Consume

Consume = London-based Wireless Commons project

URL = http://consume.net/

Description

"In essence, the Consume concept involves using self-administered open wireless networks to leapfrog the services offered by conventional telecommunications companies (Consume 2000). The last mile, the cable connecting the nearest exchange with the homes of the users, becomes the first mile, the self-administered zone of a network managed by the users themselves. This is made possible by the existence of open standards, licence-free bandwidth and WLAN technology based on 802.11 standards." (http://theoriebild.ung.at/view/Main/FreeWavelength)

Details

The Consume Manifesto

"The manifesto that appeared online under the name Consume described a model for a free wireless network cloud that would be created through the cooperation of individual participants with a large degree of financial and legal independence (Consume 2000). This concept was based on the idea of the Internet as a "network of networks", a structure created by linking up many separate networks. In principle, each node in this network has the same status, as a "peer" among other "peers". The connections between these nodes are always two-way connections with the same capacity. The Consume concept uses this egalitarian principle that is inherent in the Internet's architecture but which has been masked by its commercialization, turning users into (self-)providers. The network grows not as a result of centrally controlled planning and capital investments, but as a result of the accumulated actions of many individuals." (http://theoriebild.ung.at/view/Main/FreeWavelength)

More Information

Detailed 2004 case study by Armin Medosch at http://theoriebild.ung.at/view/Main/FreeWavelength

Free2Air is a related project for London's East End.