Keywords

1 Introduction

1.1 Connectivity Expectations

Humanity continues to make major strides in the field of information technology. The promise of better communication speeds and increased bandwidth has accelerated the development of innovative technical solutions like as artificial intelligence, augmented reality apps, 3D printing, remote surgical operations, and different smart city applications. These breakthroughs, together referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), are projected to cause a paradigm shift in living (Schwab 2016; Sheikh and Halima 2020). By introducing such breakthroughs, humanity’s reliance on connectivity would be increased as well. Connectivity service providers are striving to introduce connectivity innovations that would meet future customer requirements (Yarali 2022).

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN specialized organization for information and communication technologies, is actively debating the issue of the digital divide: countries that are much less connected to the internet than the rest of the world. The digital gap is a serious issue that threatens the global development and diffusion of the 4IR. ITU member states are seriously considering fixing this issue in partnership with the ICT industry.

1.2 The Regulatory Framework for ICT in the UAE

ICT is a critical component of any community. Additionally, it is understood that providing ICT services is a very profitable endeavor, and leaving the business unchecked could result in chaos, lowering the quality of given services. As a result, governments typically establish a regulatory agency to oversee the information technology sector, with the goal of facilitating the supply of important ICT services to society. In the UAE, this function is performed by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA). According to the UAE’s Telecom Law, every firm wishing to provide ICT services in the UAE must get a TDRA-issued telecoms license. These “licensees” must adhere to severe terms and conditions in order to ensure service quality and to provide services to the majority of the country’s population. Simultaneously, the TDRA plays a critical role in safeguarding licensee interests by promoting “balanced competition” in the sector. Too many ICT solution providers would erode the licensee’s market share, ultimately leading in service degradation.

1.3 The Underserved Market

The UAE recognized the critical nature of ensuring dependable connection in order to prepare for the 4IR applications’ integration into society. Providing such creative solutions to a subset of the UAE population would be socially unacceptable. It would also undermine the objective of the UAE Government’s Centennial Plan 2071 to embrace a high-quality lifestyle for the UAE society (UAE Portal 2022). The UAE’s current internet connectivity is considered to be among the greatest in the world. In January 2021, the UAE ranked first globally in terms of internet speed, with an average of 183 megabits per second (Ookla 2021).

There are always people who are not well connected in every country (Henri 2020). Although the average internet speed in the UAE is considered the best in the world, some underserved markets are still identified. Generally, the ICT industry makes many efforts to provide connectivity solutions in urban areas in anticipation of the 4IR. However, not many efforts are being made to ensure the connectivity of underserved markets (Sheikh and Halima 2020). Most of the time, companies are driven by profitability. If the decision on service provisioning was left entirely to the private sector, ICT services would have been provided only to urban areas: regions with a dense population that ensure a good Return of Investment (ROI) for the laid ICT infrastructure. Therefore, regulators such as the TDRA ensure that allowing entities to provide ICT services comes with conditions to ensure good service coverage. However, regulators cannot force any service providers to provide services. Because of investment costs (Lin et al. 2021), there are always areas with a minor population that would be very difficult to reach with ICT infrastructure, such as The Empty Quarter Desert in the case of the UAE. We define these underserved markets as locations where the broadband connectivity speeds do not yet reach the expected minimum requirements for 4IR applications to be provided. These underserved markets are categorized into three categories:

  • Rural villages.

  • Remote agricultural/industrial locations.

  • Vehicles in motion.

The first category of underserved markets is the rural villages. These villages are either far away from urban areas or with rugged geographical terrain, making it unfeasible for licensees to provide high-speed internet connectivity. Some of these villages have connectivity to cater to the license conditions of the licensees. However, this connectivity (usually a 3G network) would not suffice for the future connectivity expectations of the 4IR. The second category of underserved markets is the agricultural fields and industrial locations, such as oil rigs. Usually, these areas do not have a considerable population. No one resides in these locations, and the only people in the area are the workers in these fields. However, the expectations of 4IR demand for availability of good connectivity in these locations. The third category of underserved markets is the vehicles in motion. Connectivity is not a concern for vehicles within urban areas, such as cars, public buses, and metros within cities. For vehicles that move across Country borders (transportation trucks and trains), ships, and planes, minimum connectivity is currently ensured by international regulatory bodies to guarantee the safety of life applications. However, this minimum connectivity will not suffice for the provisioning of 4IR solutions. The vehicles themselves will need sufficient connectivity for IoT applications. Their passengers will also need the required connectivity to ensure the continuation of 4IR applications, which are expected to be an essential part of future life. Besides the crew of these vehicles, the primarily affected users in this category are travelers onboard planes, trains, and cruise ships. These passengers expect to continue their ordinary life that is (expectedly) filled with 4IR use cases while in transit.

