Community Wireless Networks, Participatory Media, and Neighborhood Empowerment

1
Community Wireless Networks, Participatory Media,
and Neighborhood Empowerment

• Sascha D. Meinrath
• Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network
  (CUWiN)
• Institute of Communications Research, University
  of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Available Online http//www.saschameinrath.com/p
  ubs
• Correspondence Sascha Meinrath
  sascha_at_cuwireless.net [phone]
• 115 West Main Street, Second Floor
• Urbana, IL 61801
• U.S.A.
• Presented as a part of the ICR Brownbag Series.
  Urbana, IL. March 9, 2005.

2
Overview

• How do these technologies work and what are the
  different wireless options available?
• What are Community Wireless Networks?
• What's Happening Across the Country?
• What are the social/community benefits?
• Mesh CWN example CUWiN.
• What's Happening in Chambana?
• Reforms, Alternatives Next Steps.
• Take home messages, conclusions, and where to get
  more information.
• But first (literally)...

3
Community Media Historically

• 1700s Newspapers
• 1840s Telegraph
• 1900s Telephone
• 1920s Radio
• Post WWII Television/Public Access TV
• Today Broadband (Internet) Connectivity

4
Wired Networks

• 1840s technology
• Expensive
• Disruptive
• Entrenched

5
Wireless Networks

• Cheap
• Non-invasive
• Mobile/Portable
• Ubiquitous
• Quick Easy

6
Hub Spoke Networks

• Centralized
• Relatively expensive
• Bandwidth-intensive
• High-power
• Single point-of-failure
• Slower than P2P/Mesh

7
Mesh Networks

• Decentralized
• By-passes obstacles
• Relatively cheap
• Low-power
• Very fast

8
Closed Networks

• Proprietary
• Expensive software
• Immature technology
• Factionalizes communities

9
Open Networks

• More secure
• Cheap/free software
• Open source
• Allows community resources on the network

10
Static Networks

• Fragile
• Non-scalable
• Time-intensive

11
Dynamic Networks

• Robust
• Scalable
• Adaptable

12
Community Wireless Networks

• Small locally-based.
• Often non-profit, unincorporated, municipally
  supported, hybrid partnerships.
• Usually utilize off-the-shelf hardware.
• Action/results-oriented.
• Mission to support both social economic
  development.

13
Social Benefits for Residents

• Every citizen has the opportunity to be a media
  producer broadcasting Internet radio,
  self-publishing journalism, or displaying art
  projects.
• Churches can offer communities webcast religious
  services spiritual resources.
• Local libraries can become a hub for free, open
  access to information.
• Parks, swimming pools, beaches, sports
  facilities, airports, train stations, and other
  public areas can provide Internet access to users
  of these areas.
• Free wireless kiosks can be placed strategically
  around a municipality to provide information to
  tourists, visitors, or residents.

14
Social Benefits for Educators

• Universities, colleges, and K-12 classrooms can
  establish wireless networks allowing for
  tremendous infrastructure and maintenance savings
  over wired networks.
• Teachers can design lesson plans collaboratively
  with other classrooms, track student progress,
  and record grades on parent-accessible websites.
• Students can publish online newspapers/blogs,
  create a web-radio station, or web-cast news
  produced in multimedia classrooms.
• Bridging the digital divide, low-cost wireless
  offers disadvantaged schools high-tech resources,
  as well as opportunities for adult education and
  distance learning.

15
Social Benefits for Public Health

• Doctors can transfer information to patients with
  limited mobility as well as exchange patient
  information with other doctors, clinics,
  pharmacies, and hospitals.
• Mobile home healthcare workers and social workers
  can more easily chart their daily rounds and
  retrieve and send information to better serve
  patients.
• Physical therapists can demonstrate specific
  exercises to patients watching from their homes.
• Nursing homes can provide residents with
  entertainment, educational opportunities, and
  easy communication with family and friends.

16
Social Benefits for Government

• Wireless networks facilitate e-government
  initiatives such as online voter registration,
  directions to polling stations, bill payment,
  access to tax advice, and public service
  announcements.
• Unemployment and social services offices can
  collect and disseminate information about job
  opportunities, job training, and child care
  facilities available in a community to those in
  need.
• First responders and law enforcement officers can
  send data, audio, and digital video to command
  centers for evaluation and rapid response.
• CWNs can serve as a local broadcaster to webcast
  town meetings, city council sessions, local
  speeches, or cultural events.

17
Social Benefits for Public Health

• Doctors can transfer information to patients with
  limited mobility as well as exchange patient
  information with other doctors, clinics,
  pharmacies, and hospitals.
• Mobile home healthcare workers and social workers
  can more easily chart their daily rounds and
  retrieve and send information to better serve
  patients.
• Physical therapists can demonstrate specific
  exercises to patients watching from their homes.
• Nursing homes can provide residents with
  entertainment, educational opportunities, and
  easy communication with family and friends.

18
CUWiNs 4-Part Mission

• Connectivity
• Provide Internet connectivity to network users.
• Development
• Research and program software and build prototype
  hardware for use by other wireless projects
  throughout the US and around the globe.
• Dissemination
• Distribute open-source software and hardware
  specs to interested people and organizations.
• Implementation
• Build and support sustainable, not-for-profit
  communications networks in communities throughout
  the world.

