Financially Sustainable Digital Divide Bridge Onno W. Purbo

Disclaimer.. I am a trained Engineer, not an economist nor a social scientist I tend to simplify things & may be wrong Some thought may be too extreme Consider this as an on going research work

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What you are about to see years process Lots of dedicated individuals Very high traffic mailing list discussion 100 mailing lists 600 /day

After 10+ Years.. 4+ Million Indonesian Internet Users WiFi outdoor installations CyberCafes schools on the Internet Not much gov’t funding & support No World Bank, IMF funding Mostly self-finance

Major Approaches Government Grass Root Movement Knowledge Based Society

Government Path Key Success Attitude, Quality, Culture – human resource.

Basic Assumption Technology Expensive Specialized Skilled Licensed from Gov’t Invest by Investors Build by Vendor etc Run by Operator For user / customer

Assumed Structured

License Requirement Licensed?From? NetworkYesMinister ServiceYesMinister ResellerNo, Agreement w/ Operator -

Paradigm Shift?.. Or Clash? Old Technology Expensive Specialized Skilled Licensed from Gov’t Invest by Investors Build by Vendor etc Run by Operator For user Future? … Technology Cheaper Technology Friendly From the people Invest People Build People Run People For People

Major Obstacle.. Old paradigm in regulatory framework, i.e., only a licensed operator can run the network. No room for community based infrastructure.

Implanted Divide.. Operatorsvs. users. Investorsvs. users. Havesvs. the have not. one close to regulator vs. common people. one close to operator vs. common people. one close to political leaders vs. common people.

Some problems in licensing.. Distortion in licensing processes. Homebrew equipment type approval. No room for infrastructure that build, run, operate, and for communities. Frequency is commodity. The bottom line is “money talk”.

The solution should.. Focus on Self-finance Sustainable Access (Infrastructure). Applications may run on top of it. Aim for highest impact at lowest possible overhead if possible self-finance sustainable processes.

Guerrilla Telco Warfare.. Basic Strategies: Community Education! Education! knowledge transfer, copyleft. Go for many small but interconnected network. Self-finance, sustainable  independent community based telecommunication infrastructure. Don’t worry it’ll take 10+ years to see the impact..

Grass Root Movement

RebelNet Arch.

Two (2) Main Technologies WiFi – for outdoor usage! VoIP

Main Features “Low Cost” US$ / WiFi node. US$10-50 / phone line (depending conf.) Operating cost US$400/16-60 line/ month Many Open Source

Main Problems Outdoor WiFi (Fixed Wireless) creating a lot of regulatory breach. Operator Licensing issues. Frequency issues. VoIP (Internet Telephony) Create corporate voice telephony extranet  bypass most corporate traffics via VoIP  Problems for Telco & Gov’t!!

Consequences.. 4+ Million Indonesian Internet Users WiFi outdoor installations CyberCafes schools on the Internet Not much gov’t funding & support No World Bank, IMF funding Mostly self-finance

Grass Root Key Success Ability To Read English Supply Created-by-Demand Society’s level of education Access to ICT skills / knowledge for ICT professionals

Demand Creation Awareness Demand Creation Business Opportunity Pressure on Regulation

Create Supporting Structure Encourage Student  ICT Knowledge Producer Mailing Lists  Tacit Knowledge Distributor Publications in magazine, books, VCD. Self-finance and self- propelled. Community broadcasting for rural / village areas.

Int’l Body Contribution.. Regulatory reform Keep in mind a shift in technology paradigm Careful with distortion in operational practice Supporting Grass Root Movement Education! Education! Education! Encourage Knowledge Producer in Local Lang. Aim for self-finance & sustainable path.