To beam or to stream: Satellite-based vs. streaming-based infrastructure for distance education

Reaching participants across geographically dispersed locations is the primary goal of any distance education program. To disseminate multimedia content, in addition to the wide reach, ensuring good quality of video and audio reception at the receiving stations is critical. Satellite based solutions offer wide reach as well as scalability with a recurring cost component which can be subsidized across a number of participating centers. Streaming live or recorded lectures over the Internet is another option to provide reach and flexibility to participants. This paper examines these two technology options for effective dissemination of multimedia content to end-users. The implemented Distance Education Program (DEP) network at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) is taken as an example to study the various aspects of the satellite network as well as the viability of a parallel streaming solution over the Internet. The two technologies are critically compared across three dimensions - providing the QoS (Quality of Service) requirements, scalability, and cost effectiveness.