I spoke nearly an hour with you on the phone masquerading as a concerned Telkom shareholder. Actually we are a countrywide network of people that aim to use the new 802.16e/d Wi-Fi technology to set up our own phone network. 802.16e provides 70meg bandwith over 50km radius, Non-line of site from a single Omni-directional antenna in the 2.4ghz band. The main innovation is the Non-line of site. http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030714S0037
At present one can easily spot a parabolic on a highsite and confiscate it, with 802.16 and an omni partially hidden it would be more difficult. 20 of these antenna's would be able to link Nelspruit to Pretoria so that you can make a phone call on the Nelspruit wireless hub(802.11b) with your PC and pay only local call costs in Pretoria. With 200 of these Omni's/ 802.16 AP you could create your own phone network in Johannesburg. 802.16 is a replacement for expensive fibre in developing countries.
Our immediate goals is to deploy 802.11b in a opensource community effort in partnership with Local council. We will allow Local council to use our network in return for them protecting the network against 'happenings'. Local council can't be criminally prosecuted. Council owns the streets that the data cross, it is legal for them to transmit internet and data signals. You might differ on this, but your views are academic, the prosecuting authority can't take action against council by law. And since the the 13db omni-directional antenna was installed on my roof by council and they use an internet signal to transmit traffic data, they at the same time allow me to surf the web. This is 100% legal because as stated the roads belong to council and your differing views are academic.
Local council lays the fibre to Internet Solutions peering point and from the 5.8ghz parabolic backhaul link the internet signal gets sent to the wireless hub. Local council becomes a Wireless ISP. The opensource mesh incurs all the costs for such a network. It is this websites aim to explain this to council. Mutual goals can be achieved by a residence and council partnership in deploying www.locustworld.com meshboxes.
The police and prosecutors don't even know what you are talking about. For example Eskom complains that Limpopo province prosecutors can't understand how you can steel electricity. According to the prosecutors you can't steel something you can't see! I doubt they will view your requests with much patience.
Allow me to let the cat out of the bag for you. You did speak to the prosecuting authority and he told you that he can't help you. And this little secret you will never admit to.
THE NDPP WILL NOT PROSECUTE ANYBODY FOR USING LEGAL LICENSE FREE ICASA Aproved equipment (like D-link). That is their stance nomatter what the law says on data crossing streets ! They just don't care and neither would lawmakers in private discussion. It is against the law to swish against the wall in public, yet in open defiance people do, as long as you don't urinate on my head, you won't be arrested. AS long as I dont aim my parabolic strait into Telkom's highsite, no action will be taken.
Not one single precendent setting case has gone to court. This is significant for individuals to do their wi-fi thing. Because the first person to be charged would be http://www.wisp.co.za and the other commercial providers like http://www.gin.co.za If the powers are not even attempting to shut down the COMMERCIAL WISP's, just what are the chances of them hunting down a council/private opensource non-profit mesh network?. Especially if the thing is so 'meshed', that every parabolic-on-roof-residence can prove that council installed the thing.
As you admitted to me freely over the phone:
"Ons vlerkies is geknip wat betref wireless". Indeed....
You told me, you would never make a case against the subscriber to a WISP service only against the COMMERCIAL provider of a WISP service.
Do you see the interesting legal situation this presents to the council/opensource mesh network? Council can't be prosecuted by law because the streets belong to them (they are in anycase a law unto themselves, ask JHB ratepayers), they installed the antenna on the roof, the prosecutors don't care a wit..... you get my point.
The parabolic's can also be hidden inside the tiled roofs of residences. I am sure that a plastic 'brick' like tile in appearance could be made. It would reduce the parabolic strenght by about half, but since the nodes are spaced no more than 5km intervals, it won't make much difference. In most cases, trees would make this non-feasable.
The only real teeth you had was the fact that the wi-fi equipment was so expensive. Not anymore, confiscation of a council highsite would be budgeted for the by the opensource/council mesh and another point set up. At present council is being ripped of by private wireless companies. Council must seperate the cost of the equipment from the labour.
The email concerning Nelspruit's wi-fi link is to see if you will really confiscate their highsites. I you don't it would show how lame ICASA really is. If you do , it shows that we better not go ahead with our plans! Read the thread on http://www.myadsl.co.za/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=944