Internet connectivity incubator LAB

The idea that we are developing is to empower individuals and create technology to help them bring connectivity to their communities at low cost, in other words we want to build a low cost "Internet Service Providers" (ISP) incubator. 

We want to build a platform that supports  people to provide Internet services with their neighbours, and even create their own ISP in their community, supporting them in everything related to connectivity and the construction of an ISP.

We seek to ignite the spark that will make everyone understand that internet connectivity is very simple and behaves like water, where anyone could put their own pipes and drops of water.

Our vision is to massify the internet in the world. Through education and technology. We want to multiply internet connections with the implementation of new financial and social organization models. We want to lead all the unconnected into the technological future.

“New report on global broadband access underscores urgent need to reach the half of the world still unconnected” Director-General Audrey Azoulay, New York, 22 September 2019 – UNESCO. 

That statement was just before the covid-19 pandemic began, and during this big crisis we realized that internet is an essential service, more than we thought, it could be said that is almost like water and especially broadband internet, because it allows us to take advantage of the best internet services.

In Colombia, 15 of every 100 inhabitants have broadband and during the Pandemic in 2020 broadband connections were increased three times more than in 2019. In the world the rate is lower, reaching 14.1 per 100 inhabitants. Which represents a great market opportunity.

The main reasons we have found why so many people don't adopt broadband internet and the problem persists is because there are no plans that are consistent with what they can afford, another reason is the lack of basic equipment or cables to adopt the technology, and the lack of knowledge of the use of technology itself.

We believe it’s easier to expand the Internet in the world by creating a lot of ISPs, that one ISP that can connect all. Our hypothesis is that if we empower people and teach them in simple terms and for free, how to build a Replicable Social Low Cost ISP (RSLC ISP), many people would be interested in the connectivity business and also non-profit initiatives to connect their neighbors or communities to make  self-sustainable projects. 

We are building our solution in two stages, the first is to consolidate our RSLC ISP prototype in Lerida, Colombia and continue to grow our community of people interested in multiplying internet connections, with all the documentation about the construction of the RSLC ISP, step by step.

The second stage we’ll be creating a platform to support all our community. For entrepreneurs and internet clients, education and assistance about all topics: Assistance for their networks. Assistance and logistics for the construction of the infrastructure. Education for equipment configuration. Basic and advanced technology classes for clients. and everything related to the construction of these projects. 

Our solution is to democratize the internet, teaching and supporting everyone to connect themselves and to connect others for low cost.

Through surveys we have identified that our internet customers are generally farmers  with low income that lives in both urban and rural areas. They don't have constant income and unbanked.

Some young people, many adults and the vast majority of seniors do not know technology nor the benefits of internet. In 90% of the homes there are children. We made interviews and confirm that the main reason for hiring the internet has to do with the education of the children. Followed by communications with relatives and in case of an accident.

Our solution aligns very well with the challenge because we are building a laboratory dedicated to digital inclusion. We are experimenting and gathering knowledge to make affordable internet connectivity and share it.

The ISP model we are building includes teaching and lines of credit for customers and entrepreneurs. This is how we want to ensure that a person interested in Argentina or Senegal, through our platform, can connect their community and teach all their clients the benefits of the internet from scratch, as well as finance basic equipment exclusively for the adoption of the internet.

Because we are adjusting our business model and testing our final product. We have acquired 20 clients in three months growing 40% per month, we have sold to 30% of our clients basic equipment for internet adoption and we have provided 50% of our clients with basic training on the use of internet equipment and platforms.

We are now ready to move into our pilot phase cosolidating our RSLC ISP in Lerida and begin to replicate it in other parts of Colombia, where our community is impatient to start contructing their own networks.

We are also prototyping the best way to empower, motivate and train a member of the community.  This member will be capable to manage and expand the network. With our advice initially and with the time they can do it by them selfs. This way we can incubate scalable and self-administrable RSLC ISPs.

Through methodologies such as lean startup, systemic thinking, and tools that have been mentioned in the edX course, we are increasingly discovering the needs of customers, and we are understanding better what their most pressing needs are and possibilities to link to current technological society. With this information we are testing new solutions in different aspects of our solution.

For example in the construction of infrastructure with the community to lower costs. social organization models for communities. Software development to improve connectivity. Exclusive credit lines for basic equipment and facilitating internet adoption. Provide basic physical and virtual classes free for people who do not know much about technology. Understanding payment behavior of the customer and offer limited connectivity solutions as an educational local server in the event of nonpayment. Not generate debt in the event of non-payment prepaid models without long-term contracts. Bringing low-cost broadband to low-income populations. Advisories totally remote or on-site for a connectivity project from start to finish.

We are sure that democratizing the internet will change the game in the market by taking power away from large operators and even small ones because many people will want to pay less, have a better service and take in manage their own internet connection.

We have two persons working full time, three persons working part time, and three advisor contractors that we call when we are lost. 

We start as conectivity software developers with two workers six years ago, but until pandemy in 2021 we integrate internet and begin working with more people.

We are a team of professionals passionate about entrepreneurship, technology and social development. We have experience in previous startups and in the formulation of public investment projects. Among our professional profiles we have a technology developer, business administrator specializing in social technology management, urban developer, professional in international relations, economist and industrial engineer.

We were trying to prototype the idea of training a person of the community to manage the internet network, but we were surprised when we met a person from the community that was willing to learn and help in everything, he has given us another perspective on the problem and was a fundamental part of the construction of the infrastructure, giving us insights from the community and resources. We learned a lot from him and decided to make it part of the team.

Now we are not sure if meeting him was a stroke of luck or we will meet many more people like him in other communities.

We believe education is the best and faster way to progress, we are applying to SOLVE because we know that MIT provides one of the best educations in the world and we understand that it will give us added value to our endeavor that cannot be bought.

For us, being chosen for the next stage will be a platform to make ourselves known internationally and will give us the opportunity to seek more support for our endeavor.

It was difficult to choose between all the options because we need help in almost all the options, but at the moment our most pressing needs are:

Financial
First, we would like to continue improving our finances, because although we are building a sustainable model, we know that it can be improved and then  we will like to improve our pitch and have the opportunity to present our project to investors.

Technology
We want to continue developing our connectivity software and begin the investigation of a low-cost long-distance antennas easy to replicate, with the “Do it Yourself” model or a similar solution. This would lower costs for new connections both in the city, urban and remote areas.