Global Access to the Internet for All
= GAIA is a IRTF research group
URL = https://irtf.org/gaia
Description
"One of the aims of the Global Access to the Internet for All (GAIA) IRTF research group is "to document and share deployment experiences and research results to the wider community through scholarly publications, white papers, Informational and Experimental RFCs, etc." [GAIA]. In line with this objective, this document proposes a classification of "Alternative Network Deployments". This term includes a set of network access models that have emerged in the last decade with the aim of providing Internet connection, follow topological, architectural, governance and business models that differ from the so-called "mainstream" ones, where a company deploys the infrastructure connecting the users, who pay a subscription fee to be connected and make use of it.
Several initiatives throughout the world have built these large scale networks, using predominantly wireless technologies (including long distance) due to the reduced cost of using unlicensed spectrum. Wired technologies such as fiber are also used in some of these networks.
The classification considers several types of alternate deployments:
- Community Networks are self-organized networks wholly owned by the community;
- networks acting as Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs);
- networks owned by individuals but leased out to network operators who use such networks as a low cost medium to reach the underserved population; and finally there are
- networks that provide connectivity by sharing wireless resources of the users."
(https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-irtf-gaia-alternative-network-deployments-06#ref-GAIA0
More Information
- Internet Research Task Force, IRTF., "Charter: Global Access to the Internet for All Research Group GAIA", available at https://irtf.org/gaia , 2016.