South African wireless community networks

South African wireless community networks are wireless networks that allow members to talk, send messages, share files and play games independent of the commercial landline and mobile telephone networks. Most of them use WiFi

WIFI

WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...

technology and many are wireless mesh networks. A wireless community network

Wireless community network

Wireless community networks or wireless community projects are the organizations that attempt to take a grassroots approach to providing a viable alternative to municipal wireless networks for consumers....

may connect to the public switched telephone network

Public switched telephone network

The public switched telephone network is the network of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks. It consists of telephone lines, fiber optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables, all inter-connected by...

and/or the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

, but there are various restrictions on connectivity in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. Wireless community networks are particularly useful in areas where commercial telecommunications services are unavailable or unaffordable.

Development of Wireless User Group

Wireless user group

A Wireless User Group is a Wireless community network run by enthusiasts. Most run off the shelf Wi-Fi hardware communicating in the license free ISM bands 2.4 GHz/5.8 GHz. Some do not provide Internet access, but are mainly used to participate in Internet games while avoiding data charges from...

(WUG) infrastructure and applications in the cities helps train members in wireless technology skills and provides a proving ground for new technology and applications that may have large social benefits in informal communities and rural areas of South Africa and neighboring countries.

Background: South African Telecommunications Environment

South Africa has the best developed and most modern telephone system in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. There are almost 110 combined fixed-line and cellular telephones per 100 persons. There are 5.1 million Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

users. The network is 99.9% digital. The fixed-line monopoly of Telkom SA, a listed company in which the government is the largest shareholder, expired with the licensing of Neotel

Neotel

Neotel Ltd., previously SNO Telecommunications, is the second national operator for fixed line telecommunication services in South Africa. It was unveiled on August 31, 2006 in Kyalami in northern Johannesburg...

as South Africa's second national operator, starting operations in November 2007. Neotel is licensed to provide the entire range of telecoms services with the exception of full mobility. Neotel is expanding their network fast, but so far is concentrating on urban areas. The South African mobile communications market is growing fast. The country's three cellular network operators (Vodacom

Vodacom

Vodacom is a pan-African mobile telecommunications company, and was the 1st cellular network in South Africa. It provides GSM service to more than 35 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Revenue for the year ended 31 March 2008...

, MTN and Cell C

Cell C

Cell C is South Africa’s third cell network after Vodacom and MTN, and the first cellular provider operating a dual band GSM 900/1800 MHz network, with over 7,4-million subscribers according to recent reports in Business Day and myadsl...

) have over 39-million subscribers, or nearly 80% of the population.

However, although there are now over one million broadband subscribers, mostly using ADSL or HSDPA,
bandwidth remains relatively limited and expensive. Major cities such as Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

, Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

and Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

have launched public-private initiatives to build their own broadband networks

Broadband Networks

The ideal telecommunication network has the following characteristics: broadband, multi-media, multi-point, multi-rate and economical implementation for a diversity of services [1][2]. The Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network provides these characteristics in today's networks...

to provide cheaper voice and data services. For example, the city of Tshwane, which includes Pretoria, is testing delivery of broadband Internet and voice services on their new metro-wide fibre-optic network using wireless hot spots to provide ADSL access. In the meantime, the high cost of broadband access has stimulated development of Wireless User Groups. The WUGS are not allowed to sell internet connectivity, since they are non-commercial community networks. Although non-profit and operating in the license-exempt spectrums, their legal status is not clear. In October 2007, JAWUG requested clarification on whether it required a radio frequency spectrum and/or ECNS license for its activities.

Telkom provides relatively poor voice and internet service in underdeveloped rural areas of South Africa, although it is investigating ways to improve service using wireless technology. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the public interest....

has licensed several small telecoms firms to operate regional networks in remote, under-served areas of the country.
Bokone Telecoms in Polokwane

Polokwane

Polokwane, meaning "Place of Safety",is a city in the Polokwane Local Municipality and the capital of the Limpopo province, South Africa. It is also often referred to by its former name, Pietersburg. Polokwane is a major urban centre, the biggest and most important north of Gauteng. The population...

and Amathole Telecoms in the Eastern Cape

Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...

are experimenting with WiMAX

WiMAX

WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...

technology to provide service. However, due to relatively high costs and low revenue potential, these initiatives are moving slowly. There is room for more innovative approaches.

