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expanding infrastructure in areaswhere RoI is unsatisfactory.The institution in charge for thisproject is the Ministry of InformationSociety and Administration. Byproviding 680 Wi-Fi kiosks indifferent rural municipalities, Internetis offered free for four years. Thenumber of Wi-Fi kiosks per regionranges from 13 in the North to 84 inthe South-East of Macedonia, with anaverage of 52 kiosks per region. Theproject intends to:• Increase the percentage of Internetusers in the country;• Improve the business climate andincrease FDI;• Retain Macedonia’s position as aregional innovator;• Stimulate democracy, as wellas benefits offered by ICTs ineducation and user mobility;• Increase network infrastructure.The project has proved verysuccessful, according to an evaluationby a World Bank team in November2013. It has enabled access toInternet for the first time for manysettlements, and the benefits are fargreater than originally expected.The Internet is increasingly used byresidents in hard-to-reach and remoteareas. This project enables citizensto obtain easily information in fieldsof interest: agriculture, farming,education etc. For example, they cansimply access public online services,without any need to travel hundredsof kilometers. Furthermore, they cancommunicate with their relatives andfriends living abroad.Source: H.E. Ivo Ivanovski, Minister ofInformation Society & Administration,Government of TFYR Macedonia.Different technologies offerdifferent advantages, but it isclear that satellite communicationsoffer major potential for deploying‘universal’ broadband servicesrapidly to large numbers ofpeople instantaneously. Satellitebroadband connections canbe deployed rapidly withoutlarge investments in terrestrialinfrastructure – users onlyneed a satellite antenna and amodem to obtain broadbandaccess, at virtually zero marginalcost (Featured Insight 11).The latest satellite technologiesare very advanced in termsof their reliability, speed ofdeployment, and security, andthe next generation will deliverhigher transmission speedscompeting with other broadbandtechnologies in speed and costs(Featured Insight 11). Today,satellite communication systemsare being used to offer telehealthand distance learning applications.Broadband ICTs can also playa major role in saving lives,especially in a world impacted byclimate change, where up to 70%of the world’s population lives inareas at risk of flooding near thecoastline or river basins 31 . Satellitecommunications can provide swiftresponse in disaster situations,where terrestrial infrastructure mayhave been destroyed and speedis critical. New innovations suchas the development of cognitiveradio and white space radiotechnologies can also play a role insaving lives (Featured Insight 12).Chapter 451