What is WiFi?
Most of us know WiFi as the thing that gives us internet access. But WiFi actually refers to something specific. It refers to devices which adhere to the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless communication.
The 802.11 standard has many components. One particular is this: WiFi devices must use the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz electromagnetic frequency bands. Why is this significant? Because those frequency bands are unlicensed spectrum in most of the world.
What is spectrum?
Spectrum refers to a range of frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum. Visible light is once such spectrum, so is FM radio. The spectrum that WiFi uses is not regulated by most governments, you do not need a license to operate a device in this spectrum.
Why is unlicensed significant?
Unlicensed spectrum is unique because it allows individuals to decide how they want to use the spectrum, how they want to communicate. If every person who owned a wireless access point were required to obtain a transmission license from a regulating entity, the wireless landscape would be very different.
We do not criticize licensed spectrum. It is such licensing that made the internet and cellular revolutions possible. But now that we find ourselves in a post-cellular world, where cellular access is a given, we wonder if there are other ways to achieve mobile communications on a global scale. Do we still need licensed, monopolist companies like AT&T to bring us global and affordable telecommunications?
On Telecommunications
Networked information and telecommunication is a new resource that we believe is just as important as food, water, and the air we breathe. We live in a time where society is becoming spatially and psychologically fragmented. Telecommunications allows us to have nourishing connections with humans who are not able to be with us in person, for whatever reason that may be.
We are on the lookout for new approaches to telecommunications infrastructure. We are interested because we suspect that the current infrastructure may not be sustainable, or even the most cost effective way of connecting human beings.
The Commons
When we think of the commons, we think of people. We think of the way people collect around needs, goals, ideals. When we wonder what alternatives there are to the current communication paradigm, we are also thinking of the commons. Shouldn't the users of the network have a say in how the network is operated?
