Boom or Bust A Tale of Rural Connectivity, the Business of Micro ISPs, Community Networks, and the Backhaul Conundrum Author: Edwin Reed-Sanchez, City University of New York (CUNY) e
[email protected] Technical Advisor: Daniel German Martinez, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (Argentina) Advisor: Nigel Cassimire, Caribbean Telecommunications Union Table of Contents Foreword 3 Introduction 4 “Let me reintroduce myself, my name is …” Edwin Reed-Sanchez 4 The Research Method 7 "I wanna sit behind the scenes and see nothin' but the greens." Method Man 7 Cash 8 “C.R.E.A.M. - Cash Rule Everything Around Me” 8 Product 9 (Un)affordable Internet Backhaul 9 TeleGeography 10 C&W Networks - The Holy Grail of Backhaul Service 11 UFINET - The Grow With You Backhaul Provider 14 Rules, Regulators, and Rural Connectivity 17 The Indigenous Kalinago Community Network of Dominica 18 Relationships 21 The Real Routing Map for Internet Traffic 21 Mapping Internet Routes in Southern Caribbean of Nicaragua 21 TracerouteSQL 22 TracerouteSQL Data 23 Intercity Traffic 24 Claro Bluefields to SayCel Bluefields 24 Inter-regional Traffic 25 Tigo Little Corn Island to SayCel Bluefields 25 US Bound Traffic 26 SayCel Bluefields to Vultr, Miami 26 Bluefields Bound Traffic From USA 27 Vultr, Miami to SayCel Bluefields 27 Traceroute Patterns 27 Conclusion 28 So what now? 28 Acknowledgements 30 Foreword This research’s initial spark is to understand the utilization or underutilization of Subsea cable systems, especially in Bluefields, Nicaragua. Bluefields is the location of a landing station for ARCOS I, an international subsea fiber optic system. Bluefields is a city of approximately 100,000 people located on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, a traditional indigenous and afro-descendant region.