ISRO's GSAT-4 to provide computer connectivity in remote areas

Bangalore: India will launch a satellite in June next year which will provide computer connectivity in remote villages, according to the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair.
 
"We are going to launch GSAT-4 which will have digital connectivity on board. It's meant for data transfers from computers at remote villages," Nair told an international conference on e-science and grid computing here on Monday night.

According to ISRO officials, GSAT-4 would be a technology demonstrator with its communication payload consisting of multi-beam Ka-band beam pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload.

According to Nair, the satellite would initially provide computer connectivity to a few hundred remote villages in the country on an experimental basis.

"Ultimately, it has to grow into a national system," he said. A national system would be an initiative whereby satellites would provide such service to all remote villages in the country eventually.
 
Nair said data transfer through satellites is common, as also high bandwidth, point-to-point connectivity and V-Sat terminals but "reaching out to villages and to make sure that villagers benefit from advanced technology of computers, data base and applications that's going to be unique".

"Even today, more than 100,000 villages in the country don't have any form of connectivity".

He also said that the GSAT-4 is a "totally different concept".

"We are now using transponders for sending up the signals and relaying it... Here (in GSAT-4), it's something like on-board switch which will be able to select the data from one point and distribute to other points depending on the connectivity needed".