Case Study – TunapandaNET Community NetworkJosephine Miliza – [email protected]
Photo credit– Internet Society
We’ve Connected the Easy HalfBillions of People on
EarthAverage Annual
Income
Affordable Monthly Communication
Spend
1st Billion $29,206 $205
2nd Billion $12,702 $53
3rd Billion $5,540 $23
4th Billion $2,987 $12
5th Billion $1,771 $7
6th Billion $1,065 $4.4
7th Billion $540 $2.25
Source: Richard Thanki, University of Southhampton from UN & ITU dataCC- Steve Song
Barriers to Getting Connected
Source: ITU
Who are the Unconnected?
Source: ITU
Community Networks in Africa
• Holistic approach • Bottom-up models started by
local communities to address connectivity gaps
• Human –centered – built with, for and by the community.
• Peer to peer• Non commercialized• Catalyze local economies
and drive adoption of technology
CNs in Africa -12 African countries. 25 are considered active
ZenzeleniEastern Cape, South Africa
TunapandaNETKibera, Nairobi Kenya
BOSCO
Uganda
Macha Works
Zambia
Community Networks in Africa6
Understanding Needs
Technical Engineering
TunapandaNET Topology
Core Network Infrastructure
At Tunapanda, we have the following:
Sector antennas with radios covering 120 degrees.
Distribution Layer
Have two high points that have an even better coverage to the other nodes.
Access Layer
These are:• Schools• Community centers such as
ICT centers, hubs• Health centers
Project Costs
• Equipment costs• Internet costs—Fiber
installation and monthly costs
• Supporting infrastructure—mounting brackets
Connected Schools
• Provision of internet and digital educational tools and resources
• Training teachers on digital literacy and ICTs for education
• Training students on tech and digital design topics such as robotics, design thinking, coding and digital story telling
Connected Youth
• Networking – design, implementation and maintenance
• Programming• Computer hardware & software
maintenance• ICT tools for learning and earning
Connected Women
• Digital literacy• ICT tools for managing
small business• ICTs and governance – how
to utilize ICTs to amplify their voices
Areas of Growth• Bandwidth management• Network monitoring• Network security• Voucher system for users
Looking Ahead
• Diversification of services offering – webhosting services
• Local content platforms - e-commerce, health applications, local job postings.
Partners
Resources
• Internet Society - https://www.internetsociety.org/issues/community-networks/
• APC - https://www.apc.org/en/project/connecting-unconnected-supporting-community-networks-and-other-community-based-connectivity
• https://www.apc.org/en/tags/community-networks• Community networks Forum- https://communitynetworks.group/