connecting rural nepal to the global village

Connecting Rural Nepal to the Global Village

Some Examples and Some Efforts

Mahabir PunTeam Leader, Nepal Wireless Networking Project

Chairman, E-Networking Research and DevelopmentVice Chairman, Nepal Research and Education Network

Director of Public Relation, Open Learning Exchange NepalProgram Director, Himanchal Education Foundation

Background of the Area

Villages of Nepal

• Nangi Village – Altitude - 2,360m

– Population 780

Within project areas, Nangi is the hub of wireless network and other community development activities.

Villages of Nepal

• Tikot Village – Altitude - 2,250m

– Population - 845

Villages of Nepal

• Paudwar Village – Altitude - 2,180m

– Population – 2,250

Villages of Nepal

• Shikha Village – Altitude - 2,145m

– Population – 1,200

Villages of Nepal

• Gharamdi Village – Altitude – 2,100m

– Population – 700

Implementation Phases

• Current State

• 25 villages connected in Myagdi, Kaski and Parbat Districts

Beginning of Nepal Wireless Networking Project

Started in 2001 with

• Two Aeronet PCI Wireless Card Four D-Link DWL–900AP 60 mw Indoor radios and different home-build antennas.


• Testing Phase (Year 2002) started with the technical support of foreign volunteers.

• 2 villages were connected

• Project was started without money and technical knowledge

• We had to work on a phased approach with the help of international volunteers.


• Phase I (Year 2003)

• 5 villages connected

• Financial support by Donald Strauss Foundation that came through Mark Michalaski, the undergraduate student of the Univeristy of California at Los Angeles

• Technical support of international volunteers


• Phase II (Year 2005)

• 7 villages connected

• Financial support by the Poverty Alleviation Fund - Nepal (funded by World Bank)

• Project was implemented at the peak of the political conflict in Nepal

Technology Setup• Canopy Backhaul at Relay Station

Technology Setup• Using large trees as relay towers has worked well

Technology Setup• Putting a grid antenna

Electrical Power Management

Power Sources:

• Power from Main grid line in some villages and some villages have power from micro hydro generators

• Solar power at the relay stations and five villages

• Wind and bicycle generator at relay stations for back up in monsoon season

• Deep Cycle Batteries for storage

Electrical Power Management• Relay Station 1 and 2 at an elevation of 10,500 ft and 11,800 ft

• Operated by solar power

Electrical Power Management

• Bicycle and Wind Generator at the Relay Station

• Used as a back-up power in monsoon

Access Technology Used

• Used PC and laptops collected from different sources

• VoIP equipment such as Sipura SPA –3000, GrandStream IP phones and Cisco ATA adaptors

• Network camera such as Axis 214 PTZ camera for teleteaching. Linksys, Panasonic, Polycom network and video conferencing cameras for telemedicine program

• VLC, Open source software for video conferencing

Transport Technology Used

• 2.4 GHz Wi-fi radios (802.11b/g) produced by different manufacturers

• 5.8 GHz Motorola Canopies for backhaul

• MikroTik Routerboards

• 19 dBi homemade grid antennas

• 24 dBi grid antennas

• Linksys and Soekris Routers

• Switches of different brands

Network Server

Runs a Fedora Core Linux distribution with additional third party software. Currently, the server runs the following software packages.

• Asterisk PBX for to VoIP calls

• phpBB , for sharing messages, local news

• Apache and the Intranet Server

• Samba - The Windows File Server and Master Browser

• MySQL

• WebMin

• SSH

Wireless Network Server• Linux Server in Pokhara with Phillip Mucci, the volunteer

Wireless Network Usage

• Healthcare: Tele-Medicine

• Lila Pun, a village worker in Nangi talking to doctor in city hospital

Wireless Network Usage

• Communications: Communication Center

Villagers of Khibang reading online newspaper

Website

• Visit local homepage to see some examples of how the villagers are using the network.

Link to the Local Homepage is as follows.

