a year ago cell phone service was made possible in this country.
this is my version of the story... so it is not totally accurate to every detail.
The main entity in this country that controls telecommunications we will call [BIGBROTHER].
They were originally run by the government, which is known to be prone to, shall we say favoritism? (if you notice I'm careful about what I say on my blog)
So, for years [BIGBROTHER] would not license any form of communication outside their control. It made more financial sense to maintain the monopoly.
No satellite internet unless through them
no telephone long distance or local unless through them
no cell phone service.
Then there was a reorganization of entities, and a governing body opened the country up to competition. Seeing the value that it would bring.
There was about a year of influx, competing internet and cell service came in.
Quickly realizing their mistake, the entity shut off the valve. Stopped giving licenses to competition and tried to revoke the licenses of the existing competition they let through.
As a result civil suits began. Civil suits orchestrated by the competition who could not sue legally because of the terms of their license agreements.
So they got their bigger customers together to sue for them.
All the while, [BIGBROTHER] has had organizational difficulties and lost the suit.
(meanwhile all the tech geeks are praying like mad we don't lose our internet connection here)
So now it's legal for cell phone service competition to exist.
Enter cell phone competition we'll call [BetterCell]. Not only do they put a lot of towers up, but they do it along the roads where [BIGBROTHER]'s towers often neglected coverage for the main roads here. And they offer more affordable rates, free phones. They do a good job of deploying here.
Suddenly [BetterCell] gets more market share.
To put up a tower, you have to build a small fortress to keep raskols from stealing copper and aluminum. So cinder block walls, chain link fencing, razor wire, and power generators all go into these [BetterCell] towers.
Well recently, one was built near us. And boom, we have cell phone signal! And hey, it has GPRS on it (not 3g, not for a long while). And HEY you don't need to subscribe to this GPRS because the country is still a village based country. BILLS and CREDIT CARDS or any form of credit still isn't really viable here. So pre-paid calling cards enter the cell phone world. "Top up cards". And you can use the GPRS system if you know the APN, which is published on the web site.
So I get my cell phone online... and then the signal goes away.
The village family line that owns the property the tower is on, is not happy with the agreement with [BetterCell] and wants more money.
So they threaten to tear down the tower unless they get more money.
Negotiations ensue. The signal comes up. The signal goes down.
Finally we're told, that the signal is coming up for good.
Until the next compensation cycle.
A compensation cycle, as we call it, is the time from when the fathers own the land and get their "money" to the time those fathers pass the land on to their sons and the sons go back and say "okay now pay us." Typically it's about ten years time.
The mentality seems "backwards" to western thinking in some ways.
For example, if the Australian government comes to you and says "your road is dirt and full of potholes, we want to pave it for you."
then you would say, "hey wow, great! that would make my life so much better!"
but here they say "how much are you going to pay me for this privilege?"
THOSE are the roads that are still unpaved.
the thinking that goes against what is wise for your people, for your family in the long run is sometimes called "bikhet" (big head).
So, right now today, I am truly apreciating the miracle that is cell phone technology. I can now get information at 28Kbit p/ sec on my phone... which means to me, besides jsut the cool geek factor of having a working iPhone in a third world country.... that I can now get information and communication from anywhere.
It means safety on the roads (in a country where if you leave your vehicle it could get stripped).
It means staying in touch with family.
It means lowering the cost and increasing the speed of getting email into villages.
It means I'm more available in emergencies (server room or family).
It means simply one more way for us to get done the work we've come to do.
an HF radio modem costs $1000.00
compare that to a smart phone at most $400.00 and it's a no brainer.
an hf radio modem transfers email so slowly, we measure it in Characters per second, not Kb. A smart phone with GPRS will transfer at 28Kbit/sec.
So, the only trick is cell signal isn't as far reaching as HF radio. If you want to pray for more coverage, I'm sure the village workers and translators would appreciate it.
The picture above is during the construction of the tower. Note the barbed wire, and the crowd of onlookers. The Cinder block walls, and the white generator on the left.
