A telemedicine WiFi network optimized for long distances in the Amazonian jungle of Peru

Sharing low-cost wireless infrastructures with telecommunications operators to bring 3G services to rural communities

“…Initiatives such as CuscoSur Network [17] and Napo Network [2] have motivated recent changes in the Peruvian legislation. Now the Peruvian law defines a new role named "Rural Mobile Infrastructure Operator", forcing mobile operators to use existing rural telecommunication infrastructure (such as community networks) for backhauling when providing mobile services in rural areas.…”

“…It was extended in the next years to cover more villages and to include schools, municipalities and police offices. In the Napo Network [2] the process has been similar, although the extension of the telemedicine network to other uses has started only recently. In both cases, they have recently begun to worry about QoS mechanism.…”

“…However, difficulties in these networks often arise later in the development of an efficient maintenance model [1] that ensures funds for the OPEX. Sharing the network with a private sector, such as telecommunications operators, may be essential to procure the resources necessary for network maintenance and to extend the utility of the network so that communication services may be offered to all inhabitants [2].…”

Interdisciplinary Alliances to Deploy Telemedicine Services in Isolated Communities: The Napo Project Case

“…In the first decade of the XXI century, some alternative telecommunications networks were pushed by technological groups that were sensitive to the reality of unconnected remote areas; these pilots showed, firstly, the technical difficulties of deploying low-cost infrastructures over regions that lack electricity, access to existing supporting structures for telecommunications equipment, technical staff for maintenance, etc. Clear examples are the first telemedicine networks promoted by our consortia in Latin America [2,3], experiences promoted by KTH in Africa [4], or networks deployed by the TIER group in Asia [5], among others. Some of the most persistent groups investigated how to make those pilots sustainable and went beyond the technical issues, proposing appropriate maintenance models that took into account the hazardous conditions of telecommunications infrastructures in remote, underserved rural areas; the TIER group [5] and the EHAS group [6] are only two examples among many others.…”

TDMA MAC Protocols for WiFi-based Long Distance Networks: A Survey

“…Many WiLD networks including research test beds are deployed in different corners of the world. Few notable real life WiLD deployments include Digital Gangetic Plains [1] in Uttar Pradesh, India, Aravind Network for Telemedicine [22] in Tamil Nadu, India, Long Distance Network in Amazonian Jungle of Peru [18] for telemedicine and telephony, and Akshaya Network [13] for e-governance in Kerala, India. Several research test beds have also been set up in recent times.…”