The Village Area Network (VAN) provides information and communication services to an entire rural community supporting a range of roaming and fixed services. Schools, rural clinics, government offices, police stations, agricultural cooperatives, and local residences will be empowered with access to information and new means to communicate with each other and to the world at large.

The first Village Area Network was implemented in the rural community of Bohechio, Dominican Republic. Last year a LINCOS telecenter was installed in Bohechio. The VAN is centered around a LINCOS multipurpose community telecenter and extends the LINCOS facilities with mobile handheld and fixed wireless services in strategic local centers such as schools and hospital.

The LINCOS telecenter has a 256 kbps VSAT satellite link connection to the Internet. A point-to-point link was made between the LINCOS and radio mast which houses an omnidirectional antenna. Omnidirectional antenna was placed on the top of the City Hall where a radio mast already exists. The antenna enjoys line of site to every part of the community. Fixed and mobile wireless stations, equipped with network interface cards supporting 802.11, allow members of the community to access network resources. The VAN coverage is roughly 11 square kilometers.