BOTTOM-UP CONNECTIVITY STRATEGIES: Community-led small-scale telecommunication infrastructure networks in the global South Research conducted by Nicola J. Bidwell and Michael Jensen “Connecting people in poverty is predominantly a matter of affordability, but the business-as-usual approach – setting prices to recover infrastructure investment – will never be affordable for the poorest in society.” 1 Pathways for Prosperity Commission 1. Pathways for Prosperity Commission on Technology and Inclusive Development. (2018). Digital Lives: Meaningful Connections for the Next 3 Billion. https://pathwayscommission.bsg.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2018-10/digital-lives-report-180928- final-web.pdf 2 Acknowledgements This research would have been impossible without the contributions of some 400 people. We thank all the many people who work or volunteer for the many NGOs, local authorities, community networks, universities and support organisations, all around the world, who facilitated our research in their countries, from introducing us, hosting us, driving us, interpreting and facilitating for us and ensuring our trips were enjoyable and productive. Your commitment inspires us. We are also deeply grateful to the 350 participants in our interviews, focus groups and observations who were so generous with their time, their openness and their patience. We thank you for trusting us, and we hope we have represented you well. We thank the Local Access Networks project team for their support and feedback on parts of this document, and especially Kathleen Diga and Pavitra Ramanujam who tirelessly arranged our travel, and Carlos Rey-Moreno for coordinating the project and sourcing extra funds for our work. Finally, Nic would like to thank Dina Tjihara for caring for Poppy, her fur family, while she travelled. Any errors or omissions remain, of course, the responsibility of the authors alone. 3 Bottom-up connectivity strategies: Community-led small-scale telecommunication infrastructure networks in the global South Authors Nicola J. Bidwell Michael Jensen Copy editing/proofreading Lori Nordstrom (APC) Layout Cathy Chen (APC) This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors. This publication was carried out as part of the “Local Access Networks: Can the unconnected connect themselves?” project. Published by APC 2019 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Some rights reserved. ISBN 978-92-95113-09-1 APC-201906-CIPP-R-EN-DIGITAL-299 Disclaimer The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors. Research conducted by Financial support from International Development Research Centre Centre de recherches pour le développement international International Development Research Centre Centre de recherches pour le développement international Standards for use of the IDRC logo and Canada wordmark October 2014 Standards for use of the IDRC logo and Canada wordmark October 2014 SECTION 1. SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 8 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 9 Research methods ............................................................................................ 10 Results and conclusions .................................................................................... 11 General considerations ..................................................................................................... 11 The initiatives studied ....................................................................................................... 12 Motivations for establishing community networks ......................................................... 15 Technical and operational strategies in community networks ...................................... 16 Institutional models .......................................................................................................... 18 Local and global benefits offered by community networks ............................................ 19 Impediments to the benefits of community networks .................................................... 23 Final remarks and recommendations ................................................................. 25 Recommendations for policy and regulation ................................................................... 26 Recommendations for investment and funding .............................................................. 27 Recommendations about inclusivity ................................................................................ 27 Recommendations for future research ............................................................................ 28 SECTION 2. COMMUNITY NETWORKS: OPERATIONAL AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH ........ 29 Background ....................................................................................................... 30 Research strategy ............................................................................................. 33 The initiatives studied ....................................................................................... 35 Types of connectivity provided ......................................................................................... 38 Underlying motivations and support for setting up community networks ........... 39 Motivations for establishing community networks ......................................................... 39 Organisations with supporting roles in community networks ........................................ 43 Institutional models and sustainability strategies .............................................. 46 Provisioning models .......................................................................................................... 49 Umbrella and support organisations ................................................................................ 50 Levels of community involvement .................................................................................... 51 Indirect outcomes: Impacts on the connectivity ecosystem ............................... 52 A conceptual framework for financial sustainability ...................................................... 54 Sustainability challenges .................................................................................................. 55 Recommendations ............................................................................................ 63 Improving policy and regulatory environments ............................................................... 63 Recommendations for future research areas .................................................................. 65 The study group initiatives in detail ................................................................... 68 AlterMundi/*Libre, Córdoba province, Argentina ............................................................. 68 Associação Portal Sem Porteiras/Coolab, Monteiro Lobato, São Paulo state, Brazil ... 71 BOSCO – Battery Operated Systems for Community Outreach, Uganda ...................... 72 Des Hotspot, Banda Aceh, Indonesia ............................................................................... 75 Gram Marg/IIT Bombay, Maharashtra, India ................................................................... 77 Mayutel/Red de Telemedicina del Río Napo/TUCAN3G, Peru ........................................ 79 Pamoja Net, Ensemble Pour la Différence, Idjwi Island, DRC ......................................... 83 Puspindes/Common Room and RelawanTIK, Central Java, Indonesia ......................... 85 Quilombola Network, Bairro Novo, Maranhão, Brazil ...................................................... 88 TakNet/Net2Home, Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand ..................................................... 90 Telecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarias (TIC AC), Oaxaca, Mexico ...................... 93 5 Ungu Community 4G/LTE, Bokondini, West Papua, Indonesia ....................................... 97 Village Base Station (VBTS) Konnect Barangay, Aurora, Philippines ........................... 100 Wireless for Communities (W4C), Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), India ..... 103 Zenzeleni, Eastern Cape, South Africa ........................................................................... 105 Technology use details .................................................................................... 106 Access network technologies ......................................................................................... 106 Technology use insights ................................................................................................. 113 SECTION 3. THE SOCIAL BENEFITS OF RURAL COMMUNITY NETWORKS IN SIX COUNTRIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THEIR DEVELOPMENT ................................................ 118 Introduction .................................................................................................... 119 Benefits and capabilities ................................................................................. 120 Expressing and extending self- and collective efficacy ................................................ 120 Ownership and walking together ...................................................................................