Currently, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service is allowed only in areas where less than five percent of the population have access to a telephone, and WiFi

WIFI

is restricted to use by individuals or organisations within the confines of their own premises. The argument is that low-cost or free VoIP over WiFi would destroy the incentive for commercial network providers to upgrade rural networks. However, several commentators consider that this policy is counter-productive. As discussed later, many wireless community networks deliberately ignore the restrictions.

Sample City-Based Wireless Community Networks

Most cities in South Africa have one or more non-profit groups collaborating in running Wireless User Groups. Descriptions of a sample are given below, with information derived from their web sites.

Johannesburg WUG (JAWUG)

Jawug is located in Johannesburg

Johannesburg

, the largest city in South Africa. Jawug was the first wireless user group in South Africa, starting as an experimental network between two people, then quickly expanding into a much larger network by interconnecting several separate wireless mesh networks.
Jawug is not an ISP. Its network is used purely for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Jawug is regularly used for experimental deployment of new technologies. There are currently four links which interconnect the Jawug network with PTAWUG, the Wireless User Group in Pretoria

Pretoria

, to the north of Johannesburg. Jawug and PTAWUG work together closely - Jawug helped to get PTAWUG off the ground. Jawug also gives technical assistance to new wireless users groups like Port Elizabeth Wireless Users Group (PEWUG). A core team of members manage all routing and highsite maintenance. Regular wugmeets are held to discuss network issues and future plans.

Jawug has a membership base of approximately 300 locations, and is constantly expanding.

Pretoria WUG (PTAWUG)

The Pretoria WUG was founded on 28 July 2007. The PTAWUG constitution guarantees openness, free participation and equality to all members of the Wireless User Group. PTAWUG is exclusively funded by donations from the community. Volunteers conduct highsite installation and maintenance in their spare time. PTAWUG is the 5th largest wireless network organization in the world with about 600 member connections (7 October 2009). To avoid rental costs, all highsites are on privately owned properties, mostly in high areas with a good line of sight to the surrounding areas. The network has a number of towers, with the other highsites located on tall buildings or at private residences in strategic places.

The Pretoria Wireless Project is another community based network in the city, which has been connected to the Pretoria WUG network as of 3 February 2008.

Durban Wireless Community

The Durban Wireless Community was founded in December 2004 by a group of people interested in 802.11 a/b/g wireless technology in Durban

Durban

, the third most populous city in South Africa. The first meeting in January 2005 had 4 attendees. The group now has about 200 people on the mailing list and about 15 live nodes on the network spanning from Bluff to Umbilo, Morningside, Town, Tollgate and Westville. Goals of the non-profit group, which is free to join and open to all, include educating the public about wireless technology, and learning more about the technology. The Durban Wireless Community has close ties to JAWUG.

Potchefstroom Community Network

The Potchefstroom Community Network is a non-profit grassroots effort by members of the community to provide a broadband network between its members, using inexpensive off-the-shelf (WiFi) radio networking equipment. The network operates in the license-exempt 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum.

Stellenbosch Community Network

The Stellenbosch Community Network is a joint project between Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University is a public research university situated in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Other nearby universities are the University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape....

and the Stellenbosch Local Municipality

Stellenbosch Local Municipality

Stellenbosch Local Municipality is the local municipality that governs the towns of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Pniel, and the surrounding rural areas, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It covers an area of and, , had a population of 200,524 people in 36,413 households...

in Cape Province

Cape Province

The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...

, South Africa. Its purpose is to provide the community with wireless access to University and Municipality services. The network is in a pilot phase. It will be operated as an open public network, accessible to anyone with the right equipment.

Rural Wireless Community Networks

Although the city-based community networks are typically run by hobbyists who may be primarily interested in experimenting with technology and avoiding high broadband charges while playing Internet games, they serve also as test beds for more serious projects and training grounds for wireless network engineers that may benefit projects in poor rural and informal communities. In these communities, wireless mesh networks may have great medical, educational and economic value, giving affordable telephone and internet access when coupled with initiatives such as One Laptop per Child that aim to provide low-cost devices - assuming the regulator continues to remove obstacles to deploying WiFi community networks.