1.4 Current Connectivity

In the UAE, standard internet connectivity is provided by licensed Internet Service Providers (ISPs). ISPs usually offer broadband services to fixed locations using fiber cables laid underground (fiber to home). For areas not yet served by fiber cables, ISPs provide other wireless connectivity technologies, such as Fixed LTE. These terrestrial wireless connectivity solutions are considered suitable for the expected future connectivity requirements. Also, mobile broadband is being provided by the existing ISPs using mobile technologies. Current mobile broadband solutions are considered sufficient to support today’s connectivity requirements. For example, 4G connectivity would be sufficient to stream live videos while in motion (Zhang et al. 2018). However, it would not entertain the requirements of the expected future technologies, such as autonomous vehicles. Therefore, connectivity advancements, such as 5G, are being introduced to cater for the future connectivity requirements (Mumtaz et al. 2020). For the identified underserved markets, these futuristic connectivity solutions are not currently provided by the existing ISPs.

Another connectivity solution exists for the underserved markets by licensed satellite service providers. Internet connectivity can be provided currently by satellites that are located in the GSO. However, these connectivity solutions suffer from propagation delays (Lin et al. 2021), and connectivity speeds are less than the average mobile broadband provided by the existing ISPs and much less than the minimum required connectivity to provide 4IR applications.

2 Literature Review

To tackle the national digital divide problem, we attempt to look into available connectivity solutions by reviewing the literature. The following possibilities were identified.

2.1 Terrestrial Backhauling

A possible solution to the stated issue would be to enable the establishment of infrastructure by existing ISPs. Typically, the reason why present ISPs are unable to provide critical services to underserved communities is the high cost of establishing the necessary infrastructure. At the moment, connectivity is provided via four distinct forms of terrestrial infrastructure (Lambrechts and Sinha 2019):

  • a mobile network that adheres to globally recognized connection standards, such as 4G and, more recently, 5G

  • copper cables

  • fiber optic cables

  • fixed wireless access

However, new technologies have recently emerged for terrestrial infrastructures, such as Long Range (LORA), Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT), Multi-hop Wi-Fi technology, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Light Fidelity (Li-Fi), and Visible lightwave and Infrared (IR) (Challita and Saad 2017; Lambrechts and Sinha 2019; Sheikh and Halima 2020). Using combinations of these advancements could help ISPs provide the required backhauling for underserved markets for a low cost. Lambrechts and Sinha (2019) demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of some of the infrastructure solutions (including conventional satellite connectivity) in the following comparative table (Table 1):

Table 1 Advantages and disadvantages of infrastructure solutions
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Taking such an approach to solving the national digital divide problem would be the easiest from the regulatory perspective. The problem would be resolved through investments by the existing ISPs with no intervention required from the regulator.

2.2 Satellite Connectivity by NGSO Satellites

The utilization of the latest developments in satellite communications could be another solution to the identified problem. Many initiatives started to emerge involving the use of NGSO satellites to provide broadband connectivity. The most significant advantage of NGSO satellites over GSO satellites is that they are much closer to the Earth’s surface: NGSO is 2000 km above sea level, while GSO is at an elevation of around 36,000 km above sea level. Figure 1 shows the different orbits available for satellites around the Earth and their typical utilization. Coupled with the latest advancements in satellite technologies, low Earth orbit allows for much faster communications with more reliability and higher capacity, as propagation delay is dramatically less than the propagation delay for a GSO satellite (Henri 2020; Lin et al. 2021). Initially, two-way satellite communications could be provided by GSO satellite only to fixed locations on Earth, such as services provided by Intelsat. Later development in satellite communications allowed connectivity between GSO satellites and mobile terminals, with low speed and data rates. Now, we are on the verge of the most significant development in satellite communications so far, with capabilities comparable to terrestrial radiocommunication. If we could utilize this innovation by providing such connectivity within the UAE, it would be a solution to provide the required connectivity to the underserved market. Along with the advancements that improved connectivity via satellite came the dramatic reduction in the cost of building and launching small NGSO satellites. As a result, we now have satellite connectivity that could be provided anywhere on Earth with comparable capabilities to terrestrial networks and comparable prices.

Fig. 1
An illustration of 3 different orbits from Earth and their utilization. a. Low Earth Orbit 160 to 2000 kilometers, Shenzhou spaceships, international space station, Communication satellite, Hubble space telescope, Sun-synchronous satellites, and Polar-orbiting satellites. b. Medium Earth Orbit 2000 to 35786 kilometers, Semi-synchronous orbit satellite navigation system, G S P, Beidou, G L O N A S S, Galileo. c. High Earth orbit 35786 kilometers, Geosynchronous and geostationary satellites.

Source: (Lu et al. 2019, p. 93,474).

