Regional ISPs Bridge
the Digital Divide
Over 47% of the world’s population is still offline
How will you meet higher subscriber expectations?
Broadband connectivity is now considered essential. FTTH, WISPs, 5G, and satellite regional internet service providers (ISPs) must all build a secure, flexible core that will meet higher subscriber requirements at carrier-grade scale.

Rural Broadband Subscribers Want More
“The demands on ISPs to deliver exceptional connectivity services to consumers and businesses have never been greater. Changing consumer lifestyle, work, and entertainment patterns in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis have shifted the market for broadband services considerably.”
– Park AssociatesRegional Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Face Tier 1 Challenges
Growth and Security
84%
Sustain growth, improve subscriber experience, strengthen network security
Service Availability
2-3x Per Mo
Frequent DDoS attacks on networks, subscribers and IPv4 address pools
Scarce IPv4 Resources
< 3 Years
Over half of ISPs expect to run out of the existing allocation of IPv4 addresses
Regional ISPs Play a Key Role
Regional internet service providers (ISPs) have overcome unique challenges with innovative business models. Research from STL Partners identifies key factors to be considered for bridging the digital divide in rural broadband and highlights examples of innovation with ISP case studies.
Higher Access Costs and Lower ROI
- Larger geographic regions, more sparsely populated communities, and difficult terrain drive up costs per customer
- The low revenue per investment dollar makes for a difficult business case
- Alaska Communications used a combination of technologies to reduce the cost of extending broadband coverage
Flexible Core Required for Scale and Security
- Core capacity and IP address pools must be augmented as subscribers and traffic increase
- Security investments must take higher priority as DDoS threats rise
- Managed service providers like Richweb ease the complexity of IP networking
Public/Private Partnerships Ease Financial Burden
- Innovative funding through hybrid ownership, consortia and risk sharing overcomes entry barriers
- Bluewater Regional Networks built premium gigabit fiber connectivity funded by six municipal corporations
- Inland Cellular leveraged the Rural Cloud Initiative ecosystem to provide new services to the agriculture sector
Build customer trust and brand credibility
- Regional ISPs can offer B2B commercial services such cybersecurity, DDoS protection, cloud, managed IT
- Vertical industries such as agriculture, healthcare, energy and education require reliable secure connectivity
- Saddleback Communications provides unified communications as a service for business customers
Innovate from the Core to the Edge
Regional internet service providers (ISPs) must drive innovation across the entire network, end-to-end as they build out broadband access to underserved communities and help bridge the digital divide. Subscriber expectations and cyber threats have risen and ISPs must now reconsider network requirements for security, scalability, and IP connectivity
Critical Core Network Solutions for Urgent Rural Broadband
Thunder Threat Protection System (TPS)
- DDoS attack detection and mitigation
- Zero Day automated protection
- Management and analytics
- DDoS theat intelligence
- Tier 1 market-proven technology
Thunder Carrier Grade Networking (CGN)
- Carrier-grade network address translation (CGNAT)
- IPv4 to IPv6 migration
- Advanced logging features
- Global management and analytics
- Tier 1 market-proven technology

Critical issues
Maximize IPv4 addresses to efficiently bring ultra-fast fiber to the residences and businesses of London
Results
- Overcome IPv4 exhaustion using large-scale network address translation
- Deliver an excellent subscriber experience and application availability while maximizing IPv4resources
- Reclaim 63 IPv4 addresses for each public IPv4 address consumed
- Achieved clear ROI and eliminated need for volume IP address procurement
- Centrally control and manage CGNAT services and IPv4 pools
Related: A10 Thunder CFW, A10 Harmony Controller
IN THEIR WORDS
“A10 Networks went the extra mile to help Community Fibre overcome IPv4 exhaustion. A10 Networks understood what we wanted to do, and we felt bought into the solution.”

Head of Networks,
Community Fibre