19
The Rationale Behind Community Wireless Networks
I
Data Collected by Prof. Christian Sandvig
ltcsandvig_at_uiuc.edugt

• Low SES
• Medium Density
• Government Subsidized Housing

20
The Rationale Behind Community Wireless Networks
II
Data Collected by Prof. Christian Sandvig
ltcsandvig_at_uiuc.edugt

• Medium SES
• Medium Density
• Immigrant Community

21
The Rationale Behind Community Wireless Networks
III
Data Collected by Prof. Christian Sandvig
ltcsandvig_at_uiuc.edugt

• High SES
• High Density
• Young Professional Neighborhood

22
CUWiN Network (Sept. 2004)
23
Downtown Urbana Wireless Plan
24
Other People's Networks (OPeN)
Blue circles standard consumer WAP Red
circles CWN w/ OPeN enhancement Purple
details are links created across blue WAPs Red
(CWN) nodes act as clients. Blue nodes only used
for layer 2 transport In this example a route is
created over OPN from A-D D-E E-C etc. that
by traditional methods would not be possible
25
The Pennsylvania Debacle

• As National Public Radio summarized,
• The real threat to Verizon and other companies
  could come in the form of a bunch of geeks on a
  mission.
• Philadelphia was the tip of the PA CWN iceberg.
• Verizon wanted protection from competition.
• Legislators needed political cover to offer
  Verizon enormous protections and subsidies.
• Thus the Philadelphia exemption.
• This is (unfortunately) the quid pro quo.

26
How Illinois Almost Got Screwed

• Senate Bill 0499
• 19 (c) No political subdivision of this State
  shall provide or
• 20 offer for sale, either to the public or to a
  telecommunications
• 21 provider, a telecommunications service or
  telecommunications
• 22 facility used to provide a telecommunications
  service for which
• 23 a Certificate of Service Authority is required
  pursuant to this
• 24 Section.

27
Across the United States
Arkansas (Ark. Code 23-17-409), Florida
(Fla. Stat. Ch. XXI, 166.047), Iowa (Iowa
Statue 388.10), Minnesota (Minn. Stat. Ann
237.19), Missouri (Revised Statutes of Missouri
392.410-7), Nebraska (Neb. Rev. Stat 86-2304),
Nevada (Nevada Statutes 268.086), Pennsylvania
(House Bill 30), South Carolina (S.C. Code
58-9-2600), Tennessee (Tenn. Stat. Ann.
7-52-601), Texas (Texas Pub. Util. Code 54.202
et seq), Utah (Utah Code 10-18), Virginia (Va.
Code 15.2-2160Va. Code 56-265.44),
Washington State (Revised Code of Washington
54.16.330), Wisconsin (Act 278)
28
8 Needed (Spectrum) Reforms

• Shared spectrum usage (e.g., interference
  temperature).
• Spectrum for non-profit, municipal, educational
  use.
• More unlicensed spectrum (e.g., reallocation of
  old TV broadcast spectrum).
• Lower transmit power limits in urban areas.
• Variable power control on consumer-level devices.
• Smart-antenna and cognitive radio innovation.
• ISP information database for consumers.
• Eliminate anti-competitive regulations that limit
  consumers choices for (broadband) wireless
  services.

29
How We Are About to be Screwed

• Senate Bill 1700 Illinois Telecom Rewrite
• Written by SBC Staff (?)
• Guts public service provisions
• Guts protections against price gouging
• Strikes out all language stating that charges or
  service to the public shall be just and
  reasonable
• Defines Broadband Service to be 200 kilobits
  per second (in one direction)
• Prevents regulation/oversight of advanced
  services broadband services any service
  not commercially available on the effective date
  of this amendatory Act information services
  Internet protocol enabled services and,
  customer premises equipment

30
Radical Alternatives Next Steps

• Share your bandwidth.
• FreeNet-style information storage.
• Community web-servers hosting.
• Mobile uploading.
• Anonymous usage and downloading.
• Universal access.
• Immediate broadcasting from the streets.
• Open Source, Open Architecture, Open Spectrum
  Solutions.

31
The Take-Home Messages

• Implementation of community wireless networks is
  growing rapidly.
• Anti-competitive laws that limit consumer choices
  should be repealed.
• The coalition of community wireless network
  implementers, developers, and spectrum policy
  allies needs to be strengthened.
• New regulations must be passed to support
  technological innovation and increase public
  access to the public airwaves.

32
Conclusions

• CWNs offer more (and faster) services to end
  users at cheaper prices.
• CWNs are a viable, accessible technological
  alternative.
• The time for deployment is now.
• Like the Internet itself, CWNs create new media
  production and information dissemination
  opportunities limited only by our own
  imaginations.

33
For More Information

• Sascha D. Meinrath CUWiN
  Free Press
• sascha_at_cuwireless.net www.cuwireless.net
  www.freepress.net/communityinternet
• Presentation will be available online at
  http//www.saschameinrath.com/pubs