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RED CIENTIFICA PERUANA                               
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  Subject: Networks & Community 

  En el magazine electronico  NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY de enero  23, 1994
  aparecio un interesante articulo acerca de cooperativas en los EEUU para
  acceder a los servicios de Internet. Como creo que es de interes y sirve
  de background sobre lo que buscamos hacer en la region y estamos aplicando
  en el Peru se los envio.
  js

  (or,  how a bunch of people can share a connection to the
  Internet)
  
  Contents
  =======
  -1- Why a cooperative?
  -2- Other Internet Cooperatives
  -3- How much will it cost?
  =================================================================
  
  -1- Why a cooperative?
  =====================
    Cheap, easy, and fast Internet service is something  a  lot  of
  people look forward to. Why isn't it available now? One answer is
  that big companies haven't found a way to make a lot of money  at
  it.
  
    That doesn't mean it can't be done tho. If you want  a  product
  or  service that isn't available where you are, one way to get it
  is to form a cooperative to provide it! A cooperative is a  group
  of  people  each  contributing a little bit of their time, money,
  and organizational skills to the group for their mutual benefit.
  Cooperatives have a long and successful history in  the  United
  States;  there are electric, telephone, and water cooperatives in
  many communities around the country. Why not an Internet coopera-
  tive?
  
  -2- Other Internet Cooperatives
  ===============================
  In fact, most of the Internet is already owned and operated  by
  cooperatives; NorthWestNet, BARRnet, CERFnet, and other 'regional
  networks' are cooperatives that  serve  organizations  (colleges,
  corporations)  instead of individuals. The NSFnet, the 'backbone'
  of the Internet,  is  a  cooperative  that  serves  the  regional
  cooperatives.
  
  -3- How much will it cost?
  =========================
  Leasing data lines and  paying  commercial  Internet  providers
  costs money, but by sharing it we can reduce the cost to where we
  can each afford it individually.
  It's a lot easier nowadays to get  a  connection  without  many
  restrictions  on  it-- one that we can distribute to other people
  freely. SprintLink sells service like this, and it is possible to
  get  resellable service from other vendors or organizations. This
  fairly recent development makes it a great deal easier to share a
  connection.
  A high speed (T1) Internet feed from a commercial provider  can
  cost  almost  $3,000  per  month-- but if 60 people share it, the
  cost per person is only $50; if 120 people share it,  it  is  $25
  per  month. And that is for near-Ethernet bandwidth to the Inter-
  net! Until recently the University of Washington, all 50,000 stu-
  dents and staff, used just one (1) T1 Internet feed...! Of course
  there are the costs in-city to  connect  us  together,  but  each
  group  can pay the cost of a lower-cost leased line to connect to
  the Coop's Internet feed, and pay some of  the  costs  associated
  with obtaining the feed.
  
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 un abrazo  
 Jose Soriano   - Red Cientifica Peruana - e-mail : js@rcp.net.pe
 Av. Alonso de la Molina 1698 Monterrico - Lima - Peru  
 TE: ( 51 -14) 46 - 16 -95 / 36 89 89 anexo 527 / fax:  36 40 67
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