Internet Access in Challenging Environments

The aim of this book is to provide in depth understanding of the environments which are challenging for Internet access, and to review the current trends and state-of-the-art solutions and approaches which can be used to provide Internet access in these environments. In addition, contributions will be invited which can offer more visionary solutions. For instance, it is likely that many solutions would be considered within the emerging 5G systems, however, some contributions may go beyond the 5G networks and offer futuristic solutions from the 6G communications. The key requirement for all contributions to be considered in the planned book is that they specifically address Internet access in one or more of the challenging environments defined in the first part of the book. Considering the challenging environments is important as these were largely ignored in the current and past research and neglected in the telecommunications industry. Despite a continuing strong growth of wireless access networks, these networks still primarily target areas with high density of users, since it is where the economic value can be most easily extracted. This leaves behind users who are geographically scattered and in small numbers. Such digital divide cannot be easily overcome without more sophisticated technology and various incentives as many conventional solutions are not profitable enough to generate interest from network operators. Thus, Internet access in challenging environments is not well understood as it requires multi-disciplinary approaches and solutions and innovative use of existing technology, and devising radically new business models, regulations and policies.