Mesh/Oakland

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This page is for documenting research on access to computers and Internet in Oakland, active organizations tackling the digital divide, and local ISPs that allow for sharing bandwidth in their Terms of Service.

Research

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics & Bureau of Census, 32% of Oakland residents lack internet connectivity in their home and at work.

The Free Press published a short report on media inequality in the Bay Area in January of 2014. From the report:

  • "AT&T and Comcast are the dominant telecommunications service providers in the Bay Area, though competitive providers like Sonic.net serve small pockets in the North Bay and the peninsula. Broadband adoption in the Bay Area is high relative to the state and national averages. As of June 2011 (the most recent data-reporting period), most portions of the Bay Area had broadband-adoption levels near or above 80 percent of households. But there are numerous neighborhoods in areas like Alameda, Oakland, Richmond and San Jose where broadband adoption is well below the state and national averages. Over the past decade, the California Public Utilities Commission has removed regulations and oversight of the state’s major telecom providers. This deregulation was supposed to lower prices and improve consumer choices, but the rates for basic services tripled in just a few short years."

City of Oakland Wireless Broadband Feasibility Study (2009) - Lengthy report on the feasibility of providing free municipal wifi throughout the city of Oakland. Research included focus groups with representatives from the various districts of Oakland, public comments, and extensive mapping of a wireless network operating on the 2.4GHz and 4.9Mz bands.

  • "Participants made a distinction between "free" and "affordable" service, and overwhelmingly chose not to endorse the provision of free Internet access to businesses and residences. Providing public access, free or otherwise, at public facilities, such as libraries and community centers, or high traffic areas, such as bus shelters, the convention center or the downtown area, was generally seen as a much higher priority than providing residential Internet service of any kind. (p.15)"
  • "The top concern, identified by city staff, businesses, local agencies and six out of seven focus groups, was that any system be flexible and interoperable. In other words, that it can be used by all city departments (although every department wouldn't necessarily need access to all the features and capabilities), that it serve as a means of communications with other public agencies, and that the public can use and benefit directly from it, as appropriate. System reliability (including disaster survivability for emergency systems) and security were also perceived as being necessary by most participants.

Complete coverage of the City and mobile access to real-time data was not seen as a necessary technical requirement by most groups, however both were particular priorities of City staff. Both requirements will have to be met if City of Oakland departments are assumed to be regular users of any citywide wireless broadband system. Additionally, there was a general concern expressed during most focus groups, the town hall meeting and some workshops that all areas of the City be served equally, if not fully. (p.18)"


Organizations

We've been working on a spreadsheet of Oakland community organizations [grassroots, schools, churches, non-profits, etc], which can be found here.

The following is a curation of organizations addressing the digital divide in Oakland (via Oakland Wiki:

Mesh-friendly ISPs

Some ISPs allow sharing of Internet access and others do not. We provide node owners with a list of local ISPs that are known to allow sharing of Internet access and advise them that some ISPs may not allow sharing. The worst case scenario here is that one or more users get their Internet disconnected for terms of service violation.

The ISPs in the East Bay that allow Internet Connection sharing (that we know of) are:

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