Connectivity challenges persist in today's interconnected world, especially in rural and remote communities with limited access to backhaul infrastructure. These challenges are significant obstacles to leveraging connectivity for a variety of essential applications and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. Addressing this, we developed the Internet Island, a novel architecture designed to tackle the challenges of inadequate backhaul. It achieves this by enabling backhaul-oblivious applications at the network’s edge, creating an island of high bandwidth and sophisticated applications. These applications encompass the so-called sharing economy services, which connect geographically bounded users—such as Artisan Services, Dating Services, Market Services, and Transport Services—as well as IoT applications supported by local connectivity without relying on centralised services located at a distance.

The inherently edge-based nature of the Internet Island architecture and the sparse nature of disconnected communities necessitate a strategic placement of Service Gateways (GWs). These GWs are not just physical infrastructures; they represent the crucial nodes or locations where the Internet Island is established within a community, serving as the linchpin for local and, potentially, global connectivity. Their optimal placement is essential for maximising coverage and ensuring equitable access to the services provided.

To enhance the GW placement in these communities, we developed Geo K-means, a spatially-constrained variant of the traditional K-means clustering algorithm. Geo K-means optimises the placement of the GW within communities, ensuring equitable coverage while minimising costs. We explore Geo K-means in LoRaWAN for local connectivity applications and Low Earth Orbit satellite communication systems for applications that require global coverage. Through this strategic placement, the algorithm enhances the reach and performance of the applications supported by the Internet Island. Collectively, this thesis offers a comprehensive solution for enabling connectivity in remote locations by introducing Internet Island architecture, and developing a novel Geo K-means algorithm for gateway placement within these remote communities. It contributes to academic discourse and provides practical insights for real-world applications, thereby advancing our steps towards achieving global SDGs.