Advanced Television reports that a scientist at Liverpool Hope University has called for High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) to form part of all future pandemic strategic planning, to ensure that rural areas with no internet access gain connectivity

A single HAPS flies around 20 to 25km high in the earth’s stratosphere, avoiding air traffic and adverse weather conditions.

It is capable of providing wireless broadband coverage, via 4G from mainstream networks, to the ground below, covering a radius of around 100km.

In recent weeks, the World Economic Forum has warned how the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed the digital divide ‘like never before’, with billions unable to access school coursework, or to work from home.

And where there’s no terrestrial communications infrastructure, a HAPS – or sometimes called a ‘Pseudo-Satellite’ – could prove crucial in coping with the next viral outbreak or natural disaster.

During the pandemic, telecommunications allows the UK Government to provide daily advice updates and to share new insight from researchers.

People in rural areas will be otherwise unable to access up-to-date information if they do not have connectivity.

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Advanced Television - HAPS to boost rural connectivity