Distance of different orbits from Earth and their typical utilization

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Two solutions could be considered for the utilization of satellite connectivity to resolve the national digital divide issue. The first solution is to provide satellite backhauling to existing service providers that are licensed in the UAE. The second solution could be to provide services to end-user customers directly from satellite operators.

2.2.1 Satellite Backhauling by NGSO Satellites

Satellite backhauling is already being considered by many terrestrial telecommunication service providers around the world. Satellite backhauling is regarded as a major part of the business model for many satellite operators. Typically, these backhauling solutions allow service providers to provide their services in remote locations, which would be cheaper than laying down the required cable infrastructure for the service. So far, satellite backhauling was through GSO satellites, and the quality of services provided through this backhauling would not be comparable to standard terrestrial connectivity.

With NGSO satellite connectivity, competitive services could be provided to the identified underserved markets. Also, there will not be a requirement to amend the existing regulatory framework by the TDRA, as the existing ISPs will provide the services to the public. Some NGSO satellite operators, such as OneWeb (Henri 2020), include the possibility of providing backhauling services to existing ISPs. One disadvantage in this arrangement is that the NGSO satellite operators would usually prefer providing the services directly to end-users, as their connectivity capabilities are similar to terrestrial networks. Direct service to end-users would be more profitable than leasing some satellite capacity to terrestrial service providers. Hence, there is a probability of not reaching an acceptable agreement between the two parties, or the commercial arrangement might not be feasible to end-users.

2.2.2 End-User Service Provisioning by NGSO Satellites

As satellite connectivity became more attractive through NGSO satellites, it opened the opportunity for NGSO satellite operators to directly provide connectivity services to end-users. Some NGSO satellite operators are taking this approach in providing their services globally, such as Starlink (Starlink 2021). The satellite industry has recently realized this solution, and efforts have been made recently to align satellite connectivity with the terrestrial broadband connectivity standards. This solution is also recognized as the only connectivity possibility for the third category of underserved markets, which is the vehicles in motion (Lin et al. 2021).

Though it is more convenient and commercially attractive for the satellite operator to adopt this approach, it has many challenges. First of all, similar to the UAE, there is a requirement to obtain a telecommunications service provisioning license in many countries worldwide, in addition to satellite signal landing rights. The satellite operator has to approach every regulatory body in all countries in which they wish to provide their services. There is also a significant probability that they will not be able to receive the required approvals. Another challenge is the compliance with various regulatory requirements in every country, which could create a technical challenge for the NGSO satellite operator. It might not be possible to control the satellite transmissions differently for signals received from different adjacent countries.

Starlink is one of the latest promising initiatives for NGSO satellite connectivity. It is a project launched by SpaceX, a pioneering entity in the space industry, owned by the entrepreneur Elon Musk. Starlink is promising internet connectivity with speeds ranging from 50 to 150 Mbps (Starlink 2021). As the company plans to launch thousands of satellites to provide connectivity, the connectivity speed is expected to increase with more satellites launched. This expectation is recognized as technically correct, but we will not go into these technical details within this paper. The service price will be $99 per month, in addition to an initial investment of $499 for the receiving kit (Sheetz 2020). Table 2 illustrates the differences between the three identified solutions in this study.

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Table 2 Comparison between the available solutions
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3 Conclusion

ICT advancements have enabled the development of novel methods for connecting previously unconnected places. As the global society is worried about the digital divide phenomenon, the TDRA, as the UAE’s regulator of the ICT sector, should ensure that no location inside the UAE is unconnected or poorly connected. Addressing this national digital divide is crucial for the UAE’s 4IR applications and use cases to be successfully deployed. We examined various solutions available on the market now in this study. We compared the various solutions. Additional research is required to determine the financial impact of applying these solutions on the ICT market and existing ISPs.

After comparing the various solutions identified, we advocate delivering NGSO satellite connectivity to end customers in the identified underserved markets. This method is widely considered as the sole viable option for providing connectivity to moving cars. Additionally, the service is supplied at a price comparable to what is already offered by established ISPs. The network speed currently available is expected to be sufficient for 4IR applications. Additionally, the speed of connectivity is predicted to rise as the number of satellites launched increases.

Until now, the UAE has awarded licenses to particular ISPs in order to limit the number of service providers and maintain market stability. The TDRA may contemplate service offering to certain locations/markets within the UAE. For instance, a license could be granted to deliver Broadband Services within airplanes in the UAE or Internet of Things services in UAE oilfields. Numerous points need to be resolved before pitching this proposal, including the market share of existing operators in the targeted markets, the influence on revenue generation for existing operators, and the predicted service enhancement for the targeted market.

It is critical to note that we are not limited to a single solution, since multiple solutions could be adopted to ensure redundancy and the availability of alternatives (Lambrechts and Sinha 2019). Additionally, to this method, a combination of terrestrial backhauling systems could be used. This, however, will depend on operators’ willingness to invest in these infrastructure solutions based on their expected return on investment.