October 24th, 2.006 GUIFI.NET, A FREE NETWORK IN CATALONIA REACHED THE THOUSANDS IN MANY METRICS: NODES, USERS, COVERAGE IN SQ. KMS, TERABYTES OF TRAFFIC, ...
CATALONIA, Oct. 20Th 2.006. guifi.net (http://guifi.net), a non-profit wireless free network made from individuals and several companies and local administration contributions, announces that at Catalonia, Spain, has reached the "several thousands": 1.000 live nodes providing a stable High-Speed wifi access, with a coverage of about 1.000 square kilometers (about 386 sq. mi), providing access to several thousands of individuals, companies or organizations and reaching an estimated annual traffic within the network of about 1.000 Terabytes. A LOT MORE THAN JUST A LIST OF "HOTSPOTS" guifi.net isn't just a list of access points. Is much more: Is a big neutral network where the nodes use to have stable wireless links between them and therefore creating an autonomous stable mesh network, either on urban areas or rural areas where in some cases there was no High-Speed internet access before. ALWAYS INNOVATING Since guifi.net started to operate as a resource for addressing scalability issues in local wireless communities, like the critical mass and sustainability, guifi.net has grown to unprecedented scales, and therefore having to always be innovative to cut the edge and position the free networks to a much larger scale. AN ENOURMEOUS WIFI "CLOUD" WITH ABOUT 1.000 SQ. KMS, MORE THAN 1.000 WIRELESS LINKS WITH MORE THAN 1.500 KMS. Although guifi.net has never been positioned as just a local community, at the Osona region, in Central Catalonia, guifi.net network is live and covering about the 80% of a territory with about 1.200 SQ. KMS (463 SQ. MI.), which means about several times the city of Barcelona. All this with a totally autonomous network because of the more than 1.000 links between the nodes by using unlicensed bands, giving a total of more than 1.500 linear kilometers (950 miles) of linear links. That allows to directly connect between them thousands of computers and various devices without the need of Internet access. That has been possible thanks to the contribution and active support of many individuals, about 23 local municipalities and some local enterprises. Guifi.net is willing to replicate this success story in other territories or cooperate with other communities. SPREADING PETABYTES OVER THE AIR AT HIGH-SPEEDS The network provides between 1Mbps and 20Mbps of real available bandwidth depending on the network segment. The aggregated traffic of the network is reaching an estimated volume of about 1.000 Terabytes annually. Some of the nodes have more than a Terabyte of monthly traffic. WITH LOTS OF USEFUL APPLICATIONS Connecting directly computers, sharing information or Internet access, connecting Teleworking centers, Clubs, Civic Centers, meteo stations, webcams, broadcasting radio, VoIP PBX servers, connecting company branches or enabling direct B2B processes between them are just some examples of how the network is being used by their members. In the rural areas is remarkable how is being used in innovative areas such as telemetric devices or RFID enabled applications for cattle management and follow-up. A GREAT MEETING POINT guifi.net is also a great meeting point, by hosting multiple events and learning seminars for end users or professionals such as 5 "guifi-labs", Regional events like the SAX, or supporting related events like the GUADEC 2.006 or the e-week in Vic. Guifi.net also supports the World Summit for Free Information Infraestructures (http://wsfii.org). WSFII is currently running the yearly Summit at Dharmsala, India. AN OPEN AND NEUTRAL FREE NETWORK In the current times where the original universal spirit of the internet is being mediated by private telecommunications operators, by having neutral networks in the las mile guifi.net is contributing to counterbalance the strict commercial driven interests. To provide warranty on this commitment guifi.net adopts the Wireless Commons License. WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE PERSPECTIVE By having limited resources and having to workaround technical dificulties, but proud of the achieved results which allow to reach thousands of members in a cooperative and civic manner, and encouraged by a strong demand, guifi.net wants to renew the commitment to still continue making free networks larger, reach more territories and collaborate with other groups which share similar objectives around the world. All the information provided in this note can be verified either visiting the guifi.net site at http://guifi.net or contacting [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Altred mailing list [email protected] http://altred.net/mailman/listinfo/altred_altred.net
