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Communityowned and operated free wifi network
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... national chain outlets (Starbucks, Borders) Austin Wireless City Project ... Sample Login Page. Austin Wireless City Project. The Free WiFi Business Model ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation
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Title: Communityowned and operated free wifi network
1
Austin Wireless City Project
- Community-owned and operated free wifi network
- austinwirelesscity.org
2
Assumptions/Observations
- Individual geeks were out-deploying commercial
providers, in small businesses - Commercial Providers had to focus on large deals
(Starbucks), not small businesses (Flightpath). - Small businesses would be under-served/ignored by
Commercial Providers. - Small businesses are desirable to the community
3
Lay of the Land
- Free wifi hotspots
- about 60
- small venues and independent businesses
- installed and maintained by individuals
- stand alone
- For-pay wifi hotspots
- about 25
- in national chain outlets (Starbucks, Borders)
4
Grassroots or Weeds?
- Lots of free wifi hotspots, but
- they were deployed without a plan. They lacked
coordination for operations, network planning,
deployment, monitoring, support, and visibility.
Relied on individual geeks. - for-pay hotspots were systematically deployed,
marketed, and bankrolled by telco giants
5
Concern
- Was there a danger that unplanned free wifi
deployments might vanish due to lack of
coordination and commitment? - Was the public aware that free wifi was a viable
alternative to Starbucks? - Would we eventually be forced abandon small
business and go to chains for wifi?
6
Community Spirit, Coordination and Technology
- AWCP established in Oct 2002
- Community stakeholders identified
- Austin Wireless Group
- Austin Free-Net
- EFF-Austin
- Technology Partner needed
- Mission and scope debated
- Making cool places hot and hot places hotter
- Phase I 50 Hotspots
7
Needs and Desires
- For Venues low-cost commercial-style service
- Venue-branding
- Usage statistics
- User communication
- For Users free commercial-style service
- More venue visibility
- More reliable service
- Cool features venue-to-venue chat, discussion
forums, news and articles, hotspot finder, user
finder - For Community viable, sustainable free wifi
alternative to for-pay model
8
Open Source to the Rescue
- Less Networks (est. March 2003 as Technology
Partner) - LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl)
- NoCatAuth
- Postnuke
- Wiki
- Service Provision based on Meeting Needs (for
free) and Fulfilling Desires (for pay, at some
point)
9
The Recipe
- Free software download from Less Networks
- Red Hat Linux
- Apache
- Perl
- NoCatAuth
- Free authentication and branding service from
Less Networks - Red Hat Linux
- MySQL
- Postnuke
- Perl
- Free sales, installation, and support from AWCP
10
Got Gear?
- Old PCs aint dead yet. Give em to us and well
put them back into community service powering
free wifi hotspots - Pentium I
- 32MB RAM
- 384MB Hard drive
- CD-ROM
- 2 Ethernet ports
11
Got Time?
- 25 Volunteers and Recruiting
- Strategic Planning Committee (the board)
- Operations Team (the core)
- Walkers, Hotspotters, and Caretakers
- Coordinators Service, Donations, Community
Relations
12
Results
- Network launched first hotspot 9/11/2003
- 20 networked venues and 1600 registered users
- Current deployment capacity 4 per week
- Deployment pipeline 55
- Usage growth 20 new users per day
13
Sample Login Page
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The Free WiFi Business Model
- The key is the recognition that it succeeds when
it enables as many small businesses as possible
to profit from it. - Unlike classic fee-based models where a large
out-of-town telecom giant pockets all the gains,
the community-based model keeps locally generated
revenues in the communities that generated them
in the first place.
15
An example of small businesses working together
to provide free wifi
- Opal Divines, a popular bar and restaurant
wanted free wifi - Midas Networks did the cabling.
- A small consultancy installed a router.
- Another company made new coasters that said Free
WiFi here. - More food and beer order from Opals local
suppliers to feed the new WiFi customers. - New wifi customers bought the food and beer and
paid new tips to the wait staff. - Less Networks employs 10 employees and
contractors - Midas Networks hosts Less Networks.
- Corporate communications firm Hackney
Communications provides the PR and gets them
coverage in the local papers, the Austin American
Statesman and the Austin Business Journal, as
well as the national trades.
16
Even the Big Boys make out in the community model
- Kinkos made the vinyl sign hanging outside that
says Free WiFi here - CompUSA sold the wireless access point
- Local access point maker Buffalo sold CompUSA the
access point - Telecom giant SBC sold them the business class
DSL connection. - Kinkos, CompUSA, Buffalo, and SBC combine to
employ hundreds of Austinites. - And lets not forget the enterprising guy who
peddles the bright orange t-shirts that say Keep
WiFi Free. Keep Austin Wireless.
17
Transformation
- The circle is completed
- local technical schools provide students as
network installation interns in exchange for
valuable hands-on experience - job seekers want to volunteer as network support
personnel to beef up their resumes. - The Project transforms the community
- from consumers of a corporate-delivered service
into creators of a locally-provided service - from users of WiFi into high-tech educators and
trainers in the wireless industry.
18
How to Do it Yourself
- AWCP will open source its operating procedures,
policy, organization structure, and
documentation. Available 1Q04. - www.austinwirelesscity.org
- Less Networks will make downloadable hotspot
software available 1Q04. Beta-test version
available by request in Austin. - www.lessnetworks.com
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