•Notícia

The European Union (EU) provides specific targeted support to projects addressing the deployment of telecommunications technologies beyond its borders. One of these projects is Tucan3G, the first Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) initiative in the area of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to be coordinated by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) in collaboration with non-EU partners.

The project, which is directed by the researcher Josep Vidal from the UPC’s Department of Signal Theory and Communications, has a budget of 1.5 million euros with which to examine the economic and technological viability of introducing 3G mobile telecommunications in remote, open areas such as the basins of the Napo and Putumayo rivers (both tributaries of the Amazon) in the heart of the Peruvian jungle.

The project, scheduled for completion in August 2015, is divided into three phases: the first, which is currently underway, is concerned with creating the relevant business viability models; the second will focus on the deployment of the technology that will guarantee network access and simultaneously boost the capacity of existing Wi-Fi or satellite transport networks, depending on the specific community; and the third will be used to verify the operation of the mobile networks with the installation of a pilot platform connected to the backbone network operated by Telefónica in Peru. The platform will initially bring connectivity to four of the 20 communities in this region of the Peruvian jungle.

The project addresses the challenge of bringing 3G coverage to remote, isolated areas in poor regions using low-cost devices called femtocells, which act as small individual base stations.

Although femtocells are low-power devices with limited channels, similar to wireless routers, they are particularly useful in surroundings such as jungle environments, where signals are not affected by the same obstacles as in urban spaces. In addition, thanks to their lower power consumption and self-configuration capabilities, femtocells do not need to be operated by skilled personnel.

During the second phase of the project, which will begin this September, teams in each of the four communities will install four 3G femtocells that will be connected to a long-range 802.11n network based on the architecture already used by the project partner Hispano-American Health Link (EHAS) for healthcare and telemedicine applications in the same region.

Thanks to Tucan3G, communities in the region will have access to 3G technology for voice and data transmission across mobile networks. The experience gained from the project and the specific economic (profit for the operators in the region) and technological outcomes could eventually be extended to other isolated rural areas throughout the world.

The project brings together a consortium of 11 partners: from Spain, the UPC, the EHAS Foundation, King Juan Carlos University —which acts as technical coordinator— and Telefónica International Wholesale Services; from Peru, the Catholic University of Peru, the national Telecommunication Investment Fund and Telefónica del Perú; from Colombia, the University of Cauca and the Regional Centre for Innovation and Productivity of Cauca; from the UK, IP.Access; and from Greece, Knowledge and Innovation Consultants.

Tucan3G is a clear example of the UPC’s success in securing projects under the FP7 ICT sub-programme, in which it leads more initiatives than any other Catalan university. Since 2007, the UPC has taken part in 64 projects in the ICT sub-programme, assuming the leadership of 12.