E-learning initiative by Inmarsat in South Lebanon addresses internal digital divide

The project, according to the company's regional director, Samer Halawi, presents a strong example on how mobile satellite communication technologies play a primary role in delivering fast, cost-effective and mobile Internet connectivity to rural societies in the region, where telecommunication infrastructure does not exist. Halawi said, "Much has been done by our governments and private sector to bridge the digital divide between us and the developed world, however, and given the limited resources, most efforts have been directed towards the more economically viable urban centers. To illustrate this point, there are only 26 thousand Internet connections in the rural areas of the Middle East and North Africa, compared to 2.3 million connections in the urban centers".

This creates significant socio-economic challenges for those rural areas, according to Halawi.

"Inmarsat decided to play a role in addressing this internal divide; we have taken initial steps but we need now to join hands with both the private and public sectors in order to deliver solutions to the information poverty problem, everywhere those are needed", added Halawi.

Al-Ishraq School in Ainata and Saint Joseph School in Ain Ebel have both been using Inmarsat's Regional BGAN satellite modem in the delivery of their education material. The solution is allowing students in both schools to access the Internet from the two villages, where terrestrial infrastructure is not available. Students and teachers are both reaping great benefits from the solution offered by Inmarsat. Sister Amale Yamin, Director of Saint Joseph School (Ain Ebel) comments: "Students are learning what the Internet is all about, and how they can use it for research, to obtain supportive information, and to apply for universities. Through the Internet, we can deliver to them more exciting and more updated material than what we can deliver using only textbooks. Their performance in exams has improved, so has their level of stimulation". Ms. Rabiaa Baydoun, Director of Al-Ishraq school (Ainata) adds : "In Ainata, teachers do not have access to comprehensive libraries and therefore have to travel all the way to Beirut every time they need to research a topic. Since we installed the Inmarsat solution, everybody has information right at their fingertips."

Using Inmarsat's Regional BGAN (Regional Broadband Global Area Network) satellite modem, the size of a notebook computer, both schools networked their computers to access the Internet. Students and teachers in both schools today have Internet access at up to 144 kbit/s compared to no access prior to the installation of the solution, which only required an hour to setup.

Halawi ends: "Today, we have called on the technology sector in the region to join their efforts with ours to deal with the lack of advanced telecommunication infrastructure in most of the rural areas in the region, a major contributor to information poverty and low standards of living and income levels. Our aim is to deliver this type of infrastructure wherever it is needed, and to all sectors that require it. For that, we need the support of the technology private sector and the funding organizations, and most of all the blessing and backing of the regional governments, in order to safeguard the future of our rural communities".