A Tepsa bus. Photo: Tepsa

Kymeta brought a hybrid, one-source connectivity platform to Peru during a recent pilot program. Kymeta, with the help of its partners Intelsat, Cubic Telecom, and Cradlepoint, worked with Airbus to create the SmartBus project, in partnership with the World Bank and with the support of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Peru (MTC). The project aims to gather data on road safety and other statistics to improve Peru’s transportation while connecting people in difficult geographical areas of Peru.

Buses owned by Tepsa were outfitted with Kymeta satellite terminals that leveraged satellite capacity from Intelsat, cellular coverage from Cubic Telecom, and a software-defined wireless Wireless Access Network (WAN) solution from Cradlepoint. Utilizing Kymeta’s hybrid satellite-cellular solution, the SmartBus is helping enable uninterrupted connectivity in the country’s rugged and isolated terrain, while gathering and transmitting data. This aims to help accelerate research into new technologies to provide connectivity to remote areas, along with satellite images provided by the Peruvian Space Agency (CONIDA).

“This project is making a tangible contribution to development by connecting people in an extremely difficult geographical region of Peru,” said World Bank Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru Director Alberto Rodríguez. “The critical insights we unearth from this trial will be used by research centers, universities and leading technology companies, helping them to identify problems and possible solutions relating to road safety, meteorology and transport logistics.”