[wsfii-discuss] Pre-alert situation in Argentina, please help & advice

[Juergen Neumann]

Hi Ramon,

thanks for spreading this. Please let us know when it's time to start a
campaign.

Warmly,

JuergeN

Am Sonntag, den 25.11.2012, 16:42 +0000 schrieb Ramon Roca:
> Sorry for cross-posting, and in English for a wider audience.
> 
> Last friday, colleagues from a community wireless which is cooperating 
> with us in a small village in Argentina got a visit from representatives 
> of the CNC (Comisión Nacional de las Comunicaciones). Seems that the 
> inspection was caused by a claim from Telecom, a local mobile operator 
> affiliated to Movistar (Telefonica), arguing that was interfering to 
> their backbone links.
> 
> The inspected nodes are actually composed by low cost wifi routers, 
> working al 2.4 band, using the Argentinian regulatory domain, which is 
> region 2 of the UIT (same as in the US), with a power between 50mW and 
> 100mW and serving Internet to a primary school, and some families in a 
> low-income neighborhood.
> 
> Our colleagues are very much concerned because of the lack of 
> regulations in Argentina. Looks like those CNC officials will come back 
> next Thursday asking for shutting down the nodes, or even confiscation 
> of the equipment. Although wifi equipment has been widely extended in 
> Argentina, the concern is that looks like there are some old regulations 
> which require discretionary legalization for any radio equipment, and 
> CNC can invoke those regulations for this purpose.
> 
> That's why IMHO we are facing a pre-alert situation in Argentina that 
> requires to stay tuned on how evolves.
> 
> My first impression is that this kind of equipment and and this band is 
> very unlikely the cause for any disturbance for mobile operators, 
> therefore my first advice to them has been to cooperate with the 
> authorities for any technical assessments on site related to the 
> spectrum analysis, with the hope that the story will finish here.
> 
> But in the meantime and just in case:
> 
>  1. Please stay tuned in what happens next Thursday. In case of the
>     network being forced for shutdown or being confiscated, we plan to
>     release a press note reporting those facts, which we believe that
>     might be a serious injury of fundamental rights from citizens from
>     governments and large-corporations, so we will ask for you
>     cooperation disseminating though blogs and social networks worldwide.
>  2. Does anybody know from a local legal contact from Argentina who may
>     assist this wireless community? If someone has a contact, please let
>     me know.
>  3. Any other advice/idea?
> 
> Thanks,
> Ramon.
> 
> Sorry for cross-posting, and in English for a wider audience.
> Last friday, colleagues from a community wireless which is cooperating with us in a small village in Argentina got a visit from representatives of the CNC (Comisión Nacional de las Comunicaciones). Seems that the inspection was caused by a claim from Telecom, a local mobile operator affiliated to Movistar (Telefonica), arguing that was interfering to their backbone links.
> The inspected nodes are actually composed by low cost wifi routers, working al 2.4 band, using the Argentinian regulatory domain, which is region 2 of the UIT (same as in the US), with a power between 50mW and 100mW and serving Internet to a primary school, and some families in a low-income neighborhood.
> Our colleagues are very much concerned because of the lack of regulations in Argentina. Looks like those CNC officials will come back next Thursday asking for shutting down the nodes, or even confiscation of the equipment. Although wifi equipment has been widely extended in Argentina, the concern is that looks like there are some old regulations which require discretionary legalization for any radio equipment, and CNC can invoke those regulations for this purpose.
> That's why IMHO we are facing a pre-alert situation in Argentina that requires to stay tuned on how evolves.
> My first impression is that this kind of equipment and and this band is very unlikely the cause for any disturbance for mobile operators, therefore my first advice to them has been to cooperate with the authorities for any technical assessments on site related to the spectrum analysis, with the hope that the story will finish here.
> But in the meantime and just in case:
> Please stay tuned in what happens next Thursday. In case of the network being forced for shutdown or being confiscated, we plan to release a press note reporting those facts, which we believe that might be a serious injury of fundamental rights from citizens from governments and large-corporations, so we will ask for you cooperation disseminating though blogs and social networks worldwide.
> Does anybody know from a local legal contact from Argentina who may assist this wireless community? If someone has a contact, please let me know.
> Any other advice/idea?
> Thanks,
> Ramon.
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