Democratizing service provider networks

As the Internet grows in importance worldwide, legacy network architectures, closed vendor ecosystems, and rigid regulatory frameworks constrain innovation in Internet service provider and mobile operator networks. As a result, the expansion of the Internet is slowing, leaving more than 1.7 billion people without access, largely in rural areas. In this talk, I will present approaches to enabling new classes of service providers that are able to expand the frontiers of the Internet beyond what is achievable today. First, I present Nomadic GSM, a system that demonstrates community-run mobile networks can safely share radio spectrum with existing mobile network operators. Next, I present CCM, a system that shows how community networks and traditional mobile network operators can cooperate to share resources to extend service. Finally, I will discuss an evaluation of these systems through longitudinal deployments in Southeast Asia that provide service to thousands of rural people, as well as their implications for future service provider networks and universal access to the Internet.