Becoming a legal wisp?

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Tommygun

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How does one become a legal wisp? I have set up a wireless mesh and we are servicing and providing uncapped internet for about 50 ppl in the neighbourhood using linksys routers for a R100 / month 'donation'. We have great router to router speeds and internet is provided to all via an uncapped 512Kbp adsl connection. We are just covering costs at the moment and happy to show anyone the books. We have made a small surplice which we are using to get a new proxy/web server etc. We have orders coming out of our ears at the moment and it takes a lot of time and effort as you probably know.
I figure at the moment if we are not for profit its O.K.
Is that a correct interpretation?
If thats O.K. are we allowed to make profit in the future?
We are thinking of setting up a non profit section 21 company then we can pay some wages to ourselves for our efforts, is this a good move, or should we just keep quiet and shut the **** up ?
We are actually providing a great service and will be running security cameras for the area over the network too for the community to monitor. The idea of having to pay R50,000 + for a vans licence that we may or may not get is ridiculous for us and just not possible or viable.
What are our options? Shutting down is not one of them? Dominic? :) anyone else?

For the record we have been running for a long while now and all are very happy with the service.
 
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you're looking @ this from the wrong perspective. Unless you have a serious load of cash lying around, why do you want to give away free internet?

Internet in this country is expensive. period. And IT infrastructure does cost money as well. Anyone who wants upcapped internet will have to pay @ least R1500pm for it.

SO, charge a decent fee for the service, and consider going CAP / speed wise in order to offer some people less for cheaper and some people extra for more. You need to recover your costs somehow, and sure, it's easy to say that 50 x R100 = R5000pm, so the ADSL line is paid off, but what about the routers, antenna's, possible server (proxy / email / firewall / etc), maintenance, etc?

And what about if IS tells you, sorry you can't use an uncapped ADSL for this, you need diginet?
 
They are charging. They're just not making/taking any profit.

TommyGun. You are currently running an illegal operation and competing unfairly with legal operators who have the added expense of licensing fee's.

The way things stand now you're going to have to stop operating immediately, draw up a coverage plan and apply to ICASA for an infrastructure license, or purchase the rights to use somebody else's license.

If you do not stop operating, you are running the risk of being sue'd by legitimate WISP's in your region for loss of business.

License application form : http://www.midland.co.za/pdf/ICASA_Landmobile_Application.pdf

ICASA Contact details: http://www.icasa.org.za/Contactus.aspx?Page=34

Good luck!
 
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stoke, if I'm not mistaken, he's not really breaking any laws. yet.... The 2.4 & 5.8 spectrum is open for use and doesn't need to be licensed.

Last time I checked this was a grey area, and there are no set rules on it yet. The new telecommunications act is supposed to accomodate internet & wireless data, since it didn't even exists when the telecomms acts was first drawn up.

SO, he's not breaking the law right now. Sure, other "legal" WISP won't like it, but then again, there are no "legal WISP, according to the telecoms act yet. ICASA's new WISP license doesn't yet make it legal according to the laws.
 
No, you have to apply for license exemption.
But good point, I did not mention that he can try for exemption because it did not sound like he was operating within the exemption parameters.

Here it says you must get exemption : http://www.acts.co.za/electr_comm/ecact_30_control_of_radio_frequency_spectrum.htm

Here it says a list of frequencies do exist and are exempt : http://www.acts.co.za/electr_comm/ecact.htm#ecact_30_control_of_radio_frequency_spectrum.htm

Here is the list of exempt frequencies and the conditions that make them exempt : http://www.ellipsis.co.za/wp-conten...n_frequency_regs_2008_as_amended_14082008.pdf

TommyGun is going to have to see if his equipment matches the exemption requirements and then go and apply for the exemption.

If he cannot get the exemption, then ... he must comply to the conditions and re-submit or apply for a license.
 
There's probably a small problem regarding the power rating of his transmission. 100 mW (exemption limit) without using a directional antennae would not give much range.
 
