Gw2018 Portugal How to Build A

Gw2018 Portugal How to Build A

Community Networks GLOBALGLOBAL INFORMATION INFORMATION 2018 2018 SOCIETY WATCH 2018 THE 43 COUNTRY REPORTS included in this year’s Global SOCIETYCOMMUNITY WATCH NETWORKS 2018 Information Society Watch (GISWatch) capture the different GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY WATCH experiences and approaches in setting up community networks across the globe. They show that key ideas, CommunityCommunity Networks Networks such as participatory governance systems, community ownership and skills transfer, as well as the “do-it-yourself” spirit that drives community networks in many different contexts, are characteristics that lend them a shared purpose and approach. The country reports are framed by eight thematic reports that deal with critical issues such as the regulatory framework necessary to support community networks, sustainability, local content, feminist infrastructure and community networks, and the importance of being aware of “community stories” and the power structures embedded in those stories. GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY WATCH GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY WATCH GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY WATCH 2018 Report www.GISWatch.org International Development Research Centre Centre de recherches pour le développement international AssociAtion for Progressive communicAtions (APc) A SSOCI ATION FOR PROGRESSIVE COMMUNIC ATIONS (AP C) And internAtionAl develoPment reseArch centre (idrc) Tapa_GISW_2018.indd 1 12/10/18 12:44 Global Information Society Watch 2018 International Development Research Centre Centre de recherches pour le développement international Global Information Society Watch 2018 Community Networks Operational team GISWatch 2018 advisory committee Roxana Bassi (APC) Carlos Baca (REDES) Valeria Betancourt (APC) Luca Belli (FGV) Kathleen Diga (APC) Jane Coffin (ISOC) Alan Finlay (APC) Kazanka Comfort (Fantsuam Foundation) Michael Jensen (APC) Stéphane Couture (York University) Carlos Rey-Moreno (APC) Alison Gillwald (Research ICT Africa) Michuki Mwangi (ISOC) APC project coordination team Leandro Navarro (PANGEA) Namita Aavriti (APC) Dorothy Okello (WOUGNET/Makerere University) Roxana Bassi (APC) Nico Pace (AlterMundi) Valeria Betancourt (APC) Steve Song (Village Telco/Rhizomatica) Kathleen Diga (APC) Ritu Srivastava (DEF) Anriette Esterhuysen (APC) Flavia Fascendini (APC) Project coordinator Alan Finlay (APC) Kathleen Diga / Roxana Bassi (APC) Chat Garcia Ramilo (APC) Michael Jensen (APC) Editor Carlos Rey-Moreno (APC) Alan Finlay Assistant editor and proofreading Lori Nordstrom (APC) Publication production support Cathy Chen Graphic design Monocromo info@monocromo.com.uy Phone: +598 2400 1685 Cover illustration Matías Bervejillo This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada, as part of the APC project “Community access networks: How to connect the next billion to the Internet”. More information at: https://www.apc.org/en/project/ local-access-networks-can-unconnected-connect-themselves The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors. International Development Research Centre Centre de recherches pour le développement international Financial support provided by This edition of GISWatch came into being alongside a brand new baby boy. Welcome to the world, Ronan Diga! Published by APC 2018 Printed in USA Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Some rights reserved. Global Information Society Watch 2018 web and e-book ISBN 978-92-95113-06-0 APC-201810-CIPP-R-EN-DIGITAL-296 Disclaimer: The views expressed in the introduction, thematic and country reports of GISWatch are not necessarily the views of APC or of its members. PORTUGAL HOW TO BUILD A WIRELESS NETWORK AGAINST ALL ODDS: THE CASE OF WIRELESSPT was always looked down on with prejudice or at least WirelessPT Miguel Vieira seen as something that could not make money and was https://wirelesspt.net therefore unimportant. Any potential political champi- ons one could find would always want public credit and visibility for their personal brand in exchange for Introduction their support, sometimes demanding control and try- ing to dictate how the project would work. Over the years developing WirelessPT, I found that the The obstacles could be summed up as: no biggest difficulties people mention are how to start a funding, archaic politics, isolation, personal egos, wireless network, and uncertainty over how people selfishness and no support. And without help, for the will embrace the concept and, ultimately, adhere to it. end-user the investment would be costly. Everyone at some point has specific difficulties, but At least – and although with some boundaries – we all share these deterrents. the 2.4 and 5 Ghz spectrum was free and available for To give you an idea about the adversity I faced, use by citizens. this was the scenario: I was 5,500 km away from the town of Moitas Venda where the project would be deployed. Moitas Venda is a civil parish in central Por- What exactly is WirelessPT? tugal, 6.70 km2 