Guifi Net - Independent Telecommunications Network

[LZ1 672]

Hello !

 

Would AirVPN & members be interested in supporting guifi.net? An open, free & neutral Telecommunications Network, which started out as a mesh-network run by 1 guy. I think that even if Air chose not to support it monetarily, it would still be very interesting for a VPN provider to provide advice and/or further support in other ways. But guifi strikes at the heart of AirVPNs hacktivist & activist roots as well. Maybe there could be a partnership between guifi.net & Air in the future? Like their users get 10% off of the price or something. Maybe there's a business opportunity there somewhere.

 

The Story

Guifi was started when a man in Spain couldn't receive network access, due to one of the biggest Spanish ISPs, Telefonica, being sloppy/lazy/careless and/or just not interested in providing him a service. Due to them being a very large company and having an effective monopoly on networking, he decided to start his own business. It started out as just him using long-range directional wi-fi from government buildings to his home, to get access to the internet. But eventually it caught on and others wanted it too. So his network grew and now many many people rely on guifi to get access to the net. It also aligns nicely with the parts of Spain which want independence, that they have their own network, which they control.

 

Once you read this description, I'm sure you'll find this is precisely the sort of thing Air can get behind:

 

guifi.net is a Telecommunications Networks as a Commons.

In guifi.net, users promote and invest in telecommunications infrastructure that ensures Internet quality access at a just price.

 

guifi.net network is open, free and neutral to avoid restrictions on content and technology.

Anyone can be a user of guifi.net, a network infrastructure that is part of a Commons.

 

The network uses best available techologies, radio and optical fiber, with connections up to 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps Internet interconnections.

In 2008, users founded guifi.net Foundation, which objective is work for Network as Commons, develping and applying an economic model basen on

 

management infrastructure as a Commons Pool Resource and Collaborative Economy.

guifi.net Foundation is a NGO for Development, a telecommunications operator ans Volunteer organitzation.

 

Transform telecommunications sector. Improve capabilitis of Internet access.

 

Guifi.net Network Terms of Use:

You have the freedom to use the network for any purpose as long as you don’t harm the operation of the network itself, the rights of other users, or the principles of neutrality that allow contents and services to flow without deliberate interference.

You have the right to understand the network and its components, and to share knowledge of its mechanisms and principles.

You have the right to offer services and content to the network on your own terms.

You have the right to join the network, and the obligation to extend this set of rights to anyone according to these same terms.

 

Why Air Might LIke It

The special thing about guifi is that it's an open, sometimes monetarily free network, which follows a lot of principles that Air would agree on; such as Net Neutrality. Many people, especially in rural areas, can't get online, because it's supposedly too costly to get them connected and let's be honest, who needs censorship or data caps to block people from having access, when there's simply no service at all? Just as the Air mission reads: "Circumvent censorship and any other barrier to seek, receive and impart information and ideas without interference and regardless of frontiers". But with guifi, everyone can get connected and it doesn't always cost money (from my reading). But even though this is currently only in Spain, just imagine if such initiatives could spread to other parts of the world! Many americans for instance, either don't get serviced by an ISP at all or have to live with very bad deals/terms. But with guifi, you get more for less. So in short:

 

• Open, neutral & unrestricted.
   
• Community-run & supported by paying customers and donations.
   
• Uses FOSS software & has a robust yet straightforward rulebook
   
• Helps people, both rural and non-rural alike, get access to the Internet
   
• Fair pricing. Especially compared to corporate ISPs such as Telefonica.
   
• Could spawn similar initiatives, which in the long-run, could ultimately help rid the world of greedy, slow, controlling & bad ISPs.

Other Interesting Things

 

Here you can see how their network expanded, in a short video.

Here you can read a long review of it

 

Please feel free to tell me what you think