Huawei has released a rural network solution, RuralStar Lite, that is tailored to cost-efficiently bring voice and mobile broadband services to rural villages with a population of 500 to 1,000 people.
It also is designed to keep the return on investment (ROI) period within three years for operators. RuralStar Lite has so far been successfully deployed in Zambia. In that deployment the system was able to extend voice and data services to 500 to 1,000 users in a village covering a radius of 1 km to 2 km.
RuralStar Lite features a power consumption of as low as 200 W, and is fitted with four solar panels. It allows all related equipment to be installed on poles with a height of 6 m to 9 m, without the need to install supporting rods and build fences.
Huawei notes that a Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) survey concludes that there are still more than 700 million people globally without any access to mobile network coverage, most of them living in rural areas, representing a pressing demand for mobile communication.
