DAVAO CITY - Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) has started its satellite services program in a bid to provide internet connectivity to remote areas in Mindanao.

Dr. Rogel Mari Sese, chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering of AdDU, said the AdDU Community Connectivity Empowered by Satellite Services for Mindanao Program (ACCESS Mindanao) "is an advocacy and research program of ADDU that aims to provide internet connectivity to remote and isolated areas of Mindanao through the use of satellite technology."

"In light of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic, there was a surge in demand for connectivity to be put in place quickly in order to accommodate students and communities during their shift to online learning," Sese, program leader of ACCESS Mindanao, told Manila Bulletin.

He said the project officially started in October, "but we have been working on pre-planning and initial development as early as June when AdDU shifted to conducting fully online classes."

He said AdDU held discussions with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA). 

Internet connectivity through satellite

Sese explained that ACCESS Mindanao utilizes a "satellite antenna connected to a standard network infrastructure or router."

"Each antenna links the local network directly to the satellite in space which then links to a ground station in major internet hubs such as Hong Kong, Singapore, or Australia. Instead of having the information pass through a local fiber-optic network or telco, the connection is more direct using satellites and eliminates the need to construct towers or lay cables on the ground," he added.

Sese said this type of technology is very crucial, especially when accessing and providing a connection to remote and isolated areas.

"Instead of laying kilometers of cables and building towers, both of which takes months and numerous bureaucratic procedures, each site needs to install only a satellite antenna which can be done in one day, connect the system to a standard network router and it's already operational," Sese said.

He added that users can connect to the system in the same way they connect to any wifi hotspot.

Each site of the program is provided a subscription service from the satellite operator and the entire ground network is installed, maintained, and managed by the AdDU.

"In the case of technical issues in any of the sites, there is standby technical support from ACCESS Mindanao Program to help resolve the issue," Sese said.

Eight satellites

For the first phase of the project, AdDU is currently in the process of putting a satellite antenna receiving station each in Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, South Cotabato, Bukidnon, Cotabato City, Maguindanao, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi.

"We have already done the social preparation for some of our sites. We will begin the installation of the antenna to the initial sites around the third week of November 2020," he said.

Sese said, "sites were prioritized in areas wherein internet access in our partner school is really poor and telco presence is minimal, what we call last-mile locations."

They also considered the proximity of the satellite location to other institutions like clinics, hospitals, local government unit offices, or banks.

"We also considered the diversity of location, availability of partner institutions, logistics, security and safety," he said.

The program is funded by the AdDU, but Sese said they are also working with their public and private partners to increase the number of sites that they can connect.  

Three phases

After a year and upon testing the effectiveness of the system, Sese's team will proceed on scaling up and expanding the network in Phase 2.

According to the ACCESS Mindanao Concept Note, the second phase "involves increasing the number of sites throughout Mindanao." 

The second will be conducted "in parallel to the Free Wifi project of the DICT to increase the number of users and is done with an extensive (information and education campaign) in the various communities where the centers are located."

Sese said they have already received numerous requests from different areas asking to provide them with connectivity. "We will try to accommodate these areas as additional funding becomes available," he said.
 

Meanwhile, the third and last phase of the program aims to push the Philippines to launch its own communications satellite.  The university and its partners will provide policy recommendations on how internet access in Mindanao and the rest of the country can be improved.