Working Group Report

Identifying the Potential of New Communications Technologies for Sustainable Development

September 17, 2017

The world is undergoing an extraordinary technological revolution in satellite and high altitude communications. A dramatic increase in broadband capacity across the globe, spurred by new technologies (including geostationary high throughput satellites, massive constellations of non-geostationary satellites, and recent innovations in broadband High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) systems), is bringing reliable and affordable broadband connectivity to the hardest-to-reach corners of the Earth, enabling new capabilities and applications in areas already connected to the global network, and helping drive down access costs for many people. Due to their coverage, reliability, mobility, and flexibility, these new space-based technologies represent an important solution for expanding the reach and density of the global Internet, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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