Could this be the Bitcoin of the Telecommunications world?

[VGate Trading Group]

Hi,

Could this be the Bitcoin of the Telecommunications world?

Could there be a way that Companies can get involved and sponsor whole communities.

In my mind I see a "OMO" spud on every roof in Khayelitsha and an "Aquafresh" spud on every roof in Kwamashu or a "Rooi Bos" community in "Elsies Rivier".

Imagine the possibilities.

Kind Regards,

[Song, Stephen]

I think the idea of sponsored networks could have real traction.  It just depends on whether they are expecting to collect on the communities in return, which would be a little more problematic.

Cheers.. Steve

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Steve Song

+1 902 529 0046

http://manypossibilities.net
http://villagetelco.org

[China First]

I think that those companies are already collecting on those
communities, there is not a single spaza shop that does not sell those
famous brands, so from the point of view "will they try to collect
more?", yes they will. But measured solely on the advertising value of
such an investment they are bound to collect more. (better
communication = whiter teeth or better communication = cleaner clothes
etc. and vise versa is also true)

I think the possibilities in flooding areas such as Khayelitsha are
hugely community beneficial and highly disruptive to direct
competition and can be profitable if run like a business rather than a
community effort which eventually will fail due to financial
incentive.

I know I might get myself into a bit of hot water here, the words
"community" and "profit" usually does not mix, but it is still
possible to make "community = free" and "profit = advertising"

The main idea of making a phone call to John free of charge is only
the tip of the iceberg, the possibilities are literally endless. I see
it as a pocket size internet, why would John want to have a Facebook
page, it is of absolute no value to him at all because his like minded
friends can't afford to access the internet. But, John will want to
have a "Khayelitsha's Face" page because it is were his friends can
access it for free. It is also the place were David the taxi driver
can "tweet" to his passengers that he is going to run a special taxi
service to Durban in the morning. Or were John can upload his mobile
phone video to his local "youtube" site were David can have a good
laugh while watching John's video free of charge because the video
comes packaged with a small "OMO" ad.

Regards,

> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/village-telco-dev/CAD_CWO1RoO0qKXXQxZahXYx3Er8SRYC6iG90Op4tnuwo4GbSjA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Steve Song]

You are preaching to the converted.  I am fairly sanguine about localised advertising and think localised services such as you describe are absolutely great.  I would be more concerned if they were to start insisting on a confirmed identity to use the network, which opens up more privacy-related issues.

As for business model, I am agnostic.  In sub-Saharan Africa, my experience has been that entrepreneurial approaches tend succeed more often than community approaches.  In Latin America, the opposite appears to be true.  I suspect this is because existing community organisational structures may be more prevalent/established in latin American countries.  Of course this is a wild generalisation and in the realm of pure speculation at this point.

It might be interesting to explore existing social mechanisms in South Africa such as stokvels as a vehicle for a community approach.

In Mankosi in the Eastern Cape, communities there have formed a telecommunications cooperative using legislation originally intended for farmers. http://villagetelco.org/deployments/mankosi-south-africa/

I think this is as much scope for innovation in the social organisation of the network as in the technical organisation.

Cheers... Steve

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> Steve Song
> +1 902 529 0046
> http://manypossibilities.net
> http://villagetelco.org
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[China First]

If one creates a service or product it is always accepted that the
person/s who use that service or product is a reasonable person. BMW
created the M5 not for the purpose of robbing a bank but to
comfortably transport a person from point A to B, what that person do
while traveling between those 2 points is up to that reasonable
person. We can accept that any reasonable person will have no problem
at all if identity telemetry are kept for in case somebody uses the M5
to rob a bank. Privacy and Anonymity has always been an issue since
the dawn of time (Adam & Eve & that famous Apple) but has been fast
tracked to the front pages since the invention of the computer. Every
single person are now being tagged and tracked (and watched) 24/7 by
organisations and business who seemingly has no business in doing so.

I know I am stating the obvious but 98% of people want us to be able
to track 100% just so that we can stop the 1% of gate crashers and the
other 1% who are against everything.

I am reluctant to get into a conversation about Community V
Entrepreneurial but what I can say is that when we look at societies
were whole communities live in the shadow of the "Have's" volunteering
or community ethics does not exist, they are to busy to try and live
another day. Latin America has its own unique problems that forces the
sense of community.....need I say more?

As most brilliant start ups, It only takes 1 idea and 1 person to make
it happen, Zuckerberg, Gates, Jobs, Shuttleworth, now I know everybody
is screaming at their computer screens right now saying "those are the
exceptions" but need I remind everybody of the Smiths, Naidoo's,
Dlamini's, Venter's, Tshabala's out there who also had brilliant ideas
and made it happen.

"A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what they are made for"

Kind Regards,

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>> > Steve Song
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>> > http://villagetelco.org
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