According to MIT’s Technology in Review, Intel has announced plans to sell a specialized Wi-Fi platform later this year that can send data from a city to outlying rural areas tens of miles away, connecting
sparsely populated villages to the Internet.
The technology is called the rural connectivity platform (RCP) and has data rates up to about 6.5 megabits per second, which is good enough for video conferencing and telemedicine.
The RCP is made of a processor, radios,
specialized software, and an antenna, is a cot effective way connect
remote areas.
Intel has installed and tested RCP in India, Panama, Vietnam, and
South Africa. Later this year, the company will sell the device in
India, with a target price below $500.
The point-to-point technology
requires two nodes, providing backhaul
infrastructure for less than $1,000.