Stoke, Softdux, thanks a million for the responses. Yes, we operate in the 2.4Ghz range and have great urban density here so houses are real close together so range is not too much of an issue but that said we are getting almost 1Km with stock standard ariels via line of sight. We are running at 100mW and occasionaly mount externaly in a weatherproof box with a 10dBi omni. Customers...or should I say contributors buy and own the equipment. Our small surplice allows us to cover the costs of bricked routers and broken servers...well, 1 so far. This is more hobby and learning than a money making scheme, its hard work but you meet all the neighbours, hell its fun.
I will look at the links you've provided. Thanks again. BTW the mesh nature means range is given by the next neighbours device and weve got a few out there.
 
512kbps = 64KB/s
50 people

1.28KB/s per person? Ouch...That's just below dialup speeds by a mile,even for a R100 :P
 
@ PsyWulf ..Luckily not everyone uses ftp to the max at the same time. Real world performance is surprisingly good and we've had no complaints. With a proxy surver we can limit to an extent and allow burst.
 
Tommygun said:
We are running at 100mW and occasionaly mount externaly in a weatherproof box with a 10dBi omni.
Click to expand...

100mW output with 10dBi antenna gain pushes you up to 1000mW EIRP. The limit for license-exempt use of 2.4GHz is 100mW EIRP. From the sounds of it, you already need a spectrum license.

*Trybble
 
Damn Trybble, but that would mean that the stock standard routers out the box are violating regs (Linksys 54gl). I think they come with about a 3dBi stock antenna and are set at 100mW by default. My maths is not good and we just make the stuff work but we are not amping in any way....other than adding the odd ariel. Ill need to jfgi it a bit.
Thanks for the input tho'.
 
Tommygun said:
Damn Trybble, but that would mean that the stock standard routers out the box are violating regs (Linksys 54gl). I think they come with about a 3dBi stock antenna and are set at 100mW by default. My maths is not good and we just make the stuff work but we are not amping in any way....other than adding the odd ariel. Ill need to jfgi it a bit.
Thanks for the input tho'.
Click to expand...

Actually, they're not.
Standard WRT54G's are set to 28mW
 
Tommygun said:
My maths is not good and we just make the stuff work
Click to expand...

Making the stuff work is easy. Making sure that the stuff is working legally unfortunately requires that you be able to do the maths. Fortunately, working with dB, it's simple addition and subtraction. PM me if you want and I'll show you how simple it is.

Tommygun said:
but we are not amping in any way....other than adding the odd ariel.
Click to expand...

Gain is gain; whether it's obtained through the use of an active device (amplifier) or a passive device (antenna) is irrelevant as far as the regulations are concerned.

*Trybble
 
Hi

A few notes on this thread:
1. to operate as a wisp you will need an ECNS licence (covers the physical infrastructure such as masts, co-location, radios) + an ECS licence which authorises the holder to provide services across a network (e.g. internet access). there is no "wisp" licence and all those providing infrastructure services and communications services should be licensed unless they have a recognised licence exemption.
2. Licence exemptions are tricky - if you want to get some background info try http://www.ellipsis.co.za/?p=296.
3. Stoke's point re competing fairly is a good one - if you are providing licensed services go and get licences. These are fairly easily available from ICASA (for class licences) or you can try and find a recently converted VANS that will sell you individual licences.
4. Difference between class and individual licences - see http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=2482029&postcount=2
5. spectrum is the major issue for 2009 and most of the new infrastructure licence holders will be limited to using licence exempt bands. as pointed out above there are power restrictions in these bands
2.4 ISM - 100 mW
5.4 outdoor Hiperlan - 1W
5.8. ISM - not actually allocated for wireless access services (!) and power limit of 25mW
In 5.4 GHz you should also be using Dynamic Frequency Selection but this is problemmatic as the tech still needs some work
6. imho 2.4GHz should be used by individuals and WUGs (and hotspots)
but not for commercial use [personal view]. Anyone using this band should take care to check whether Telkom is using it (usually channels 1-6 in rural areas) and if they are do not cause interference because that is the one scenario where ICASA will be efficient and come and seal/confiscate equipment

the barriers to becoming a wisp are not particularly scary and, once you have service licensing (ECS + ECNS) + type approval + compliance with the licence exempt frequency regs, then you are as legal as telkom
 
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