1. Research and current connectivity for Ecuadorian scientists and projects in the Galapagos region
Enrique Peláez J.
ICT Director, ESPOL – University
CEDIA the NREN of Ecuador
Centro de Tecnologías de Información – CTI
Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral – ESPOL
January 18, 2013

3. Current status of network capacity and services
There are 4 university extensions from mainland Ecuador, but not local universities:
USFQ
UTPL
EPN
UCE
University extensions and research centers have basic local networking infrastructure.
Population above Around HE students in total.

4. Research Organizations in Galápagos
There are 4 main research centers:
Estación Científica Charles Darwin (ECCD), Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz,
Centro de Investigaciones Marinas Galápagos: Instituto Oceanográfico de la Armada (CIMAG), Santa Cruz,
Galápagos Islas de Tecnología: UTPL, Santa Cruz,
Galapagos Science Center: USFQ – UNC, San Cristobal.

5. Current status of network capacity and services
The only access service available in the Galapagos is through satellite links. 
There is a limited capacity available and still very expensive. 
In general, the 4 research centers and university extensions aggregate about 7 Mbps in total.

6. Current status of network capacity and services
The satellite’s footprint and level of power around the Galápagos area is not very high.
Even more, with the current satellites’ coverage in the region, the theoretical limits, for expanding the satellite bandwidth, are getting to the limit, making unfeasible to sustain an annual growing rate of 50%, in the next 8-10 years.

7. Current status of network capacity and services
For example, San Cristobal, the closest island to main land Ecuador, is at around km, gets 2-3 dBs less than main land.

8. Current status of network capacity and services

9. Current status of network capacity and services
Currently there are 40Mhz of satellite bandwidth currently available for Galapagos.
Although, the bandwidth available is mostly for government and military use; there is some capacity still available for other users. 
The commercial monthly cost today for shared bandwidth in Galapagos is around US$ 2,000,oo /Mbps, compared to US$ /mbps, in main land Ecuador.

10. THANK YOU !!!