Helping communities build their own LTE networks
Ben, Ryan, and Cassidy talk with Esther Jang, Matt Johnson, and Chris Webb of Seattle’s Local Connectivity Lab, a nonprofit that works in concert with the University of Washington to facilitate community-focused technology development and research. They discuss how they’re working to build community-run LTE networks that expand connectivity, how making network technology visible helps people understand it, and why expanding digital access requires understanding social infrastructure.
Esther and Matt are graduate students in computer science at the University of Washington, where they study community networks.
Esther explains how open-source, community-owned and -operated LTE networks are a good solution for expanding public internet access and ensuring digital equity.
Matt walks the team through Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), a shared wireless spectrum that allows users to build their own LTE networks.
Chris Webb of the Black Brilliance Research Project lays out how a digital stewardship program in Detroit helped inspire his work.