Remote area communications system “could save millions”

Aug 01, 2005

Researchers at the University of Wollongong (UOW) are testing a revolutionary system that would deliver inexpensive and reliable voice and internet services to remote areas of Australia.

Sparsenet, which stands for Sparse Ad-hoc Networks for Deserts, has the potential to save the Federal Government and Telstra millions of dollars by providing a relatively inexpensive solution to the problem of providing telecommunications services to Australia’s remote communities.

UOW’s Telecommunications and Information Technology Research (TITR) Institute is conducting the trials for the project which is being co-ordinated by the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in Alice Springs.

Project leader Dr Mehran Abolhasan, from TITR, said the Sparesnet is being developed in response to the need to improve telecommunications for Aboriginal communities in remote locations.

However, the technology would have much wider applications for other communities in remote areas such as mines and cattle stations.

“Many of the remote Aboriginal communities have primitive services which puts them at a considerable disadvantage. There might be one public phone and not many private phones,” Dr Abolhasan said. “They are relying on 20-year-old networks with no capacity for the internet.”

He said some communities had access to satellite communications, but this was expensive and reliant on government funding which may not always be available.

Working with project partner, the Alice Springs-based Centre for Appropriate Technology and the Desert Knowledge CRC, TITR is researching ways to extend the reach of the existing networking infrastructure within and between remote communities of Australia.

“The system could use mobile phone units as carriers in a network which passes a signal from handset to handset to stationary wireless devices,” Dr Abolhasan said. “Clever software manages the calls through this dynamic network and picks the best route, without phone users even being aware that the call is being routed through their phone or network. All they have to do is leave their phone switched on.”

Dr Abolhasan said Sparsenet could also use static phones in houses for this repeater function. “If you set up in a house you could have internet access and a phone line as well as being part of the network for other users. The infrastructure costs are low, so I would imagine the Government and Telstra will be very pleased to see this technology come into use as they are obliged to provide services to these remote communities. It could save them millions of dollars.”

Dr Abolhasan said the concept would be trialled in Wollongong over the next six months.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Dr Mehran Abolhasan on 02 42213347.

PHOTOS: The UOW Media Unit can supply high resolution photographs of Dr Abolhasan on request. Please email media@uow.edu.au