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Connecting Rural Nepal to the Global Village Some Examples and Some Efforts Mahabir Pun

Connecting Rural Nepal to the Global Village Some Examples and Some Efforts Mahabir Pun Team Leader, Nepal Wireless Networking Project Chairman, E-Networking Research and Development Vice Chairman, Nepal Research and Education Network

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Connecting Rural Nepal to the Global Village Some Examples and Some Efforts Mahabir Pun

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  1. Connecting Rural Nepal to the Global Village Some Examples and Some Efforts Mahabir Pun Team Leader, Nepal Wireless Networking Project Chairman, E-Networking Research and Development Vice Chairman, Nepal Research and Education Network Director of Public Relation, Open Learning Exchange Nepal Program Director, Himanchal Education Foundation

  2. Background of the Area

  3. 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.

  4. Villages of Nepal • Tikot Village • Altitude - 2,250m • Population - 845

  5. Villages of Nepal • Paudwar Village • Altitude - 2,180m • Population – 2,250

  6. Villages of Nepal • Shikha Village • Altitude - 2,145m • Population – 1,200

  7. Villages of Nepal • Gharamdi Village • Altitude – 2,100m • Population – 700

  8. Implementation Phases • Current State • 25 villages connected in Myagdi, Kaski and Parbat Districts

  9. Beginning of Nepal Wireless Networking Project Started in2001 with • Two Aeronet PCI Wireless Card Four D-Link DWL–900AP 60 mw Indoor radios and different home-build antennas.

  10. Implementation Phases • 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.

  11. Implementation Phases • 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

  12. Implementation Phases • 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

  13. Technology Setup • Canopy Backhaul at Relay Station

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

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

  16. Technology Setup • Putting a grid antenna

  17. 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

  18. Electrical Power Management • Relay Station 1 and 2 at an elevation of 10,500 ft and 11,800 ft • Operated by solar power

  19. Electrical Power Management • Bicycle and Wind Generator at the Relay Station • Used as a back-up power in monsoon

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. 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

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

  24. Wireless Network Usage • Healthcare: Tele-Medicine • Lila Pun, a village worker in Nangi talking to doctor in city hospital

  25. Wireless Network Usage • Communications: Communication Center Villagers of Khibang reading online newspaper

  26. 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.

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

  28. 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

  29. 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)

  30. 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.

  31. 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

  32. 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

  33. 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).

  34. Assistance for Other Wireless Projects • Makawanpur – Kathmandu – Dolakha Network

  35. Assistance for Other Wireless Projects • Palpa Network from Tansen for Winrock Internatioal

  36. Project with Nepal Research and Education Network Imja Galcial Lake Monitoring Network from the lake to Namche Bazaar for Keio University Japan and NREN

  37. IRS ID PAN 19 MAR 2001 • SPACE SHUTTLE DEC 1983 • CORONA 15 DEC 1962 LANDSAT TM 1992 Project with Nepal Research and Education Network • Imja Galcial Retreat and growing Lake from 1962 to 2005 Source: ICIMOD Quickbird Jan. 2006 ENVISAT, ASAR, 18 October 2007 IRS LISS3 2005

  38. Project with Nepal Research and Education Network • Chhukung Relay at 5,100m near Imja Lake

  39. Project with Nepal Research and Education Network 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/

  40. 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

  41. Current Projects

  42. Current Project Current Project is being Supported by APT Pokhara Mustang Broadband Information Highway ~90 km

  43. APT Project Site: Mustang District

  44. APT Project Site: Mustang District

  45. APT Project Site: Mustang District

  46. 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.

  47. One Laptop Per Child Project with OLE - Nepal • OLPC Laptops in Classrooms Distributed by Open Learning Exchange - Nepal in Schools

  48. Advocating with the government of Nepal for Fiber line sharing Asking Government to share fiber cable line with private operators

  49. DONATE ONE DOLLAR A MONTH A Campaign TO BUILD WIRELESS BROADBAND INFORMATION HIGHWAY ACROSS NEPAL Wireless Technology for : • Education • Health care (telemedicine) • Communication (telephone/ email) • Local business • Access to news and information Contact: Mahabir Pun mahabir@himanchal.org Visit and Donate: http://www.himanchal.org http://www.nepalwireless.net http://www.nepalwireless.thamel.com

  50. 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

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