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Americas Issue: November 2005
For Starters
VoIPcycle Spins Conversation
by Georgia Mullen
It can get rainy in Uganda, and when it does—usually from March until May and again between October and November—residents in five remote villages will be pedaling their VoIPcycles to keep the phones ringing.
Some who attended the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo in L.A. last month might have seen Inveneo’s Linux-based VoIPcycle in action.
According to Inveneo CEO Mark Summers, a solar panel is the main energy source that runs the battery that powers the Linux box connected to the VoIP gear connected to an antenna, which in one village sits atop an avocado tree. The bike serves as backup on days the sun doesn’t shine or when phone use is greater than anticipated.
In remote regions without electricity or regular phone access, Inveneo’s system hopscotches to the nearest PSTN connection through a series of transmitters and receivers.
Inveneo, a non-profit, social enterprise organization that designs and deploys sustainable communications technology for non-governmental organizations and remote communities, launched the system last June with a VoIP phone call from the local Community Knowledge Center to Nyamiryango in western Uganda.
ActionAid International, an NGO whose aim is to fight poverty worldwide, partnered with Inveneo on the project. “We work with people who understand how the phone will be used on the ground,” Summer said.
Inveneo set up systems in five villages. The Community Center is the hub, connecting village stations to the local phone network and to the Center’s existing Internet connection. Since landlines aren’t available in this part of Uganda, an interconnect to the GSM network was established using GSM terminal units. All stations are connected with 802.11 wireless network links ranging from 2 km to 6 km.
Power to the People
Villagers now have phone, computer and Internet service for the first time, thereby empowering themselves with communications and technology that will improve their lives dramatically.
Instead of walking half a day to a village 10 miles away to buy seeds or discuss transport of goods and crops, Summer said, these subsistence farmers can conduct business quickly by phone.
The goal: to get beyond subsistence farming. Villagers anticipate increased incomes through improved access to market prices. Cooperation among villages with phones will pool resources and increase buying power.
Villagers can research government and NGO grants and programs—and submit their applications online. They now have access to a database of traditional medicines for treatment of AIDS and other diseases.
Each village has its own extension and voice mail box. A PBX system allows free calls among the connected villages. Any phone in the world can call the village stations and the villages can call any phone in Uganda.
’Round-the-Clock Access
It takes desire, teamwork and foresight for this system—one phone per village—to work. Villagers elect the person who will house the computer. It’s a position of honor and responsibility, since that host must guarantee fellow villagers access to the computer—and to his or her home—24/7.
On phone-inauguration day, the five villages planned a celebration attended by government officials. Phones were put to instant use as villagers chatted back and forth about who was cooking what. “It’s simple things that will change these people’s lives,” Summer said.
“When the phone rang it was startling,” he added. “We’d installed it, but we still didn’t expect it when it rang.”
Summer described the computer as ruggedized: designed to withstand the African climate; one that can stand up to dust, heat and humidity and still have a lifespan of five to 10 years. It’s a low-powered design without moving parts, i.e., no fan. Compact flash memory—like an iPod’s—replaces the hard disk.
Do It Yourself
Construction plans can be downloaded in PDF format, taken to a local blacksmith and created from locally available components, Summer said. Locally purchased solar panels avoid a shipping charge. The bicycle can be assembled from stock metal with a welding torch.
One system (solar panels, battery, computer, wireless) costs $1,500, a cost assumed by the NGO. It’s a sustainable model, with villagers paying Internet access and phone service fees with the income the system generates. Inveneo plans to extend the network to include 20 more villages.
Ugandans are described as generous, caring people with a great need for a sense of community. The community in western Uganda just got a little larger
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