James,Listers I have carefully read your explanation and both Open BTS and the USF are not in conflict.One is a technology,the other a fund.There is so much need that USF will not be adequate to meet all the needs. I would wish to see one of our universities doing a feasibility of setting up the Open BTS and if feasible establish one as a campus network and use the lessons learned to roll it out to other universities or remote areas.Regulatory and policy challenges should not be cast in stone if there is compelling technological advantage. John Kariuki On Wednesday, 4 December 2013, 11:08, James Kulubi <jkulubi@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: Thank you for the nice diagram that shows how to provide backhaul for voice, data and internet on Open BTS. From a policy perspective the key concerns with community-owned Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) as correctly mentioned by Robert will start with (a) frequencies but there are also issues of (b) cost (c) security. I will try to discuss each of them briefly below. (a) Frequencies: The traditional unlicensed frequencies used to serve the public in telecommunications and broadcasting have been the Citizen band and the ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) Band. Citizen band is a short-wave communication band consisting of 40 channels in the 26-28 MHz frequency range. In Kenya, the ISM band is as follows: 433.050-434.790MHz (Subject to approval), 2.400-2.500 MHz; 5.725-5.875 GHz, 24.000-24.250 GHz. Both citizen and ISM bands were established long before the major developments that have revolutionized telecommunications leading to convergence and more recently 3G and 4G technology. In this regard, Island BTS may use the ISM band with while conforming to other existing CCK guidelines like transmitted power. (b) Cost: Open BTS appears has very low start-up cost. In a way it appears as cheap as setting up a PBX system in a small organization. However, a public communication system tends to have some characteristics that are different from those of a PBX. First, the demand for services grows rapidly after the system is installed. This requires frequent upgrades both at the mobile-BTS (Um Interface) and at the backhaul end. Secondly the number of customers served can radically increase for instance when there is a baraza or market day, the population can more than double in a remote rural area. So you require a system that can be increased dynamically and yet retain the same functionality. Classical GSM scores higher here since cells can be added with ease to one BTS but island systems like Open BTS may require replacing the whole system including mobile terminals in order to just double capacity. (c) Security:Generally classical GSM are designed to fit in the national security and emergency preparedness plan as follows: calls and SMS are logged; cells can be remotely enabled or disabled; all conversations in GSM systems are encrypted; call tracing is inbuilt, community specific communication is possible through cell-broadcasting covering any number of cells – just to name a few. Island systems like Open BTS will require manual intervention by operators to, for instance, log calls. The small size of the Open BTS systems accompanied by their ease of deployment also means that criminal groups and enemy forces can easily set up communication systems. It is partly because of this that the law requires each communication system entering the county to be type-approved and frequencies to be assigned to operators and reviewed on annual basis. Lastly, the issue of universal access is a problem in many countries including developed countries like USA. The usual solution is to set up a universal service fund. The Kenya Information and Communications Act of 2008 set up this fund as follows: 84J. (1)There is hereby established a fund to be known as the Universal Service Fund which shall be managed and administered by the Commission. (2) The object and the purpose of the Fund shall be to support widespread access to, support capacity building and promote innovation in information and communications technology services. (3) There shall be a universal service levy (in this Part referred to as the “levy”) that shall be charged by the Commission on the licensees under this Act for purposes of the Universal Service Fund. The objectives of the fund have further been clarified in a CCK framework as: a)Promote communications infrastructure and services rollout in rural, remote and under-served areas; b) Ensure availability of communication services to Persons with Disabilities, women and other vulnerable groups; c) Support the development of capacity building in ICTs and technological innovation; d) Support expansion of communication services to schools, health facilities and other organizations serving public needs; and e) Facilitate development of and access to a wide range of local and relevant content. The fund has been operationalized this year. Listers may wish to comment on why we should go ahead to give free community Open BTS telecommunication frequencies after operationalizing the USF fund. Prof. James Kulubi On Monday, 2 December 2013, 10:45, Anthony Kiarie <kiarietony@gmail.com> wrote: Good morning The concept of Openbts has been under development and discussion for some time; http://openbts.org/ http://rangenetworks.com/solutions/technology One would still need transmission backhaul though On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 8:55 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: Hi Listers,
I recently met a group of Russian developers who have a GSM base station that sells at a tenth of the mainstream ones as it is based on open source technology.
The product could have a massive impact on many of Kenya's far-flung communities as it would allow them to set up community based communication networks especially where the ARPU is too low for the commercial operators to venture.
For this to work we need to provide a license free GSM frequency such as the 2.5 ghz that is used for data networks, do you know if there is such a provision in the CCK regulations?
Regards
Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi,
00200
Kenya
Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
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_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jkulubi%40yahoo.co.uk The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ngethe.kariuki2007%40y... The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.