2022 Faculty Courses School of Environment and Society Department of Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering Graduate major in Global Engineering for Development, Environment and Society
Telecommunication Infrastructure for Development
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Global Engineering for Development, Environment and Society
- Instructor(s)
- Jun-Ichi Takada
- Class Format
- Lecture (HyFlex)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 3-4 Thu (H1103)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- GEG.T505
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2022
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
The lack of the internet connectivity became a very serious issue for the remote life utilizing information and communications technology (ICT) under the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the rural and remote areas in the developing contries. This lecture overviews the roles of telecommunications as the essential social infrastructure in the developing areas, as well as the status and the enabling technologies of rural telecommunications.
Course description and aims
By the end of the course, students will be able to identify the challenges of connectivity and use of ICT in a specific rural or remote area and able to propose a few potential alternative sollutions to these challenges.
Keywords
Internet, mobile communications, optical fiber commuications, wireless local area network, ICT for development
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Lecture and case study
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | (on demand) Introduction - sharing current status of connectivity - Issues and challenges to mitigate digital divide | Understand the current status of digital divide in the international level. |
| Class 2 | Social aspects of telecommunication infrastructure - Roles of telecommunication infrastructure - Differences from traditional social infrastructure - Current status | Understand how the telecommunication infrastructure plays key roles in the modern society. |
| Class 3 | Technology of telecommunication infrastructure 1: Backbone network - Internet and TCP/IP - Network topology - Connectivity: optical fiber, microwave terrestrial link, satellite link | Explain the brief concept of backbone network technology. |
| Class 4 | Technology of telecommunication infrastructure 2: Access network - Cellular network - Wireless LAN - Access technology for remote area | Explain the brief concept of access network technology. |
| Class 5 | Policy and international cooperation on telecommunication infrastructure - Spectrum license, tariff, universal service tax - International body of telecommunication development - ITU-D - Inititatives for rural and remote connectivities | Explain the brief concept of telecommunication policy to mitigate digital divide, as well as the international cooperation framework. |
| Class 6 | Case Study 1: Past Practices - Grameen Phone, Nepal Wireless, and more. | Understand challenges and approaches for implementation of rural connectivity |
| Class 7 | Case Study 2: Presentation by Students | Explain challenges and approaches for implementation of rural connectivity |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
Before each of the classes, students are expected to either read the documents or watch the videos related to the topics.
Textbook(s)
Lambrechets and Sinha, Last Mile Internet Access for Emerging Economies, Springer, 2019 (available in Tokyo Tech e-book library)
Documents released from ITU-D (to be identified later)
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Documents released from ITU-D (to be identified later)
Slides will be uploaded to T2SCHOLA
Evaluation methods and criteria
Assignments (40) / Final report on case study (60)
Related courses
- TSE.A322 ： Communication and network
- GEG.T501 ： Introduction to Information and Communication Technologies for Development
Prerequisites
None