World Summits on Free Information Infrastractures

One of the active members of WSFII arrived for a visit in Dharamsala this morning.

We already had a chance to show Mr. Fred Pook - http://www.okfn.org/wsfii/wiki/FredPook the Upper TCV school and the Technology Center.
Fred is very focused and fun to be with.

Apart from the Technology Center, Fred examined the huge and fancy auditorium at TCV, the computer classes, conference halls and the multi-media room.

Tomorrow, we plan to expend the tour and to try and include as many antenna-sites and Mesh locations as possible.

Thanks for coming Fred !

From left: Fred Pook, Tim Kiely, Phuntsok Dorjee.

Fred Pook just posted a short report from his Dharamsala visit:

http://www.okfn.org/wsfii/wiki/DharamsalaVisit

Thanks Fred !

See you soon at the 2006 Dharamsala - WSFII

I was really excited to read about Dharamsala wireless mess on wired.com. Back in June 2005, I started a discussion on our community website (rungmung.net) about creating a wireless network in our area in upper Kali valley in Dharchula (Pithoragarh District, Uttaranchal) and across the river in Darchula district of Nepal.

http://rungmung.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45

The discussion sort of fizzled out mainly because the regulatory issue was not very clear to us and the idea was a bit too "alien" for most of our community members. Besides, I hadn't heard of any community networks in India to show as an example. The AirJaldi Summit will be a very good opportunity to experience the technology first-hand. I hope to convince some of our community members to attend the summit and the workshop in the hope of convincing them of the practicality of the idea.

Next - Pithoragarh Wireless Mesh

I'm very happy to read your post - it's our main aim to find rural communities such as your's, to replicate the Dharamsala technology to.

You must be aware that since February 2005, this kind of wireless technologies are legal in India. As for the link over the boarder to Nepal - I think it's an amazing idea. While I'm not a lawyer - I could not find any regulation that prevent you from doing this. That is true for the Indian side - I have no clue about the law in Nepal.

Imagine that you can make a VoIP network, that will allow you to make phone calls from India to Nepal at the cost of local Nepali call and vice-versa. So while it will be illegal to sell such services - It does seems that you can legally use it by your own community - as long as it's not a commercial venture (for which you'll need a license - which you will not get).

I love Pithoragarh area - I traveled there some years ago.
I would love to personally come and help you setup a network there.
But all this will have to wait for until after the AirJaldi summit in Dharamsala.

I truly hope that you and some of your community decision makers could come to Dharamsala for the summit. No doubt this would be the needed spark to start your future network.

Thanks.

Yahel.

Dharchula, Pithoragarh wireless:

Yahel,

Thanks for your offer for help. With your help, perhaps we can get our project off the ground.

Our target area is upper valleys of Dharchula/Darchula, with no telecom infrastructure or electricity. With a very low population density and with the villagers moving down to lower hills during the winter, I don't see the telcoms clamoring to extend their networks to those villages.

More than surfing the net, I think voice will be the main app over the network, at least in the initial stage.

We are trying to figure out which components can be locally sourced. Are the panel and grid antenna available in India or do they have to be imported? Have you tried homebrewing any antenna, or adapting any which are locally available?

I won't probably be able to make it to the summit as I am currently in Boston, but I am trying hard to get some of our community members in India/Nepal to participate.

Thanks.

Hemendra

It will be my pleasure to help.

Yes, I would think that VoIP based telephony will be a desired application.
What will you do with the equipment during the winter - when nobody stays there ?

ALL components can be sourced at BEST prices in India !
That includes the solar panels, the routers, the antennas, the VoIP equipment and all... I have all the links for you...
And we get very good deals from the best vendors in the country.

We can use home-brew antennas and many other things - and we do that.
Although the prices for professional antennas in India are very reasonable.
If your people would come to AirJaldi - they will learn all this at first hand - including DIY antenna construction.

While you are in Boston - you should try to meet with Mikey - he's on the organizing committee of AJS and a dear friend and long-time supporter. Maybe you should also try to get Tim to join the two, he's also returning to Dharamsala for the AJS..

Send me a private note - and I'll give you their contacts..

Best..

Yahel.
Berkeley, CA.

- Think Globally - Act Locally -