Adam – Fabulous. Is the Internet Commons event going to be in Berlin just before – like a Day 0? Jane Internet Society | www.internetsociety.org Skype: janercoffin Mobile/WhatsApp: +1.202.247.8429 From: Adam Burns <adamb(a)free2air.net> Date: Wednesday, July 3, 2019 at 11:54 AM To: Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity <dc3(a)listas.altermundi.net>et>, Jane Coffin <coffin(a)isoc.org> Cc: Richard Lowenberg <rl(a)1st-mile.org> Subject: Re: [DC3] FW: [1st-mile-nm] Microsoft + Sacred Wind attack digital divide in rural NM Hi Jane, Thanks for this interesting update. Here in Berlin, Elektra Wagenrad from Freifunk has been working on ironing out the last few kinks in an open hardware TVWS MIMO down-converter. This will be a cost-effective hardware plugin to standard WiFi MiMo antenna ports allowing standard WiFi & IP mesh protocols to run over the TVWS band, in a Community Network friendly and decentralized manner. For power independence, see also Elektra's open hardware and software solar maximum power point tracker project OpenMPPT https://github.com/elektra42/freifunk-open-mppt We are hoping to showcase progress of this and more in November at The Internet Commons Forum, consisting of an IGF pre-event and special external sessions planned while the IGF community is in town. Regards, Adam. On 03/07/2019 16:42, Jane Coffin wrote: Hi All - I just wanted to share this info re TVWS and connecting people. Best, Jane Internet Society | www.internetsociety.org Skype:  janercoffin Mobile/WhatsApp:  +1.202.247.8429 On 7/3/19, 10:35 AM, "1st-mile-nm on behalf of Richard Lowenberg" <1st-mile-nm-bounces(a)mailman.dcn.org on behalf of rl(a)1st-mile.org> wrote:     Microsoft, Sacred Wind attack digital divide in rural NM         By: Kevin Robinson-Avila / Journal Staff Writer 6 days ago         (See the article for photos)         https://www-abqjournal-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.abqjournal.com/133392…         ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque-based Sacred Wind Communications is     partnering with Microsoft Corp. to provide wireless broadband to remote     New Mexico communities through unused TV spectrum.         Sacred Wind will install Microsoft technology to tap into “TV white     spaces,” or unused UHF and VHF broadcast spectrum, to potentially     provide high-speed internet for the first time to up to 40,000 rural     households over the next eight years, Sacred Wind CEO John Badal told     the Journal.         “This technology allows us to leap frog over older technologies to get     broadband to more rural areas,” Badal said. “Microsoft’s equipment costs     about the same as other technologies widely used today, but it has much     farther reach. The radio waves travel longer distances, and they can go     through thick foliage, penetrate walls and roll over hills.”         The Federal Communications Commission made UHF and VHF spectrum     available for broadband several years ago. But new equipment to manage     carrier-grade broadband signals with enough capacity to satisfy     customers was needed by providers like Sacred Wind to tap into TV white     spaces, Badal said.         With Microsoft equipment in hand, the availability of TV spectrum could     now open a lot more rural communities to affordable, fixed wireless     service.         “Those frequencies are being used in urban areas, but they’re unused and     available where there are no local TV channels, which is most of rural     America,” Badal said.         The partnership is part of the Microsoft Airband Initiative, which aims     to expand broadband to 3 million unserved people by July 2022. Under the     initiative, launched in July 2017, Microsoft has signed partnerships     with local service providers in 16 states. That will grow to 25 states     by year-end.         “The broadband gap is hindering tribal and rural communities from     reaping the social and economic benefits that come with access to the     internet,” said Shelley McKinley, Microsoft general manager of     technology and corporate responsibility, in a prepared statement. “Our     partnership with Sacred Wind Communications will bring reliable,     high-speed Internet to underserved communities in New Mexico so that     they can access the same opportunities as their urban counterparts.”         Sacred Wind will install transmitting microwave equipment on existing     towers, and will also build a few new tower sites. It will attach     receiving antennae on customer’s roofs.         Microsoft and Sacred Wind will share installation costs and revenue from     the new service, Badal said.         Pricing has not been determined yet.         The technology will first be deployed in Grants, Milan, San Rafael,     Yatahey and areas within the Navajo Nation’s Church Rock Chapter.     Depending on success in that first-phase, which begins in late summer,     the partners will expand service to more Navajo communities.         Sacred Wind, which launched in 2006, is the only private     telecommunications firm in the country dedicated to providing services     solely on tribal lands.                   ---------------------------------------------------------------     Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director     1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200     Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,     rl(a)1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org     ---------------------------------------------------------------     _______________________________________________     1st-mile-nm mailing list     1st-mile-nm(a)mailman.dcn.org     http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm     _______________________________________________ DC3 mailing list DC3(a)listas.altermundi.net https://listas.altermundi.net/mailman/listinfo/dc3