This Recommendation identifies technology-independent general requirements for ultimately affordable urban-to-rural broadband backhaul infrastructure@ for connecting rural@ remote and sparsely populated areas in developing countries. Affordability here considers both CAPEX and OPEX of the solution to arrive at the long-term total cost of ownership. The reliability of the solution should be enhanced as far as possible to cope with harsh natural environments and difficult societal conditions specific to remote or rural areas in developing countries@ although ultimate affordability may not coexist with highest reliability. Flexibility and scalability are also needed so that the network can@ over time and demand@ expand telecommunications coverage both in number of users and bandwidth. In addition@ environmental friendliness is becoming increasingly important. Details of the technological solutions are to be provided in Supplements. User terminals are out of the scope of this Recommendation.