Low-Cost Internet Access Using Mechanical Backhaul

Google TechTalks March 22, 2006 S. Keshav University of Waterloo ABSTRACT Rural kiosks in developing countries provide a variety of services such as providing birth and death certificates, land records, and consulting on medical and agricultural problems. Fundamental to a kiosk's operation is its connection to the Internet for bidirectional information transfer. Network connectivity today is primarily provided by dialup lines, though Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) or long-distance wireless is also being deployed. These solutions tend to be both expensive and failure prone. We propose the use of buses and cars as `mechanical backhaul' devices to carry data to and from a village and...