Intel is currently working on what it calls the Rural Connectivity Platform, or RCP. The RCP involves intense modification to traditional 802.11 wireless technology to allow a wireless router to transmit data over a 100km span at speeds up to 6.5 mbps, providing Internet to remote areas or other places where the geography makes laying fiber optics or copper cable counterproductive.

The company is planning to begin sales later this year in India. At $500 for each wireless router and a requirement of two routers, the whole setup costs $1,000. This is more than the average yearly wage in India, but is much cheaper compared to running traditional cable. An entire village can share a single Internet hookup, and hopefully this technology will further increase the number of computer users out there, though I doubt a village in the middle of nowhere with no electricity will be getting computers any time soon, even with the availability of Wi-Fi. Though Intel hasn’t said so yet, it wouldn’t be surprising if they had plans to work with the OLPC or a similar low-cost laptop project to bring computing to the masses. If all goes well in India, Intel plans to make its new technology available to everyone. Many places could benefit from this technology, especially large countries with numerous remote villages like Russia.