As Internet access continues to grow in Africa, with over
450 million people now connected to the Internet, more than 60 percent of the
population still remains offline. Community Networks are a key way to address
this connectivity gap, says the Internet Society (ISOC) reports ITREALMS.
ISOC is a global non-profit dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet.
Community Networks are communications infrastructure built,
managed and used by local communities. They provide a sustainable solution to
address the connectivity gaps that exist in underserved urban, remote, and
rural areas around the world. In Africa, where these gaps are more prevalent, a
recent survey was able to identify 37 community networks initiatives in 12
African countries, of which 25 are considered active.
The Internet Society in
partnership with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
(https://www.APC.org) and Zenzeleni Networks (http://Zenzeleni.net)will hold
the third Africa Community Networks Summit in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
from 3-7 September, 2018. The Summit
aims to promote the creation and growth of Community Networks, increase
collaboration between community network operators in the region, and to provide
an opportunity for them to engage with other stakeholders including content
producers, regulators and policymakers.
Particpants from 13 countries in Africa (Kenya, Uganda,
South Africa, DRC, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Cameroon, Tanzania,
Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia) will be attending the summit in addition to
attendees representing Community Networks in Spain, Germany, Argentina, India
and the United States.
The conference sessions will cover topics ranging from how
Community Networks can close the connectivity gap in Africa to strategies to
support local access. Discussions will
also include how local networks can be used to improve delivery of basic
services and inspire creation of locally relevant content and services, as well
as how to create policies and regulations that enable Community Networks in
Africa.
Access to spectrum is critical for Community Networks. Policy makers and regulators can play a key
role in ensuring innovative approaches to making spectrum available by working
with Community Networks. An Internet
Society report (https://www.internetsociety.org/policybriefs/spectrum) examines
the various ways that Community Networks can gain access to spectrum, including
the use of unlicensed spectrum, sharing licensed spectrum, and innovative
licensing.
“Enabling communities to actually connect themselves is a
new way of thinking,” explains Michuki Mwangi, Senior Development Manager for
Africa at the Internet Society. “Policy
makers and regulators should recognize that connectivity can be instigated from
a village or a town and that they can help communities to connect themselves by
providing an enabling environment with innovative licensing and access to
spectrum.”
The Africa Community Networks Summit
(https://bit.ly/2oCxh6Z) will conclude with a visit to communities served by
Zenzeleni Networks, South Africa’s first telecommunications organization that
is owned and run by a rural cooperative.
Zenzeleni Networks installs and maintains its own telecommunications
infrastructure to deliver affordable voice and data services. All revenues stay in the community and the
residents together decide what is done with the proceeds.
The cost to deploy Community Networks can be low. Often, the
technology required to build and maintain the network is as simple as a (inexpensive,
locally available) wireless router. The networks can range from WiFi-only to
mesh networks and mobile networks that provide voice and SMS services. While they usually serve communities under
3,000 people, some serve more than 50,000 users.
“These networks not only provide affordable access in areas
where operators don’t find it commercially viable to provide similar
services, but, by being built and
operated by people from within the community, they bring many other benefits to
the areas where they operate. They are
key to enabling the unconnected connect themselves in Africa,” explains
Carlos-Rey Moreno, Community Access Project Coordinator for APC.
Nenye Dom/GEE
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