UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Community Cellular Networks Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5hx504jz Author Heimerl, Kurtis Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Community Cellular Networks by Kurtis Heimerl A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Eric Bre$er, Co-chair Assistant Professor &apan Parikh, Co-chair Associate Professor 'enna Burrell Professor Ali Niknejad *all +,-. Community Cellular Networks Copyright +,-. by Kurtis Heimerl - Abstract Community Cellular Networks by Kurtis Heimerl Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science University of California, Berkeley Professor Eric Bre$er, Co-chair Assistant Professor &apan Parikh, Co-chair There are over six billion active cellular subscribers, spending a total of over a trillion dollars a year on communications. Despite this, hundreds of millions of people, primarily in rural areas, are still without network connectivity0 There are two primary reasons for this: First, it is too expensive for traditional carriers to install equipment in far flung regions with small markets. Second, traditional carriers are the only organizations allowed to provide coverage; local people cannot. &o bring network connectivity to these remaining hundreds of millions of people, we introduce the concept of community cellular networks" small-scale, locally operated networks independent from tradi- tional telecommunication firms. In support of these networks, $e also introduce virtual coverage, a novel power saving mechanism in GSM networks. 7irtual coverage allows us to reduce the total install cost of the network to the point where individual operators can run their own full-scale telecommunication firms. 8e deployed the first community cellular network in the community of Desa-, in rural Papua, Indone- sia. This community of approximately -9,, people is far from e/isting network coverage. 8e developed numerous services for the community including a credit system, singing competition, and others. The network also made use of virtual coverage. 8e evaluated community cellular and virtual coverage through this real-world installation in Desa. Over a six-month period, we sa$ over -,,,,, communications, reduced the night power dra$ by 56.6%, and generated over US$5000 in revenue for the local operator0 This network is sustainable, generating over US$368 per month in profit for the local operator, even assuming complete financing of the install. 8e interviewed users of the system, discovering that most of their communication is with family and friends in other Indonesian areas. Lastly, we sho$ that this network is significantly more locally-focused than a traditional firm in sub-Saharan Africa. These results validate the community cellular model. 8e explore future $ork needed for this model to flourish, including more technological innovations in power saving and alternative models for regulating these small networks0 1Name anonymized. + Contents 1 Introduction 5 2 Related Work 8 +0- Cellular Networks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000000000000000000 0 0 > +0-0- Cellular Network Usage 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000000000000 > +0-0+ Cellular Economics 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000000000000000 > +0-0. Rural Cellular 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000000000000000000 > +0+ Development 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000000000000000000 0 0 0 0 A +0+0- Developing Region/Rural Networks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000000 A +0+0+ Mobile for Development 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000000000000 A +0. 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