Alternative Networks: Toward Global Access to the Internet for All

Abstract

It is often said that the Internet is ubiquitous in our daily lives, but this holds true only for those who can easily access it. In fact, billions of people are still digitally-disconnected, as bringing connectivity to certain zones does not make a good business case. The only solution for these unsatisfied potential users is to directly undertake the building of the infrastructure required to obtaining access to the Internet, typically forming groups in order to share the corresponding cost. This article presents a global classification and a summary of the main characteristics of different Alternative Network deployments arisen in the last years with an aim to provide Internet services, in places where mainstream network deployments do not exist or are not adequate solutions. The "Global Access to the Internet for All" Research Group of the Internet Research Task Force, where all authors actively participate, is interested in documenting these emerging deployments. As an outcome of this work, a classification has converged by consensus, where five criteria have been identified and, based on them, four different types of Alternative Networks have been identified and described with real-world examples. Such a classification is useful for a deeper understanding of the common characteristics behind existing and emerging Alternative Networks.

Quantifying the spectrum occupancy in an outdoor 5 GHz WiFi network with directional antennas

“…According to a recent report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) only one out of two people on the globe and only one out of seven people in the Least Developed Countries (LDC) are using the Internet [1]. To decrease the costs of broadband connectivity and thus make the Internet more widely available, so-called "Alternative Networks" have been evaluated [2], [3]. As one of these alternatives, WiFibased Long Distance (WiLD) networks use Commercial Offthe-Shelf (COTS) high-gain directional antennas and WiFi cards to span multiple wireless links over distances up to 25 km.…”

“…As one of these alternatives, WiFibased Long Distance (WiLD) networks use Commercial Offthe-Shelf (COTS) high-gain directional antennas and WiFi cards to span multiple wireless links over distances up to 25 km. One crucial cost factor for "Alternative Networks" is the availability of license-free bands; however, according to [2], these bands face challenges due to overcrowding. The overall occupancy especially in the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band is likely to increase due to recent developments to utilize this band for LTE operations [4] or when modern WiFi standards such as IEEE802.11ac with their increased bandwidth become more ubiquitous.…”

Interdisciplinary Alliances to Deploy Telemedicine Services in Isolated Communities: The Napo Project Case

“…a variety of the different approaches is explained in a taxonomy of "alternative networks" proposed in [1]. In the first decade of the XXI century, some alternative telecommunications networks were pushed by technological groups that were sensitive to the reality of unconnected remote areas; these pilots showed, firstly, the technical difficulties of deploying low-cost infrastructures over regions that lack electricity, access to existing supporting structures for telecommunications equipment, technical staff for maintenance, etc.…”

“…The relevance of the participation of local communities as fundamental actors in all the stages of ICT4D projects becomes more and more important [4,7,10], and some research certainly points to the Community Networks paradigm [1] being the way to promote integrally sustainable and appropriate telecommunications solutions for rural communities. Relevant examples of this trend can be seen around Zenzeleni networks in South Africa [9], Rizhomatica in Mexico [11], and the bottom-up community cellular network in Papua presented in Reference [10].…”

The mitigating role of regulation on the concentric patterns of broadband diffusion. The case of Finland

“…During the 2000s while new services like VDSL and cable were deployed in European cities, DSL over long copper lines remained as the only solution for rural users. To increase the quality of rural broadband, wireless community networks emerged in Spain, Germany, Greece, among other European countries, thus showing the willingness of end users to invest in broadband infrastructure (Baig et al, 2015;Berger and Frey, 2016;Frangoudis et al, 2011;Fuchs, 2017;Micholia et al, 2018;Saldana et al, 2017). Therefore, broadband penetration goals not only can be achieved through nationwide operator investment but also considering the willingness and investment capacity of end users.…”