• http://www.nepalwireless.com.np

Bulletin Board is not accessible from outside for everybody. It is password protected to save it from the spammers.

http://www.nepalwireless.com.np/

Wireless Network Usage• News and Bulletin: Nepal Wireless Local Homepage

Goals and Objectives of the Wireless Project

• Education – Increase opportunities in community schools by

» creating a live tele-teaching program

» providing contents in local languages to the students and villagers

• Healthcare – establish a tele-hospital in urban area and link it to the district

level hospitals and rural health centers

– provide medical assistances to the villagers through telemedicine program

• Communication – increase communication facilities in the isolated rural areas by

providing » VoIP phone

» video conferencing facilities

» bulletin board

» internet services

Goals and Objectives of the Wireless Network Project

• Local e-Commerce – help villagers sell and buy their products in the local market

through local intranet and internet

• Jobs and Business Opportunities– generate jobs for younger generation locally through

» remittance services

» VoIP phone services for International calls

» credit card transaction services for the tourists

» secretarial services (photo copy, photo print, document print)

Present Management Structure

• The project at present is a public enterprise run by a school

• It works with the villagers to build communication centers

• It does not provide services directly to the end-users.

Business Model

• Exisiting Revenue Streams of the village centers for sustainability

– Internet usage fee on hourly basis

– Monthly fee to the teachers and students

– Telephone call fees

– Photocopying, photo printing etc. fees

– Remittance service fees

– Computer training fees in some villages

• Revenue Streams for the project– ~10% to 15% additional charges for the tele-centers telephone

bill

– Monthly fee to the rural tele-centers for Internet connectivity; current charges range between $10 to $25 per month per village

– Remittance and credit card transaction services fees

Business Model

• Some of the jobs created by the project– Project has created some full-time and part-time jobs as well as

some volunteer opportunities

– Business opportunities for wireless equipment, computer and accessories

Assistances Provided for Other Wireless Projects

• Project helped other wireless projects in different parts of Nepal

– Makawanpur Network financially supported by the District Government and the Member of Parliament.

– Dolakha Wireless Network supported by Katmandu Model Hospital

– Palpa Wireless Network financially supported by Winrock Internationals

– Bajhang Network Supported by Poverty Alleviation Fund – Nepal

– Imja Wireless Network supported by Keio University – Japan for monitoring Imja Galcial lake with the technical support of Nepal Research and Education Network (NREN).

Assistance for Other Wireless Projects

• Makawanpur – Kathmandu – Dolakha Network

Assistance for Other Wireless Projects

• Palpa Network from Tansen for Winrock Internatioal

Project with Nepal Research and Education Network

Imja Galcial Lake Monitoring Network from the lake to Namche Bazaar for Keio University Japan and NREN


• Imja Galcial Retreat and growing Lake from

1962 to 2005Source: ICIMOD

•IRS LISS3 2005IRS LISS3 2005Quickbird Jan. 2006Quickbird Jan. 2006•ENVISAT, ASAR, 18 October 2007ENVISAT, ASAR, 18 October 2007

•LANDSAT LANDSAT TM 1992TM 1992

•CORONA CORONA

15 DEC 196215 DEC 1962

•IRS ID PAN 19 IRS ID PAN 19

MAR 2001MAR 2001

•SPACE SHUTTLE SPACE SHUTTLE

DEC 1983DEC 1983


• Chhukung Relay at 5,100m near Imja Lake


Link to the Field Servers in Imja Region and Namche Bazar region to see near real time photos of the lake and Namche Bazar. You can also visit the following site and see the data of the climate collected by the field servers.

http://fsds.dc.affrc.go.jp/data4/Himalayan/

http://fsds.dc.affrc.go.jp/data4/Himalayan/

Major Partners• Nepal Research and Education Network (http://nren.net.np) – For research, R&D, and telemedicine, climate monitoring, and system administration

• Open Learning Exchange Nepal (http://olenepal.org) - For developing educational contents in local language

• E-Networking Research and Development (http://enrd.org) – For building wireless network and maintenance

