Foundation Projects
OASIS Data Garden Project
SATSOL LIMITED
SATSOL's Data Garden Project developed and piloted an innovative telecommunication solution for rural and remote villages and underserved communities. Whereas urban populations in Solomon Islands have been enjoying abundant bandwidth from the Coral Sea Cable that was launched in 2019, many rural villages remain out of reach of fibre-based connectivity and the population and businesses are not yet able to benefit from the digital economy as much as those living in urban areas.
Video by Karl Bouro, Torn Parachute
The new generation of high-throughput satellite services such as Kacific and StarLink create possibilities for alternative solutions for such areas, complementary to the cable. However, there are practical constraints to the accessibility of such services, such as lack of electrical power infrastructure and the difficulty of providing billing and payment options in such remote areas, whilst shaping products and plans that are affordable for people who may have irregular incomes, may not have bank accounts or own credit/debit cards.
Despite the ongoing extension of existing cell tower networks, the challenging terrain of the Solomon Islands and the cost of installing and maintaining such infrastructure means that many village communities have not enjoyed 4G or even 3G coverage for some time to come.
The Data Garden is a solution that addresses some of these challenges by bringing three fundamental components of the digital economy to rural villages, namely fast broadband, a digital payment platform and smart solar electrification. The Data Garden technology integrates high-throughput connectivity with a stand-alone power source; fully automated with a state-of-the-art digital payment system called iumiCash that can be used by local people and businesses, even without the need for a bank account.
The Data Garden was demonstrated by the project to be easily transported to a typical remote location in the Solomon Islands by towing (and can also be delivered on a landing craft). It has operated autonomously and extremely reliably at the project site for over 18 months and from June 2024 has provided commercial data services to the community. The Data Garden is an ideal solution for remote villages and communities where it can provide for individuals, households, businesses, schools and clinics. It complements traditional cell towers, filling in areas of poor coverage at much lower cost, creating new opportunities for providers whilst stimulating a rural digital economy.
The project has piloted the solution in realistic conditions in partnership with the rural community and their school at Numbu village, north-east Guadalcanal generating data and lessons learned for the sector.
