[MLB-WIRELESS] Public internet access

Zik Saleeba zik at zikzak.net
Wed Sep 20 13:13:15 EST 2006


Hi,

I'm a newcomer to Melbourne Wireless and I know this topic has come up
time and time again - how to legally provide internet access via
Melbourne Wireless - but I'd like to dig up this topic once again.
Since I'm only new here I hope I haven't repeated the mistakes of
others before me. But here's what I'm thinking anyway:

To me the most compelling feature Melbourne Wireless could offer is
internet access for its members. I know it already happens through
"private arrangements" at the moment but it's still not something
Melbourne Wireless can offer officially. And to go a step further I'd
personally like to offer wireless internet to the public in my
locality - and I'd like to do it legally and without going broke in
the process.

I've been having an email conversation with Gary Fraser from the ACMA
about this. I know other people have tried this in the past and have
come up against the obstacle of us not being a "commercial" operation.
I decided to explore what a "not quite commercial but still a carrier"
approach might involve by asking him what it would take for Melbourne
Wireless to get a full carrier license. Here's what he said:

-------------------------
Under the Telecommunications Act 1997, there is no restriction on the
installation and ownership of telecommunications infrastructure.  However,
the Act provides under section 42 that the owner of a network unit must not
use that network unit, or allow other persons to use that network unit, to
supply carriage services to the public unless the owner holds a carrier
licence or a nominated carrier declaration is in force in relation to the
unit or an exemption applies.

The difficulty in obtaining a carrier licence for coverage of Melbourne
Wireless Group would be that, from my understanding of its operation, it is
the individual members who own the base stations.  Therefore under section
42 requirements each individual owner would need to have a carrier licence
or a nominated carrier licence in force.

In answer to your specific question regarding licensing, any person may
apply to ACMA for a carrier licence, so long as the person is:

       a constitutional corporation; or
       an eligible partnership; or
       a public body.
-------------------------

My interpretation of this is that if Melbourne Wireless became an
incorporated company (it may be already?) then it may be possible to
operate under a single license. Failing this each of us would have to
get a separate carrier license - which I'm guessing might be quite a
hassle and potentially more expensive.

The problem with us operating under a company umbrella is that the
equipment is owned by us and not the company. I'm currently asking
Gary if we could operate under a single license if the Melbourne
Wireless company leases equipment from each of us for a nominal fee.
The idea is to use this technicality to place the licensing of the
equipment under Melbourne Wireless rather than each of us having to be
individually licensed. We'll see how that goes.

Another possibility is to investigate the "nominated carrier
declaration" he mentions and see if that can be used somehow.

The other big question about getting a carrier license is how much it
might cost. Gary referred me to this page:

http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.590024:STANDARD::pc=PC_1770

My interpretation of this page is that the bulk of the fee is
proportional to revenue. So if the Melbourne Wireless company operated
on a non-profit basis the revenue would be about the same as the
internet costs. Let's just say that the combined internet costs were
$10,000 in a year, then the license fee would be around $100 by
revenue plus the annual fee (which is "cost recovery only"). That
doesn't sound like it'd be out of our reach.

One nice side-effect of all this is that members who wanted to provide
internet access to their locality could also do so legally under the
regulations.

The last point I wanted to raise was our internet connection. We'd
need to make an arrangement with an ISP to get an internet link which
allows the Melbourne Wireless company to re-sell internet access to
its members (and possibly the public). This would obviously not be
your plain jane home ADSL connection. But presumably there'd also be
an economy of scale so I'm hoping it'd be comparably or better priced
than standard ADSL once the price was shared between us. I have some
friends in the ISP industry so I may check that side of things out
soon.

I think if Melbourne Wireless can get a nice official internet thang
happening it'll become a lot more popular and get a much bigger
profile in the community.

Cheers,
Zik



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