in some underserved areas.
In this Phase 1 Feasibility Study, we have examined the commercial viability of our Forsway Next Generation “Xtend” Hybrid broadband solution. Our existing and inbound customers have expressed enhanced requirements to meet the rapidly changing satcom market. To realise the full potential of our solution we need to a) move up the value chain to a broader solution platform, b) integrate new innovation and features, c) achieve an optimised market and product positioning. We have validated both the commercial/market feasibility and economic/financial feasibility of Forsway’s NextGen Xtend in extensive consultation with customers, end users, operators, and other industry stakeholders and experts.
Our study supports the feasibility of our objective of deploying one million Hybrid Broadband Connections (HBC) globally in the next five years (by 2025). With each HBC serving multiple individuals, this will result in bridging the digital divide for millions of people, creating huge economic and societal value in the underserviced markets of emerging economies in the developing world, as well as rural and remote regions in the developed world. It will generate substantial revenue for us, create almost 30 new jobs (mostly in Europe) and advance European leadership in Hybrid Communications. It will also create a further 200 indirect job opportunities globally, many of them in emerging economies.
