Operating and maintaining First Mile broadband projects
As introduced in topic 6, Indigenous peoples around the world are engaged in First Mile community broadband projects. For example, during the 1990s, Aboriginal communities in Australia set up a satellite-based network that connected the communities of Yuendumu, Kintore, Lajamanu, and Willowra. This Tanami Network (named after the desert where it is located) was funded by a combination of government, community, and civil society groups. Aboriginal communities operated the network. Read more about the Tanami network here.
Another example of an Indigenous network is the Tribal Digital Village (TDV) in southern California. Since 2000, this solar-powered wireless broadband system has interconnected 19 Indian Tribes in a remote region of San Diego county. In its first nine years of operation, the TDV grew from one computer lab to a network of 1,500 users in 17 reservations. The system consists of 23 towers interconnected through 90 miles of backbone links. Communities involved in the TDV project use the network to provide residential Internet services, as well as broadband services in sectors like health and education. Like the Tanami Network, the TDV was funded by a combination of private companies (including a $5 million grant from Hewlett-Packard), government, and civil society groups. It is also operated by the communities that use the service, and governed by the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association. You can read more about the TDV in a 2012 article by Christian Sandvig, an associate professor at the University of Michigan.
The video below gives a short introduction to the TDV. It was produced by an organization called ZeroDivide, which is working with the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association on the TDV project.
As introduced in topic 6, Indigenous peoples around the world are engaged in First Mile community broadband projects. For example, during the 1990s, Aboriginal communities in Australia set up a satellite-based network that connected the communities of Yuendumu, Kintore, Lajamanu, and Willowra. This Tanami Network (named after the desert where it is located) was funded by a combination of government, community, and civil society groups. Aboriginal communities operated the network. Read more about the Tanami network here.
Another example of an Indigenous network is the Tribal Digital Village (TDV) in southern California. Since 2000, this solar-powered wireless broadband system has interconnected 19 Indian Tribes in a remote region of San Diego county. In its first nine years of operation, the TDV grew from one computer lab to a network of 1,500 users in 17 reservations. The system consists of 23 towers interconnected through 90 miles of backbone links. Communities involved in the TDV project use the network to provide residential Internet services, as well as broadband services in sectors like health and education. Like the Tanami Network, the TDV was funded by a combination of private companies (including a $5 million grant from Hewlett-Packard), government, and civil society groups. It is also operated by the communities that use the service, and governed by the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association. You can read more about the TDV in a 2012 article by Christian Sandvig, an associate professor at the University of Michigan.
The video below gives a short introduction to the TDV. It was produced by an organization called ZeroDivide, which is working with the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association on the TDV project.
Tribal Digital Village - Broadband Adoption Program
(uploaded Aug. 12, 2011)
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(uploaded Aug. 12, 2011)
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