October 22, 2026
Making satellite internet more affordable in remote regions: This is the challenge tackled by a team that includes Waël Jaafar, a professor in the Department of Software Engineering and IT at ÉTS. The team won first prize in the third edition of the International Research Competition on Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN’26).
The team, which also includes postdoctoral researcher Manobendu Sarker and Polytechnique Montréal professor Gunes Karabulut Kurt, was awarded first prize for a pricing and subsidy model aimed at balancing three key requirements: the financial capacity of underserved communities, the commercial viability of satellite service providers and public budget limitations.
Organized by the Technical Committee on Satellite and Space Communications of the IEEE Communications Society and the Communications, Space and Technology Commission of Saudi Arabia, this third edition invited the international scientific community to propose solutions that promote sustainability through non-terrestrial networks and their integration with terrestrial networks. Waël Jaafar thus takes top honours in this competition for the second time. In 2022, he took first prize with a team of researchers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University for work on the use of high-altitude platform stations for future wireless networks.
Reducing access costs, not just expanding coverage
In rural, northern or remote regions, satellites can offer a connection where terrestrial infrastructure is difficult to deploy. However, service availability alone is not enough; people must also be able to afford it.
The solution proposed by the team makes it possible to evaluate how to divide the cost of basic internet service between subscribers and public support programs, while preserving service provider revenue. It accounts for a region’s specific affordability threshold, the available subsidy budget and the network’s capacity to deliver the service. Public support is tied to the verified delivery of the service.
“Internet access is now an essential driver of social and economic development. Our goal is to offer solutions that deliver affordable, sustainable connectivity to remote populations. This award highlights the real potential of research to bridge the digital divide,” emphasizes Waël Jaafar.
Better targeting public investment
The approach also helps distinguish situations where a subsidy can improve access from those where network capacity must be increased instead.
Under simulated testing conditions, the model maintained nearly the same level of affordable service as a fully funded subsidy scenario, while reducing average public spending by 38.4%. These results illustrate the potential of better-targeted support: When network capacity becomes the main bottleneck, increasing subsidies alone no longer serves more people.
Work focused on next-generation networks
This achievement is part of Waël Jaafar’s research on satellite communications and future 6G networks. His team develops models aimed at improving the efficiency, accessibility and resilience of communication infrastructure, notably through artificial intelligence and digital twins to support real-time decision-making.
This research aligns with the ORBIT project, funded through IVADO’s Exploratory Projects Program and featuring postdoctoral researcher Manobendu Sarker. Led by Gunes Karabulut Kurt, with Waël Jaafar as co-researcher, ORBIT explores how to better coordinate satellite and terrestrial networks using artificial intelligence.
This international recognition highlights the potential of this work and paves the way for new collaborations with industrial and institutional partners.
