Dear AfriNIC community According to the ITU (2017) Africa has 739 million individuals without access to internet infrastructure.
We write to you representing 70 individual community networks from 30 African countries, most whom are not yet AfriNIC members, but who each have part of the solution to making available access to these areas where there is very little formal economic activity and where no alternative options exist, and where the internet can play a vital enabling role. This letter has been under discussion during the past 4 months, and has been the subject of almost 100 messages on external community networks forums. There is a class of Internet Service Provider that is not recognized by AfriNIC. In order to allow us to draw in their resources to help building out the invaluable resource that is the internet, as part of the AfriNIC community, we would like to discuss a mutually beneficial proposal that will play a huge role in setting up the next generation of ISPs in Africa - and promote an excellent platform for ISP- and IPv6 training. We first contemplated proposing a definition for a Community Network or Non-Profit ISP, but having also worked with many small and competent ISPs, we recognize their challenges and the benefits that having them in this community can bring. We would therefore like to propose, in line with simplest change possible, the following additional amendment to the fee schedule that has been under discussion: 3.6.5 An entity with annual revenues less than USD 350 000 that is required to register as an LIR, such as a Wireless User Group, Community Network or ISP will qualify for an additional discount of 40%. Basic modelling shows that this can potentially require AfriNIC to give up up to $40k annually, but could yield a surplus in excess of $100k annually after a few years as these networks mature. Alternately, a profit based model, which has not been explored as thoroughly: 3.6.5 An entity with annual profits of less than USD 100 000 that is required to register as an LIR, such as a Wireless User Group, Community Network or ISP, will qualify for a discount of 75%. Regards -- Coenraad Loubser Co Authored by Dr. Carlos Rey-Moreno Office: <+27435552028> +27 (0)43 555 2028 <+27435552028> Mobile: +27 (0) 73 772 1223 <+27737721223> Skype: coenraad_loubser Twitter: @dagelf *Zenzeleni Networks NPC *zenzeleni.net - Best Innovation with Social Impact Award winner, Innovation Bridge 2017 - Community Favorite, Mozilla Equal Rating Innovation Challenge 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxTPSWMX26M
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