[wordup] Linux Router brings in Subscribers for Ghana's Largest ISP

[Adam Shand]

Bastards!  I signed up for GeekCorp and they never called me back. :-)

More seriously though it's been an dream of mine for years to help setup
community owned, low cost networks (because of Personal Telco's
influence, more recently wireless networks) in 3rd world countries.

When talking about this to people the hardest question I ever had to
answer was, why do these countries need this, and more directly why do
they need it from *me*?  That stumped me for a year or so.  However
again due to Personal Telco inspired thinking the best answer I have is:

"Because if people like me don't help them do it for themselves, then
the corporations will do it for them.  Regardless of whether it's a good
thing or not it's going to happen and I believe it's better for them,
and better for me/us if they learn to build a community run,
decentralized, reliable telecommunications infrastructure then to rely
on the control driven, profit centric motives of Time Warner, MSN,
Qwest, BT, Telstra etc".

Am I talking out my ass?

Adam.

From: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=23733

Linux Router brings in Subscribers for Ghana's Largest ISP
News of 2002-05-02

Intercom Data Networks, of Ghana, can't keep up with orders for a Linux
wireless router designed and built in-house. Here's how Geekcorps and
IDN are using Linux to make Ghana the Internet hub of West Africa.

An independent technical trainer and consultant since 1997, Dan DiNicolo
has worked on a variety of training, consulting and authoring projects
for enterprise-level clients in Canada, Germany and the United States.
His past projects covered a variety of different environments, including
corporate, government, military and non-profit sectors. Dan has authored
many technical articles and currently runs the system administration
resource web site www.2000Trainers.com.

Dan was selected as a Geekcorps volunteer for the fourth group traveling
to Accra, Ghana in September 2001, and he was matched with Intercom Data
Networks (IDN), the third largest Ghanaian ISP. Dan was assigned to work
with IDN engineers to secure their VPN and WAN network systems and to
train IDN junior staff in networking fundamentals in preparation for the
Cisco CCNA exam. Michael Odonkor, a network administrator, was matched
with Dan, and the two worked together to prepare the IDN staff for the
upcoming exam.

"I really had no idea what to expect of Michael before we met", Dan
said. "Little did I know what a great team we'd end up making; he taught
me just as much as I taught him. We had great synergy right from the
start. I couldn't have hoped for a better person to work with."

Ghana is rapidly moving to wireless networks as the only realistic
solution to high-quality data access in a country where connectivity is
hampered by slow, unreliable landlines. The cost of implementing
wireless networks, however, has been prohibitive to most small
businesses. Many IDN clients couldn't afford the hardware necessary to
access IDN's radio networks. Early in his tour at IDN, Dan proposed
building the necessary client hardware from locally available parts.

The result has been IDN's Sava Series, which rolled onto the market in
early 2002. Dan and the IDN team devised a Linux box that replicates the
functions of three pieces of software and is nearly 75% cheaper than the
alternatives found in Accra. It is a single-box system with rigorous
network security and customizability for specific client demands. Sava
Series is the first integrated broadband system designed in Africa to
specifically provide high-speed wireless access at a competitive price.
It has revolutionized IDN's business.

Francis Quartey, CEO, comments that IDN cannot keep up with the orders
for the Sava Series. Since it became available, IDN has had a 30%
increase in its number of high-speed subscribers, and he expects this
number to rise again once production is able to match demand. Mr.
Quartey referred to the Sava Series as a "HIPC solution for a HIPC
country", referring to Ghana's status as a Highly Indebted Poor Country
with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

"If someone offered me $100,000 or our experiences with Dan, I wouldn't
hesitate to choose Dan", Mr. Quartey stated. In addition to having
critical input on the Sava Series, Dan was also an effective technical
trainer. "It is not an exaggeration", he said, "to say that IDN staff
are doing things now that they couldn't before. I don't think I am lying
when I say we have the highest level of technical expertise in Ghana
right now." IDN management estimates that there has been a nearly 100%
increase in the productivity and effectiveness of the technical team
that worked with Dan.

Dan, who has been back in Toronto since late December 2001, is equally
enthusiastic about his Geekcorps experience. "There weren't too many
dull moments working at IDN. One day I'd be doing research with the
engineers, the next I'd be teaching short classes, and later in the week
I'd be standing on a roof somewhere in Accra helping to install an
antenna. I was encouraged to get involved with anything I was interested
in, which ended up being just about everything."

Geekcorps' central mission is to reduce the international digital divide
by building technical capacity in developing nations. Dan's work at IDN
is an excellent example of the type of innovation, resourcefulness and
skills that Geekcorps volunteers bring to their projects. Volunteers
often develop secondary projects and discover that they conclude their
tours in a very different spot than where they began.

The beauty of the Sava Series is that it not only provides a low-cost
wireless access solution for small African businesses, corporations and
individual users; it is also a means to address rural communication and
telephony needs. Dan's work extends far beyond current IDN
profitability. The Sava System, and the competitive market that it will
create, will eventually bring access to the disenfranchised rural
population of Ghana and help level the global economic playing field.

"Certainly Ghana has challenges to face outside the scope of IT",
DiNicolo noted. "If the country can remain politically stable and
continues to support business development, there's no reason why Ghana
can't become the IT hub of West Africa within the next five years.
Certainly they have a great deal of talent; the next step is ensuring
that it is cultivated. Programs like Geekcorps are helping Ghanaian
businesses take those first key strides."