Steps to start a Community Network (CN) or an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) or a Shared Network Backbone (Commons Network)

"The internet is like a dam. Building a network is like building pipes to the dam. First you have to see where the dam is. Then you have to find the pipes and learn how to connect them. Then you have to connect them. Then you have to connect taps where people can use them - and in all this you have to figure out how you will pay for the pipes - are you going to sell the pipes, or the water (the data)?"

The network is also like a road - it is a digital road that connects your community to opportunities to communicate and earn money in the digital economy, from right where you live, you can do work and earn money in other countries, without leaving home.

This is some steps you can take to build this road. If you charge too much for people to use the road, they will not be able to get to the opportunities - and if you charge too little, you will not be able to build a good road that can carry lots of people. These steps will help you figure out how much to charge and how to get help, and more importantly, how to start.

Click the headings to expand

Sometimes the service you are thinking of building might already be available - just hidden. Sometimes it's just a "promotion" that might end at any time, from a big operator, but even so, you might be able to use it to build something better.

A good first step is to evaluate the market - even if you want to build a community network or a sponsored network, to see what people are already spending or willing to spend, and if you can build something better - and what you can charge for it. You don't always need to charge less - sometimes people are willing to pay more, for something that is a lot better - and even if you want to build a service for people who don't have much money, usually you can get the people or companies who do have money to buy the equipment and first connection, and then there will be spare capacity that you can make available to those who can't afford it yet, but who can benefit from it. 

Types of service available - and where to find options.
 Fiber: Octotel / Vumatel / SADV / Liquid / DFA / Telkom 
 Wireless: WAPA Pindrop
 ADSL: Telkom

Where is the closest tower, or fiber optic network connection point? 
  If your location isn't supported, what is the closest location that is - even if it is 200km away?
What is the cost of those connections? 
  Do not be discouraged by high prices - if they are high, it means a lot of people are paying that, and you can find them and convince them to pay you instead - or you can share the costs. Also - all prices can be negotiated! Ask how much is 1000Mbps. Then divide that price by 1000 and use that as your starting point for negotiation.
What is the cost for the connectivity you will need to serve 100 concurrent users? 
What is the cost for the connectivity you will need to serve 1000 concurrent connected devices? It might be less than you think, because even if you have 10 000 devices on the network, only 1 000 devices might be using the network at the same time. 

Things to learn about:
    Speed, or how fast the network is, means how much data can flow through the network in a time period - for example, how many web pages, books or pictures you can download in one hour. Most companies measure it in seconds - how many pieces of information can come through the network in one second. The pieces of information is just like little bits "dots" that make a picture, but some bits mean what colour, or the sounds and so on - and it takes about 1 million bits to show you a video or to read a web page - and if you can download that in 1 second, then that is quite quick, so 1 million bits per second is a good minimum speed - this is also called 1 Mbps or "1 mega bit per second". Nowadays our technology is so good that you can even get 1000 Mbps - so it means that 1000 people can download 1 Mbps at the same time from that connection - but the connection is only used when someone is clicking "load" on their device and usually if you look at 10 people using their phone, only or or 3 of them are clicking load at the same time, so 1000 Mbps can support at least 3000 people at the same time - but people don't look at the web pages or videos all day long, maybe only for 1 or 2 hours of the day, and not everybody at the same time of the day. There are some times in the day that most people use the connection - this is called the peak times. In the city it is usually for business connections, when everybody gets to work and check their email at 9am, or for home connections, when everybody goes home and starts to use their connection to study or watch videos or share photos and stories between 6pm and 9pm. In the rural area people don't have lots of time to use the network, so there you can sometimes even share 1000Mbps with 10 000 people or more, but if there are too many people using it at the peak time, then people will have a slow connection then - and that is what you must avoid - by making sure you have a faster connection.   
   The contention ratio means how many people share the connection. For example, ADSL contention is 1:25 which means 10Mbps is shared between 25 People, but the network don't always have the software or person to count this all the time so this is just an average - sometimes it is less and sometimes more. 

People need reliable networks - if they can depend on it to find people, or get information or to contact people, then they will start to depend on it, and they will start to always use your network. But if your network gives people problems, then they will look for other networks, and they will not like to use your network. That will make it more difficult for you to get paid for your network and then it will be more difficult for you to generate the revenue that you need to maintain and improve your network and to pay people to help you. 

If you want to be successful, be the best - by getting the best to help you, to build the best, and always know what is happening on the network and when there is a problem before someone can tell you, and if you make a mistake, act quickly to repair the mistake, and make plans so you don't make the same mistake again.2