[IIAB] IIAB in Kiribati

[Braddock]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi Dennis,

Sounds like Kiribati would make for an ideal deployment of
Internet-in-a-Box.  You obviously have a pretty desperate need for
connectivity.

Note that the system is still experimental, so this would be a trial.
 However we have already had very successful trials in Sierra Leone
and Haiti.

I would ask that you donate $150 plus shipping to cover my hardware
costs for each unit IF the trial works out well.  It would take a
month or two for us to get the hardware ready.

It doesn't sound like you have any network infrastructure at all on
the far out islands you want to deploy the OLPCs to.  We have a
"wireless" version which just requires power (and will actually run on
battery) and will create a wifi network called "internet-in-a-box"
which the XO's can connect to access the Internet-in-a-box resources.
 It does not support any other outside network connections however.

So if you just wanted to get one of our "wireless" IIAB units and take
a stack of XO's to the students on an island it would be a complete
solution.  We have not had any "wireless" deployments before though.
Usually there is some network infrastructure on the site and our
device connects to a wired ethernet jack.

- -braddock




On 09/21/2013 03:51 PM, Dennis Pack wrote:
> Dear Braddock,
> 
> I am an Australian volunteer (born and raised in Oregon) currently
> on assignment as an IT mentor with the Ministry of Education in
> the Republic of Kiribati, just north of the equator about half way
> between Hawaii and Australia. Kiribati consists of about 33 atolls
> spread across the ocean from Kiritimati (Christmas) Is on the east,
> to Tarawa on the west. Half of the population is under 16, and it
> looks like most of the country could disappear if the sea level
> rises much ... the average height above sea level is less than 2
> metres.
> 
> Communication is dismal on a country scale, though Tarawa is set to
> get 3G coverage soon ... otherwise, less than 5 of the atolls have
> mobile phone or internet access. And here on Tarawa, the main
> island, internet access is very slow. In the last year, the
> Ministry of Education won a grant to trial a OLPC program. So far
> the 20+ computers are still sitting in boxes in the IT office. One
> of my goals is to get them in the hands of students, especially on
> the outer islands. I have been looking at the idea of creating a
> virtual internet on a laptop and taking that, along with the XOs,
> to the various schools around the country. While doing research, I
> came across your project and think it is almost exactly what I was
> thinking about. I am still in the process of trying to
> download/view what information I can find, but am confident I will
> be able to adapt/use what your project has already created. (Your
> SGVLUG pdf presentation has just finished downloading ... I'll be
> looking at it soon, but need to get this emailed before I lose my
> internet connection).
> 
> If you could please advise me on what to do next, and if there is a
> way we could trial your project here, I'd be very interested.
> 
> Thank you for your help.
> 
> Regards, Dennis Pack
> 
> 

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://www.enigmail.net/

iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJSPigQAAoJEHWLR/DQzlZuV8kH/0qPOcxEzoLI3DSx17LZucbj
YumNKijydyRl3ljzYupwHC7Mlw64wtEDAh+ptnKu+ZXf2zg8xKa2LLAQA6DNbhJ1
FTm0IMkcgmch6CKKCSI8JiRUSWd13WRxqovYiuShEoboyRsRUyaGhWBELjfX0CrU
mCu9CCoVbkEof3T4kFi/EFaA3eTxjeul/eD39j1vw5Y+WrQa4IG8O+pgj73A63wo
t3xJWyJvOLnk8YM/M9Nnko70cKp6k5/M90S6vWWFBwuTRGb8afERUuj8ZfuNsPLl
lU3tURfN035Pzfstm9b88EGsYAAOl+EE1yjgWEktSfKtSegZfFfhFni7nUFYoSw=
=YbOG
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----