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title: Range Networks and UC Berkeley Deliver Low Cost Cellular Service to Rural Indonesia - Developing Telecoms
description: A low-cost cellular service is enabling communities in rural Papua, Indonesia, to make local calls and send SMS messages for the first time. 
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 [Wireless Networks](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/wireless-networks.html)## Range Networks and UC Berkeley Deliver Low Cost Cellular Service to Rural Indonesia

 

 

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A low-cost cellular service is enabling communities in rural Papua, Indonesia, to make local calls and send SMS messages for the first time...

A low-cost cellular service is enabling communities in rural Papua, Indonesia, to make local calls and send SMS messages for the first time. The deployment is a collaboration between cellular systems provider Range Networks and UC Berkeley’s Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions (TIER) research group.

In mid-2012 a wireless Internet service provider in rural Papua contacted the TIER group about setting up a low power GSM base station in a remote village in the Central Highlands of Papua. The village is a 4-hour drive from the nearest town with cellular service. The team used a customised 10W Range Networks 5150 BTS mounted in a weatherproof box to provide voice and SMS service.

The network was deployed for one-tenth the price of traditional equipment and after two months of successful operation, the network is profitable and helps fund a local school. TIER Researcher Kurtis Heimerl led the project.

Powered by a small (5kVA) hydroelectric generator, the network consumes minimal power. The service provides coverage to the central village and another town about a mile away, with a maximum coverage radius of 5 kilometres.

By reducing the network architectural components and the need to backhaul local calls, Range Networks was able to lower the cost of implementation and maintenance. The firm’s OpenBTS platform allows expensive VSAT backhaul to be minimised by keeping local calls local. In this case, VSAT is only used to provide global SMS service.

 

 

   
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