A ROOFTOP REBELLION
(PBJ no. 34)
How it works
The network that Janda and the people around CZFree.net are building is a microwave radio network, with nodes connected (and emitting) in unregulated 2.4 GHz band. The principle is simple: Each node, basically a radio transmitter and receiver, connects to other nodes that are in optical visibility, including tha small radio-devices built into the user´s notebook and desktop computers. Transfer speeds in the network in urban conditions go from 200 to 500 kbps. In an opan landscape with less interference, speeds can reach 1.5 tp 4 Mbps.
Add-in cards for desktop and laptop computers-the only thing needed to connect over Wi-Fi - cost between Kč 3,000 and Kč 5,000 on the Czech market. To set up their own node, users also have to buy a more expensive antenna and a shielded cable, and they have to set up a router, which pushes the total expense up to around Kč 15,000. For more information, visit www.czfree.net.
Room to grow
CZFree.net also has a unique approach to providing Internet connectivity to its members. Janda said that the idea is to give each user at least 32 kbps Internet connectivity (around two-thirds of dial-up access speed) free, while users who want additional bandwidth will pay a certain fee. The fee is still undecided because zhe initiative is still in the formative phase, but it should be Kč 200 to Kč 300. The connection to the wireless network is free by default, although evry user has to invest in the hardware necessary fo exchanging data over the Wi-Fi.
Additional costs incurred by the user depend on what kind of computer (or PDA) he has. Some notebooks, for example, have a Wi-Fi catd built-in or supplied with the computer, while most other computers require another card.
For those who want to go even further and build an access node to witch other users can connect, total expenses can reach Kč 15,000. But that´s a one-time cost.
CZFree.net doesn´t stop at wireless. Janda said that because Wi-Fi also has limitations, the community around the project is devising new ways to increase the network´s capacity, which could, as it is now, get easily overloaded if the number of users grows quickly.
"[The project] has great potencial; it lets people develop interesting [services] and test new technologies," Janda said. For smaller cities, the technology holds the potencial of allowing citizens to set up their own Wi-Fi networks at a relatively low cost and use it as a local information system. In the bigger picture, information technologies increase competitiveness of Czech labor in the EU market, Janda said.
The next step, he said, is registering the network´s users as a citizens association to apply for grants from the government or EU.
Koubský said government involvement in such a project, while it would hardly be "politically digestible" at the moment, could increase its scope and impact.
"It pays to pay attention to the new technologies," Janda said. "So far, that hasn´t been the case."