Getting Started

In this article, I discuss how I tried to seek support from local associations to promote a community telecommunications network initiative, in order to establish public WiFi and provide internet access in a disadvantaged rural area. At that time, internet connections in Cepeda were provided by the ISP Iberbanda (which offered 1, 2, and 3 Mbps symmetric connections), and 3G was a luxury.

Contacts
It had been several years since I first saw the guifi.net page, and while browsing the internet, I came across it again. Now there were a lot of nodes, and the web was extending even beyond Catalonia. I liked the idea of an open, free, and neutral network, but I had no idea where to start. In Catalonia, guifi.net had been running for 10 years, and the project was growing.

I had just been wrongfully dismissed from a telecommunications company where I installed WiFi equipment to provide coverage at the town level and to interconnect municipal offices. I had a lot of pent-up anger and was pleased to see towns with WiFi. I loved that job, and it hurt when they told me they were letting me go.

Someone suggested the idea of a community WiFi network, and that was when I got it into my head to contribute my experience to the town where I grew up and which I am so proud of. I had no idea where to start, so I thought that contacting local associations might shed some light and that they would support my idea—to share an internet connection and make it available to anyone who needed it.

So,
I tried to find allies to at least present a proposal.

First, I contacted El Royo de Cepeda la Mora, the most prominent association in town, https://www.facebook.com/elrollodecepeda/. Two emails were sent to elrollodecepeda@gmail.com, discussing the idea of WiFi in town and talking about the guifi.net project, with no response.
I contacted ASENORG, the Gredos Business Association, via email, which was listed as a contact, with no response (Now this person is dedicated to “growing broom plants (don’t miss our Broom Festival)”. Hilarious. According to https://repueblo.es/cracksrurales/la-inspiradora-historia-de-una-repobladora-en-gredos).
And with … and, also with no response, of course.
These were the local associations at the time.

Having the support of an established association will give strength to the project. If there’s nothing available, it’s worth considering creating a foundation, association, cooperative, group, or user collective to encourage group involvement and distribute the workload. Decision-making is easier when you’re not alone. However, also keep in mind that if you travel solo, you can go wherever you want and stay as long as you like.

guifi.net
I also contacted guifi.net at fundacio@guifi.net, with no response. I discovered that communications within guifi.net were conducted through mailing lists at https://llistes.guifi.net/sympa, which makes sense; it’s useful to have an information repository for searching and thread browsing. Although mailing lists are becoming less popular, they are still used. There was some dialogue with guifi.net Extremadura via the mailing lists.

One day, I visited MediaLab Prado, a wonderful place full of extraordinary people that the Madrid City Council wants to evict to turn it into a museum. It’s clear that this country has little interest in culture and that everything is oriented toward tourism. It’s a country that’s like Europe’s beach bar, with sun, beaches, and its star product: Folklore.

Finally, with the support of Gabi and Alex, people I met at MediaLab Prado, a proposal was presented to the Cepeda town council to set up a hotspot and a couple of 2.4 GHz access points for public street-level WiFi. One antenna was to be placed in the town square, and another at the municipal bar. The internet connection was provided by the town council, which had a 3 Mbps symmetric connection that was mostly unused.

To deploy a local community wireless network, youll need some knowledge. Theres a book published under a Creative Commons license that I liked a lot, “Wireless Networking in the Developing World.” It’s free, available in Spanish and many other languages, and can be downloaded at http://wndw.net/book.html. It’s not necessary to become a telecommunications expert; you can hire a local professional to set up and maintain the network—that’s what they’re there for. It’s also essential to evaluate the type of deployment you want to carry out and the needs you want to cover, as fiber optic deployment is becoming increasingly affordable.