"People living in hilly terrain are not in the minds of telecom planners and it is precisely for them that I have designed the Micro Community Communication Nodes (MCN)," said Samudra E. Haque, managing director, Pradeshta Ltd, Bangladesh.
Explaining his innovation for which patent papers have been filed in USA, Bangladesh and India, he said, "Traditionally, the switch, distribution and transmission of a communication network are three separate systems that results in capacity loss. I have integrated them into one in the MCN."
The lightweight MCN stands on a tripod and can easily be set up in remote and inaccessible areas, so that the community there can access the Net, telephone and even satellite channels. Haque's system is a portable and versatile broadband multi- service communication network architecture for deployment in a large geographic area at low cost. The system consists of two telephone lines, one line each for video and Internet. A minimum of five-to-six MCNs are to be set up, each at a distance of 16 km. The MCNs are democratically connected, that is, even if one MCN fails, the communication network still functions, using the other MCNs.
According to Haque, after tying with a gateway provider, the whole network is capable of delivering 3 Mbps, of which 1.5 Mbps will be taken for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the balance can be used for variety of applications such as accessing the web, radio broadcast or TV telecast.
The lightweight MCNs can also be mounted on a floatable base -- tied to a strong pole or tree -- so that even during floods, the communication network does not fail. With suitable links, the network can be linked to major cities around the areas in which the MCNs are located.
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