in size and with a population of 866 WirelessPT.net is an open source mesh network people. The dominant employer is a local tannery, but project created, developed and registered by me. In the parish also manufactures tarpaulins and textiles, a mesh network, all routers and/or routing devices and produces marble used in construction. Despite that are added to it will automatically communicate this industrial dynamism, the parish has not seen a between themselves in a similar fashion to how lot of investment, and has little infrastructure to at- the internet works, in this way creating an identical tract new industries. communication system like the internet but without Due to its geography,1 the town has always been cables or wires or the need for human maintenance. known for difficulties in implementing projects us- This kind of network concept allows us to create a ing radio frequencies. I had only Pedro Maximiano, a network and expand it every time we activate another long-time friend and project partner, to help me, as I router nearby. faced a disgruntled community with low tech skills, A key advantage is that it does not cost much to displeased about wireless services following a pre- develop and implement. At the same time, the net- viously failed wireless project in which some had work cannot be completely shut down since no one invested, and old blocked and damaged hardware controls all routers or access points and there is no from that project that I could reuse. No one wanted central control point. If one access point goes offline, to or could spend money on wireless networking any- the network automatically reorganises itself without more. On top of it, I had a prejudice towards wireless the dead access point. networking, and knew very little about it. The router or routing device used is exactly the I was told by someone in the town that since I was same type of router that we can buy in any regular not living there I was clueless about how things need- computer store. However, we use a very specific type ed to be done. of software and firmware developed by me which The country context was also hardly amenable to I have named “mvwrt”. This software makes the setting up a user-developed and managed community network “self form” and “self heal” in case of any network that, in the case of WirelessPT, drew on the connectivity rupture – any router added to it will auto- potential of open source software to achieve its aims. matically detect the rest of the nearby mesh network, Policies in favour of community networks had never and add itself to it while simultaneously expanding it. existed. The idea of sharing resources in a community The more routers the network has, the wider its coverage will be. Some of these routers can be or will be connected to the internet and in this way all Wire- 1 It is situated between several small mountains and is elevated compared to other towns. lessPT.net users will also have internet access. 214 / Global Information Society Watch This type of escalation has been successfully becomes interested in expanding the network in its implemented in other places such as Moita, near franchise-type system to other towns. Ultimately the Marinha Grande, and Videla, which established a 3.5 platform would be used to unify all community wire- km link to Moitas Venda with up to 6 Mbits at 2.4 Ghz. less networks in Portugal. The project is designed to be deployed in a similar fashion to a franchise system where every new local Getting your feet wet, even if you can’t swim network will follow the documentation on the project My first trip to Moitas Venda to start the initial deploy- wiki and will have its administrator as the first “node ment was the hardest. I had only three weeks to fix owner”. A node owner is any person that at his or her and deploy old broken hardware that was left aban- own expense sets up a wireless access point and ei- doned by the previous community wireless project, ther joins or initiates the project in a new location and and I had no skills or knowledge on how to manage it. who will abide by a user and participant-specific peer We also had to talk to a number of disgruntled wire- agreement. less users and investors who had been involved in the At the time of writing, only two open source, previous project – it had failed to ensure sustainabili- community-managed wireless projects had been suc- ty and basic functionality in the town – and we had to cessfully implemented in Portugal. Only WirelessPT convince them to try something different. is still actively maintained and regulated by a com- In January 2011 – with the assistance of Nuno prehensive user agreement. The other community Carvalho and the extremely crucial help from Pedro network has always been closed to a group of de- Maximiano who always helped set up access points velopers who administrate it like a private internet and promoted the project over the years by talking to service provider (ISP) and have never made it attrac- people in person, by email, using social media and tive to the end-user.

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