• Thamel.com – For introducing remittance service and credit card transaction service in rural areas

• Universities – National & International for volunteers

• Hospitals – Kathmandu Model Hospital, Hetaunda Hospital, Dolakha Hospital, Om Hospital for telemedicine

http://nren.net.np/

http://olenepal.org/

http://enrd.org/

http://enrd.org/

Current Projects

Current Project

Current Project is being Supported by APT

Pokhara Mustang Broadband Information Highway ~90 km

APT Project Site: Mustang District

Proposed Programs in Mustang

• Developing a business partnership with District Government, and Local Business people to start a local Internet Service Provider business.

• Working with Open Learning Exchange – Nepal and Department of Education to introduce “One Laptop Per Child Project”. Seven schools has been selected.

• Setting up telemedicine centers in two villages.

• Providing Internet connectivity and Internet related services to the people such as VoIP, credit card transaction, remittance, etc.

• Working on setting up field servers in three sites to collect data related to climate change in the Himalayas and provide those data to the researchers.

One Laptop Per Child Project with OLE - Nepal

• OLPC Laptops in Classrooms Distributed by Open Learning Exchange - Nepal in Schools

Advocating with the government of Nepal for Fiber line sharing

Asking Government to share fiber cable line with private operators

DONATE ONE DOLLAR A MONTHA Campaign

TO BUILD WIRELESS BROADBAND INFORMATION HIGHWAY ACROSS NEPAL

Wireless Technology for :

EducationHealth care (telemedicine)Communication (telephone/ email)Local businessAccess to news and information

Contact: Mahabir Pun

[email protected]

Visit and Donate:http://www.himanchal.org

http://www.nepalwireless.nethttp://www.nepalwireless.thamel.com

http://www.himanchal.org/

http://www.himanchal.org/

http://www.nepalwireless.net/

http://www.nepalwireless.thamel.com/

http://www.nepalwireless.thamel.com/

Long Term Business and Sustainability Plan

• For long term sustainability– Setup a business enterprise that includes public and private

stakeholders

• Potential Public Partners– Local Governments

– Community Schools

– Local Clubs

– Rural Clinics

– Ministry of Education

– Ministry of Health

– Ministry of Local Development

• Private Partners– Local Business Persons

– Local Entrepreneurs

– Other Investors

Outcome of the Project

• 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands have been de-licensed in Nepal

• License fee to use VSAT and to become rural Internet Service Provider has been reduced to less than $3 from more than US$5,000.

• VoIP (IP to IP) phone services has been made legal.

Lessons Learned

Technical Lessons

• The capability of 802.11b/g devices exceed more than manufacturer specification

• Wi-fi device is useful for delivering services such as video conferencing, tele-teaching, tele-training etc, other than just connecting computers to the Internet

• Long-range network must have to have strong backbone

• Management and technical training should be provided to local people, which is critical to the technical sustainability

Lessons Learned

Practical Lessons

• As many services as possible should be provided to the users to make it sustained and to increase the number of users such as educational, health, communication, remittance, e-commerce etc.

• Networking projects create job opportunities.

• Communities must be given responsibilities for managing and maintaining a network.

• Wireless network can be useful for monitoring the climate change and for preventing disasters

Replication

It is being replicated in other parts of Nepal.

Is it replicable in other parts of the world?

Answer – Technically, yes it is.

What next?

• There are over 8,000 villages in Nepal with more than 15 million people living in rural areas of Nepal.

• So far we have connected:– 45 villages in 7 Districts

– Approximate population of 60,000

– 20 High Schools with about 4,500 Students

There is a long way to go…

WE ARE WORKING TO CONNECT ALL THE VILLAGES IN NEPAL.

Contact

• For More Information– Please Visit:

» http://www.himanchal.org

» http://nren.net.np

» http://www.olenepal.org

» http://www.enrd.org

» http://www.nepalwireless.net

– Contact: » [email protected]

» Phone: 977 9841592361 (mobile in Nepal)

connecting rural nepal to the global village

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