report - Community-based Networks and Innovative Technologies ...

New models to serve and empower the poor
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Potentially lower levels of bureaucracy encountered, in principle (though not always
in practice), in solutions using non-licensed spectrum.
Together, these factors considerably reduce the challenge for the community in financing,
building and maintaining networks, as compared to the use of traditional fixed line technology.
The evidence is there on the ground. The rapid and largely unplanned, even illegal, growth
in WiFi networks is testimony to the how easy it is to get such networks up and running,
although providing services to only a limited range of customers. Similarly, community
WiFi networks have spontaneously sprung up in many cities of the developed world.
But the community owned enterprise, as distinct from a private commercial concern,
also brings its specific advantages to infrastructure and service network development as
outlined:
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The capacity to harness community resources can simplify the process of positioning
antennae and other equipment, and utilise voluntary labour and expertise;
The use of public buildings such as schools, local government, libraries and others,
may offer good public access to services;
Local financing can, in the right circumstances, be obtained more readily from subscriber/members
on the basis of future services since the user has a stake in the
enterprise, and the minimum return required for local investors is lower than in the
case of a commercial investor;
With the emergence of more sophisticated content-driven services, the direct link to
local needs is more likely to yield viable and sustainable services, in turn generating
further income.
It is also worth noting that conventional telecoms service providers may significantly
underestimate the revenue generation potential of rural and poorer populations. Several
studies have shown that poor people in rural areas are willing to pay significantly more
for services than their comparatively low income would suggest, because of the potentially
higher benefits achieved.
Thus innovative network technologies may boost the prospects of deploying the community
owned model; but the community owned model in turn enhances the affordability and
accessibility of these technologies and amplifies the benefits through the community.
Section 3 demonstrated an already widespread interest in technologies and their potential.
Much less attention has been devoted to the type of enabling environment and
business models that might be most suited to realising that potential in different circumstances.
5.2 An Enabling Environment for Community Ownership
Reaping the benefits of community ownership of networks requires an enabling environment.
An enabling environment for competitive investment in ICTs has been a major
thrust in national and international policy for some time. However, where this approach
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