Low cost broadband access for everyone

Press release
Fornebu
3 minute read
The EU funded Integrated Project BROADWAN has started. The project targets low cost broadband access solutions for everyone with the ambition of positioning European industry in the lead. The consortium comprises 25 partners from 10 countries including operators, industry, academia, and consultancy.

The EU-funded Integrated Project "Broadband services for everyone over fixed wireless access networks (BROADWAN)" started on 1 December 2003. The main goals are:

  • Development of an economical, realistic network architecture for the provision of true broad-band services for all citizens in Europe.
  • Positioning of European industry in the lead for next generation broadband fixed wireless access (BFWA) solutions.
  • Motivating advanced utilisation of broadband services at all levels of the society by per-forming demonstrations and trials in some rural areas.
  • The utilisation of broadband networks is becoming increasingly more important for the development of European society. Broadband services help and may even be absolutely necessary, to main-tain and increase the everyday quality of life irrespective of living area. Business, organi-sations, education, health care, culture, and community authorities take more and more ad-vantage of broadband networks. The realisation of a European-wide broadband network is bene-ficial to the people as well as business and in-dustry without dam-aging the environ-ment.

    Broadband technology helps European busi-ness and society in general, and radio-based technology in particular has the poten-tial of improving third world societies dra-matically.

    BROADWAN, being an Integrated Project, approaches a wide range of tasks and the main goal may be reformulated to get things moving in the broadband access area with an em-phasis on wireless in hybrid solutions. Besides having a wide-ranging approach BROADWAN also makes in-depth investigations and developments such as inno-vative heterogeneous low-cost architecture to reach everyone, automatic software tools of cost-optimised hybrid network planning and next generation wireless access at both high (42 GHz) and low frequen-cies (5GHz). BROADWAN launches several demonstrations and trials, workshops, and introduces a new wireless forum for providing public information, training of users and builders or suppliers, as well as promoting broadband access in general.

    For regularly updated information and a full list of partners, please visit the web-site broadwan.org .

    Contact person : Terje Tjelta, Telenor R&D ( terje.tjelta@telenor.com )