Meraka Institute

The Meraka Institute is a government-backed organization to promote ICT development. The Wireless Africa programme of the Meraka Institute

Wireless Africa programme of the Meraka Institute

The Wireless Africa programme is a special initiative of the Meraka Institute managed by the CSIR in South Africa.The Wireless Africa group is researching ways and means to develop sustainable information and communications technology in developing countries...

is researching ways to develop sustainable information and communications technology in developing countries. Research follows two tracks:

Social research into how projects in communities around South Africa, Angola and Mozambique are able to create sustainable community-owned wireless infrastructure, with focus on applications in health, education and related service delivery areas.
Ways to overcome technology barriers and enable bottom-up creation of wireless access infrastructure. This includes research into mesh networking, low cost voice/messaging devices, low cost access points and antennas, and network security. Experimental test bed mesh networks have been installed in Pretoria and Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...

to understand issues such as scalability and quality of service.

Peebles Valley Mesh Project

The Peebles Valley mesh project is using wireless mesh networking as a low cost first mile solution connect people to
the internet and each other. The project is testing if a rural community can take ownership of the network, with a trial community-run WUG near the Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers and extends from north to south and from east to west.To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is...

in the Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...

Province. The project uses "Cantennas" to connect to the wireless mesh network. These are small, self-constructed antennas made from locally available material connected to a low-cost WiFi card plugged into a computer. Although sponsored by the Meraka Institute, the project members state that what they are doing is illegal under current laws.

UWC Telehealth

Another project, UWC Telehealth, is testing a system in a remote rural part of the Eastern Cape in South Africa that lets nurses and doctors use a wireless IP-based communication system to conduct patient referrals, request ambulance services and order supplies. The project ran into difficulties at first because Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) was illegal in South Africa, even over the UWC Telehealth network. The regulator removed this restriction, but there are still legislative obstacles to providing Internet access, which the project directors are challenging.

Orange Farm and the Mesh Potato

Orange Farm

Orange Farm, Gauteng

Orange Farm is a township located approximately 45 km from Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is the largest informal settlement in South Africa, with most estimates giving a population of 1 million people. Additionally, it is one of the youngest, with the original inhabitants;...

is an informal settlement of about 300,000 people south of Johannesburg. Most people cannot afford mobile phones, and cannot afford to use the Internet cafes. However Dabba

Dabba

Dabba is a South African company that is pioneering the establishment of village telcos. It uses wireless technology to provide voice and data services to under-serviced areas...

, a telecommunications company, is providing affordable telephone service in Orange Farm through wireless mesh technology.
Dabba has installed several wireless routers that relay signals to an internet connection in a local community centre. Anyone within range of one of the routers can make phone calls using a Wi-Fi or SIP (Session Initiation Protocol

Session Initiation Protocol

The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...

) telephone. Calls within the network are free, and Dabba supports low-cost prepaid calls to telephones on other networks. However, the phones average about $100 each and it takes significant technical knowledge and investment to build a network like this, so the model may not work in poorer rural communities.

Dabba is now working with the Shuttleworth Foundation

Shuttleworth Foundation

South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth established the Shuttleworth Foundation in January 2001. There have been various iterations of the Foundation and how it invests in social innovation...

, a non-profit South African charitable organization, in the Village telco

Village telco

A Village telco is a community based telephone network. It is based on a suite of open source applications that enable entrepreneurs to set up and operate a telephone service in a specific area or supporting the needs of a specific community ....

project to develop an affordable and easy-to-install telephone system for rural communities. The goal was to design a system costing no more than US$5000 to get started, which a small-scale local entrepreneur could afford, and which would break even within six months. The project came up with the concept of a “mesh potato”, a cheap device (perhaps $60 per unit) that can connect a standard analog telephone to the wireless network and also serves as a wireless mesh node, relaying signals from other mesh potatoes to a central wireless internet connection. Dabba (and other companies with a similar model) will provide advice to wireless community network owners and connectivity to the outside world. The technology has been tested and several manufacturers are showing interest in building the devices. The Village Telco concept may have potential in many other countries outside South Africa.

External links

Wireless User Group South Africa, wug.za.net
Wireless Africa Wiki, South Africa, wirelessafrica.meraka.org.za
Telecommunications Law in South Africa, link.wits.ac.za

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.