v0.2
This is a work in progress. Click the headings to expand
Rural and urban connectivity models different substantially. This text is mostly focused on rural, but will be expanded soon.
Also, whatever you think it will cost you, double it. There are license fees, legal fees, and all kinds of taxes that will shut you down if you don't have the revenue to pay for it.
Some people start a network by just making the first connection for the first place that needs it. That is a way to start, but there are other ways.
If you can write a proposal that can outline your plan, you can share it with as many people as possible, so that everyone can align themselves with a shared plan. Some people might be hesitant to do this, because they might be afraid that other people will "steal" their plan - this is exactly what you want! If your plan makes it clear how big the network needs to be, and how many people are involved, and how much sharing resources can benefit everyone, then there will be plenty of space for many people to contribute, even while also doing their own thing in the areas where they live.
A proposal can also be customized for investors or funders. Money does not make things easier, it just makes more things happen, so this is why its very important to have plans that have been tested and shown to work well in similar places. We will share plans here that we have used and tested over many years.
You can start small - with just one shared mobile hotspot, or you can start big, with a tower and a lot of hotspots, or you can start very big with a few separate networks in your area run by other people, and a plan to build a shared backbone to support everyone.
The proposal needs to take into account how many other networks could potentially contribute to building a backbone. If there are 5 or more nearby villages with other people, you should build a backbone using high capacity equipment and increase your budget per tower for the whole network to $15000 per tower. Divided by 5 it is cheaper, per network, and each network will get better capacity.
Work out separate proposals for the backbone and for the networks.
We are compiling some templates you can use. Start approaching organizations, government, anyone for funding - and ask them for help in drafting the proposal to them. Also search on the web "how to write a proposal for funding". Industrial development, rural development, and entities like ISOC and APC have small grants, and so do many others. Also go through the options of starting small, vs starting big, vs starting very big.
Join a workshop and lets do it together.
If you can write a proposal that can outline your plan, you can share it with as many people as possible, so that everyone can align themselves with a shared plan. Some people might be hesitant to do this, because they might be afraid that other people will "steal" their plan - this is exactly what you want! If your plan makes it clear how big the network needs to be, and how many people are involved, and how much sharing resources can benefit everyone, then there will be plenty of space for many people to contribute, even while also doing their own thing in the areas where they live.
A proposal can also be customized for investors or funders. Money does not make things easier, it just makes more things happen, so this is why its very important to have plans that have been tested and shown to work well in similar places. We will share plans here that we have used and tested over many years.
You can start small - with just one shared mobile hotspot, or you can start big, with a tower and a lot of hotspots, or you can start very big with a few separate networks in your area run by other people, and a plan to build a shared backbone to support everyone.
The proposal needs to take into account how many other networks could potentially contribute to building a backbone. If there are 5 or more nearby villages with other people, you should build a backbone using high capacity equipment and increase your budget per tower for the whole network to $15000 per tower. Divided by 5 it is cheaper, per network, and each network will get better capacity.
Work out separate proposals for the backbone and for the networks.
We are compiling some templates you can use. Start approaching organizations, government, anyone for funding - and ask them for help in drafting the proposal to them. Also search on the web "how to write a proposal for funding". Industrial development, rural development, and entities like ISOC and APC have small grants, and so do many others. Also go through the options of starting small, vs starting big, vs starting very big.
Join a workshop and lets do it together.
There are licenses and things that might stress you out and seem so expensive that you will never be able to get it. Look for grey areas in the law and look for other people building networks.
People need connectivity - if you build really good connectivity, the money and help you need will come looking for you. Don't buy just any hardware, buy hardware that you've seen work in the way that you will need it to work - connecting 100s or 1000s of people, and giving them a good connection.
People need connectivity - if you build really good connectivity, the money and help you need will come looking for you. Don't buy just any hardware, buy hardware that you've seen work in the way that you will need it to work - connecting 100s or 1000s of people, and giving them a good connection.
This is a draft written in a few minutes - but seeing as that there doesn't seem to be a resource like this out there, here it is. We will be improving this. Please email us corrections, improvements, comments, criticism, experience, anything and everything you like, or add them yourself here.
For steps on registering a company and getting a license in South Africa, please follow the steps here.
For steps on registering a company and getting a license in South Africa, please follow the steps here.