Re: [DC3] RES: Collaborating with local power companies

Thanks for this Marcello, and you raise good points. On the public-private partnership idea, it made me think of AT&T's Project AirGig <http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/09/20/atts-project-airgig-is-the-insane-future-of-ultra-fast-mobile-and-fixed-networks/> . ISOC also produced a briefing paper on this back in 2003: Addressing the Digital Divide with IPv6-enabled Broadband Power Line Communications <https://www.isoc.org/briefings/013/briefing13.pdf>. I also want to share an insight that was shared by a colleague who took DiploFoundation's Intro to Internet Governance course with me last year, who is from the Cayman Islands. After one person wrote: *"I always wanted to see power line communication (PLC)/BPL as a solution for almost ubiquitous Internet access using an existing infrastructure. It is an interesting concept, and would seem to offer an amazing option for improving access. Here is an excerpt from an interesting article <https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2013/10/whatever-happened-to-broadband-over-power-line/> on the matter: "The failure to properly define clear international standards for BPL technology also probably played its part in its demise. Because they used unlicensed frequencies and voltages which varied from one country to another, early standardization initiatives were fragmented, and it was generally up to individual power companies to decide how they implemented their transmission facilities, leaving the possibility of problematic interconnection."* *The PLC/BPL technology was approved in the USA in 2003, but the last company offering the service closed in 2012, and asked its users to find alternate sources. Hacking <http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/18/technology/security/energy-grid-hack/> the power lines, weather, interruptions in service locally, and interference are often cited as reasons it has not worked well."* My colleague from the Caymans said: *"Sometimes there a valid case for duplication or in the case of Cayman triplication of the infrastructure network. In addition to a private PLC used by the sole power company to service their smart meters, we have a standard copper telecoms infrastructure owned by one of the telecom providers and 4G mobile coverage island wide (it’s only 76 sq. mi). We are now also duplicating the copper network with a fiber to the home network island wide. Although its roll out has not been as fast as hoped and is definitely running on island time, it has been installed throughout the majority of the capital and tourist strip. We have we done this and what could warrant such a massive investment in our telecoms infrastructure? Hurricanes. The power grid runs above ground and the copper telecom network underground and the mobile coverage is provided by 8 towers (split between the 2 providers). In 2004 we were hit by Hurricane Ivan which devastated the island. The Category 5 winds completely destroyed the power grid which had to be rebuilt from scratch starting at the power station out (hence the PLC) and the storm surge took out the back­up generators at the majority of the mobile phone towers since Cayman is only 5­10 feet above sea level. Yet even after all the destruction the underground copper network remained completely functional. In fact, at our house on the opposite side of the island from the power station, we got our broadband back months before electricity was restored. Home backup generators are a wonderful thing. By sheer coincidence we as also duplicating the fiber network that is being rolled out. The company that owns the copper network is rolling out service through their underground tunnels and a competitor is running their network above ground along the electricity poles in the same areas island wide. This same redundancy also applies to our connection to the outside world. We have copper undersea cables to the US and Jamaica and between the islands, fiber optic undersea cables between the islands and Jamaica (Cayman­-Jamaica Fibre System) in addition to being connected to the Maya­1 fiber to the US and Latin America. We also have a satellite earth station used by Intelsat as an additional backup. Not being connected is just not an option when you're the top offshore financial service center in the world. (On a side note: The power company actually applied to start providing broadband service to customers and a number of homes were used as test cases but their application was turned down because the government of the time though that being the sole energy provider on island was a good enough deal for them and government also precluded them from doing so in the future when they renewed their contract for 25 years (see: http://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/landing­point/half­moon­bay­cayman­islan… <http://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/landing­point/half­moon­bay­cayman­islands>)).* *The only redundancy that is shared between the providers is the access off island and even then competitors must pay FLOW (formerly Cable and Wireless) for bandwidth allocation on the fibre systems. Its for this reason that there are more cell phones than people in Cayman. Everyone has at least one phone from each provider (a main contract with one and a pay as you go with the other) to ensure that should one provider's network go down they have access to the other's network. The reason the power lines are run above ground is mainly because Cayman is literally a solid limestone rock which makes trenching a very labour intensive and time consuming process. When the original power lines were installed in the 60s and 70s wooden poles were used and 30+ years of weathering combined with their relatively low height compared to the tree line meant that when the trees came down they took the power lines with them. The wooden poles were replaced with concrete poles more that twice their height so the power lines now run above the tree line making them far less prone to damage from falling trees."**** Best, -Michael On Fri, Mar 3, 2017 at 12:13 PM, Instituto Bem Estar Brasil < instituto(a)bemestarbrasil.org.br&gt; wrote: