For years I have been fascinated by WiFi, block chain and why Enron’s Broadband Services didn’t take off. Since 2015, the interest I had as a broke college graduate to launch a telecom company to compete with the likes of Verizon, AT&T, Cox Communications, a/k/a “BigTelecom”.. grew as I had to decide which Ramen noodles pack I could afford or how much data to buy this month. I was good at cutting costs in terms of transportation, rent, clothing, food, but getting access to the world wide web wasn’t that easy. Why?
Many reading this probably couldn’t remember the scandal that shook America in the early 2000s. Heck I was only 15 too! But the shock that a company as big as Enron dealt made news headlines globally. Enron’s failure brought tears and fear to many people around the world connected to the behemoth. One thing Enron did to me was introduce the notion of bandwidth trading.
This concept was so ahead of its time that many people rejected the notion before actually understanding the power behind such a concept. The notion that a trader could set prices from a pooling point between Los Angeles and New York was highly valuable. Emulating the way Enron’s energy business worked by moving natural gas from Point A to Point B meant traders could turn on and off the gas cap based on how much you could pay. This method didn’t work for the Internet since the architecture of routers, servers, switches, Interexchange points, etc.. don’t work like the energy distribution model. One is centralized, the latter is decentralized.
This idea isn’t new. There’s even another cool Medium “Securitising the Unsecuritisable Bandwidth trading and echoes of a future past ” article that brings up this concept as well. The key take aways from the article? Enron was bad, ok we know that, check. 2. A unit of bandwidth needs to have an apples to apples comparison. i.e. kWh to kWh. So Mbps to Mbps, check. 3. An International bandwidth trading exchange can be replaced with a crypto exchange like Huobi or Binance, check.
We should also note that centralized authority should be removed! Giving way to anyone(not just a greedy company) benefits from trading.
I.e. if I have bandwidth, I mean tokens, I can benefit from the exchange. Actual TOKENS should be tradable, not bandwidth per se. The notion of buying an actual fiber line and trading contracts is a bit overkill and impractical for most people, the basic premise of commodities trading. Hooray crypto, thank Satoshi!
Also don’t be uncooperative and arrogant! Instead of trading bandwidth contracts “(standardised as city-pair circuits in bits per second for a fixed period of time at a financially guaranteed service level)” we encapsulate the value of Mbps in a token. That carries the value not city pair contracts.
Also, let’s scrap the idea of “pooling together pockets of bandwidth capacity into regional ‘pools’ much like electricity is traded in deregulated markets”. Why? As long end-users can buy the tokens from our WiFi splash page located on our mesh devices that’s enough. This allows buyers in country Djibouti to add intrinsic value(fiat/token) directly to the exchange, Bittrex. Pooling ISP’s together is redundant since the fiber connections usually derive from the main Tiers anyway like Tier 1 providers. In Africa mostly Seacom.
And… Play well with others.
This idea has captured my interest because I’m a 90’s child. I grew up in a world where Compuserve, Beepers, Netscape, AOL, ICQ, BLOCKBUSTER video, the palm pilot and reading Robb Report was part of my world growing up in north central Florida. As I grew up and had the privelege of being able to have dial up Internet I witnessed how instrumental networks of networks became. My life around the University of Florida also helped with 2 PhD parents in the house and value placed around information.
This information served in my importance of access to data, lots of data. That if used correctly, Could lead to my acceptance into the University of Florida BS Fire & Emergency Services(2013), and now graduate school, Franklin University.
I then later wanted to help those in need and wanted to share that know-how of what the Internet could do If used in a progressive manner.
Fast forward to 2022 and we have Bitcoin, Web 3.0, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning(ML), Zoom, LinkedIn, blockchain, StarLink, Youtube, and all the new radically faster ways to share information.
… but, something is still amiss. There’s a big part of our world “offline”. [They don’t] even realiz[e] that life could be better by accessing the Internet.
After graduating college and was on my way to closing an $18 million dollar deal(Series A) with VC’s in San Francisco with my Phenetics start-up. I ended up leaving the US with a hunger for something more. I wanted the riches in Africa. Commodities. I’ve visited Africa in the past on family trips. But never lived in the wild. Dark Africa. Start-up funding is one thing but raw resources is something else! It’s power.
I wanted to take a risk in the unknown. My ideas could run wild. No rules is what I had a taste for. Not the regulated environment of the FCC. Telling me how much TX power my mesh devices had to have. Or winning spectrum auctions. NO! I want room to build what I wanted, when I wanted. And If you said no, then I’ll pack up and go to another African country.
I saw an entire city connceted to WiFi. A fire was what I had burning in me from 2011. And Africa would be the test bed to make it happen. But… how?
I landed in Nairobi around August 2015 and crashed at my college friend Nathan Wangusi’s place in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi. I have a mother whose Kenyan but the closeness to her side of the family overall wasn’t strong enough for me to pick up the phone and inform anyone I was just flying over. After 2 odd weeks of getting acclamated to a very different “dark” environment. I got kicked out by Nathan and found my own spot. Fortunately I had a little money, probably less than 2kUSD to spend(dollars go far in Africa). Mom and dad helped here and there but it wasn’t much. After being detained by the Kenyan anti terrorism police, run ins with street police and paying bribes to corrupt military street patrol soldiers I decided Nairobi wasn’t the best place to live.
I journeyed to Zambia, Rwanda and now call Uganda home(relatively). Having to avoid Ebola, COVID, HIV, Yellow fever, Malaria, Cholera outbreaks and all the other exciting things that make Africa what it is! All the while trying to convince local telecom’s that my idea to transform the industry is something to invest in.
After escaping a country like Zamba by canoe(avoiding crocodiles and hippos) yes that’s what happens you cannot leave by airport or land border post. Due to corrupt immigration officials and making my way to Kigali by bus, van, car, etc… I was able to get a new passport and later after settling my nerves, my prototype ready to finally show a few people in the Ministry of Education. Rwanda was a bit more receptive than Zambia.
Granted, I didn’t make much progress since most people are afraid of new technology and taking the risk we are so accustom to take in San Fran when launching new ventures. The exposure though helped since it allowed students at a primary secondary school showed digital writing pads and tablets that could help transform the classroom. AND was able to get Miss Rwanda’s phone number.. she later told me “.. stop calling me!”
After spending roughly 30–40k+USD on the prototype of our new wireless mesh network people could finally “see” that we’re not just talking but actually have people signing-up.
Finally! From roughly 2016 to 2021 the years spent to demo our home mesh network is understood by the local population.
I could write an entire book on my hike from Lusaka Zambia to Kigali Rwanda in 2019. Starting with the email the US Embassy Zambia warden wrote to me when I told them I ”lost my passport” and they write me saying:
— — — — — Original Message — — — — —
From: ACS Lusaka <WardenLusaka@state.gov>
To: “awi……..” <awi……..@gmail.com>
Date: 04/02/2019 9:11 AM EAT
Subject: FW: Lost passport
Good Morning,
In order to replace a lost passport, you will need to pay $145.00, provide a Zambian police report, the forms DS 11 as well as DS 64 and a photo which is 2x2 inches on a white background( no glasses on).
Attached is the instruction sheet which will also shows you how to make an online appointment.
Zambia immigration has been in touch with us and ha[s] your passport. There is no guarantee that if we issue you a new passport you will be able to l[ea]ve Zambia via any border. We encourage you to collect your passport from them and resolve all issues. Find attached a list of Attorneys.
In order for us to discuss your case further we encourage you to come in this afternoon at 14:00hrs so that we can discuss your specific issue and point you in the right direction with who to see at Immigration.
Kindly,
American Citizen Services
When you get contacted by the US embassy a big red flag appears if it’s from embassy “police” or warden in this case. Whom you receive emails from is important and tells you a lot. A sender like: KampalaUSCitizen@state.gov, KenyaUSCitizen@state.gov, SouthAfricaUSCitizen@state.gov or zambia…@state.gov, etc… is fine. But when it’s from the warden….@state.gov just know you’re SOL and your contingency plan has officially started! And they basically think you are Fu#k3d! Meaning you need to be operating way under the radar. No police, no embassy, no military, no nothing! You need to solve this on your own dude.
After having a very tiring night dealing with Zambian Airport immigration(stealing my passport), and yeah… trying to explain why I stayed in the country for over 2 years+. I knew the geniuses at the embassy would be no help. So, yeah.. no!
How I left KKIA airport at 4–5AM is another story, probably incriminating.. and will write how to escape airports by climbing through barbed wire fences on another medium post!
I realized the US Embassy nor anyone for that matter would help get me a new passport. And no, definitely not corrupt coniving Zambian attorneys that the embassy sent a list of in an e-mail attachment to get “my issues sorted out”. So, get your canoe and camping gear ready because we’re going on a fishing trip. Yee Haw!
ALSO ALWAYS KEEP 2 PASSPORTS ON YOU WHEN TRAVELING IN AFRICA.
1 on you(via email attachment sent to yourself) that you can keep on your cheap backup Android phone. And 1 in a ziplock bag in a secure locked backpack not on your persons.. in case you get robbed(Zambia 1+point), mugged, beat up, caught-up in election violence, arson, flooding, car jacked, raped, or shaken down(Kenya 3+points), or kidnapped, or any other surprise(border crossings). No joke, it’s all happened on the continent. And I’ve heard or been in(Zambia) actual cases of them during my expeditions.
Africa isn’t a cake walk. You cannot just fly from the US and start doing business. It takes a lot of time, patience, learning the culture, knowing when to keep quiet(even when deep down you feel something is wrong), knowing the right people, and most of all telling people what you are NOT trying to do exactly. Keeping core plans and ideas from people keeps conversations light and simple. For a continent full of simple yet easy going people it’s easy to say, oh i’m volunteering or with the church. Anything too complex or gets the neural juices flowing too much may get ideas or information misunderstood, threatened, offended or worse painting you as a colonialist. Yes, people actually believe some westerners are still trying to colonize Africa. And if you are not black you are “white”, coming to exploit their country. Not everyone, but remember educating people isn’t a priority here. And there’s more pressing survival issues that it’s not even on the agenda of many corrupt African leaders. So, just a little FYI.
You be surprised the value placed on absolute worthless junk. What you see as junk is a treasure to many people in Africa. To prevent our core plans and ideas from entering the minds of people I would tell people that I’m helping poor African youth with Internet connectivity in schools. Because most people hardly even know “what” the Internet is or “where” it even comes from. It just made me look a regular tourist, a bit weird.. but who cares he paid $10 bucks to lodge in our run-down house. So, no need to call the embassy or the police. BTW, if they saw my modified laptop, then that does raise eyebrows. No joke, I was explaining to Rwandan airport immigration why I had duck tape covering my external hard drives. Ayeee! mind-job.
If you are able to last the trial period of being on the continent, you will be surprised of how easy it is to get access to valuable resources. It’s almost like the continent has a ring of fire that you have to pass in-order for her to pull her panties off. Ehhh, but I got to 2nd base. And what I wanted was to build my prototype. Not just late night action! Get your mind outta the gutter. I needed a cheap way to access server rooms or build a network cabinet on a school property. No licenses or authorization needed from governing bodies except from the school headmaster or mistress. Ahh I love this place. I ordered my Apricot Computers routers and tablets from our Chinese factory and via DHL got them in ZAMBIA! I started writing “Official government use , Ministry of Education“in Rwanda to make myself look official and I was doing something important. And I didn’t have to pay import duties or some corrupt port officer. lol, wildness.. don’t let it get to outta control but if you dress up in a tie and walk fast you’d be surprised how people view you as a person in authority.
Just don’t say “coming through, outta my way!” Just don’t say anything. It scares people even more.
What would of cost tens of millions of dollars and regulatory approval was just the cost of a meeting or drive to the school, maybe a lunch and drinks. I.e. Zambia Senkobo primary school. We just explained that we wanted to donate tablets and laptops to the school. My fledgling start-up in the minds of the locals has the same clout as USAID or the UN. Locals just see us as crazy westerners doing government related projects.. maybe helping with food or clothes. They definitely see me as a person from the US with money to give. Simple. The multi-million dollar value in simply accessing land and facilities allowed us to take quantum leaps vs trying to convince a small municipality in Georgia, USA that we wanted to use their school of the same. Yes, Africa does have benefits. Especially in an area that nobody really cares about as the Ministry of Education.
Now, where does broadband trading fit into this tumultuous journey of avoiding getting eaten by hungry hungry hippos? The ability to create a WiFi mesh network that can be accessed more affordably is important. The creation of large scale wireless mesh networks is opportune since we need to build the market. This project at its inception is so large and “out there” that most people get lost by even talking about Internet of Things. Nerds get it, but someone in Uganda look at me like,
“riiiight WELL, …. good luck with that!”
The market of buyers and sellers of people selling Internet and those wanting Internet is a multi-billion dollar market.
Most people in Africa have major infrastructure deficits. Roads, bridges, sewers, highways, subway systems, rail networks, developed international airport, even street lights, etc.. that all exist to propel economies forward only work in a miniscule amount of the 50+ countries on the continent.
The reason on why Africa lacks these necessary assets is a topic for another discussion.
But as of now, they are none existent or not mature. A wireless network though, fiber I mean specifically is also sparse and just recently gaining momentum in developed nations, let along struggling African 3rd world regions. Most countries have very very expensive fiber costs. Another expensive infrastructure project that would help people get information and communicate with the world is a well built fiber optic network.
But Africa, geographically is big. And fiber isn’t cheap. And even if you do get the fiber from the coast to a land-locked country like Malawi. You’ve overcome the mountain of building the infrastructure but have now climbed into the ditch of unaffordability of your average Malawian being able to afford it! Hooray. So, wireless is going to be needed, lots of WiFi.
The data plan I’m using to write this article is almost 10,000UGX($2.71USD) for 3.5Gb for 1 month access, using the Airtel 4G cellular network. Believe it or not that’s expensive for most people in Uganda.
Telecom in Africa is big business though because it’s cheaper than satellite along with subscription based fiber. Telecom works in Africa since it’s not as costly as a project like building a rail network or dam or sewer system.
Volume is very important as well. A cell tower doesn’t cost much to run. Hundreds to thousands of people can use the cell tower. Thus, driving CapEx prices down.
People in Africa hate paying taxes, especially if they know it’s a tax. But if it’s something they can immediately benefit from in the short-term then something like mobile data can be justified. Unlike roads where a toll bridge is erected and people enjoy driving on pot-hole free roads but would literally circumvent the route and drive on dirt in the adjacent forest than pay for road! Think, short-term gain, very low or no cost. Then you have a product you can get people to spend money on. It’s not a case of, I’m poor with no money.. It’s more I have money but I don’t value allocating money to that resource.
Let me refer to Steve Hanks now. Steve was Enron’s chief technology officer at Enron Broadband, which fell along the way side with the rest of Enron. When the company went bankrupt in 2001, Mr. Hanks was the person who spearheaded bandwidth trading. He is a person I still admire despite the wildness of other parts of Enron. People need to realize Enron was big and had many moving parts. I won’t get into depth of the Enron scandal, but I will say Steve had good ideas.
I try to emulate these in the decentralized broadband trading platform my team is pioneering with Liquid Telecommunications. One key take away from the failure of Enron I learned is to quote character Gordon Gecko from the Movie WallStreet. “Greed is good”. Well, no Gordon, greed is not good. In our trading platform we need to ensure buyers and sellers don’t get the short sighted by greed. Hello blockchain! Blockchain doesn’t eliminate greed, it manages the emotion into a balanced system. Where people can strive to earn in a fair rule based environment.
What we learned from Enron is Greed can kill people and even destroy families, no bueno. All in the name of Enron energy traders wanting to make more money. Don’t get me wrong the capitalist system is supreme and has built America. Making money isn’t bad, making millions to buy jets and a submarine for your superyacht is helpful because it employs people and helps the economy. But “central authority” that Enron had in it’s trading software caused price manipulation in the energy markets and the state of California had to pay the bill. That is what shouldn’t happen with trading bandwidth on a decentralized platform.
A. Tokens will not be actual fiat money, but pegged to the value of 1 Mbps.
B. The exchange cannot be manipulated.
C. People(WiFi buyers) need to buy at market rates, not monthly subscriptions.
D. Tokens cannot just be minted, the amount will always be 56,583,114 tokens.
Why 56MM+ tokens? Well, you’ll notice that’s the current population of Kenya. Yeah we’re launching in Kenya and wanted to give back some how. A token for every Kenyan was our idea. : )
The beauty of blockchain is the decentralized nature of power, control and influence. If we can ensure the market decides what the price of bandwidth should be then it’s ok for traders to make millions of dollars. Since its fair and built on market forces. The BSC token my team is introducing links 1 Mbps with a utility token. WiFi users in a country like Kenya win because they get internet connectivity at market rates and traders in an office in Switzerland win because they profit based on leveraging risk. The key premise is having our BEP20 based token determine what end-users should pay instead of arbitrary monthly subscriptions a company decides.
If you are still reading this you can be rest assured that your ability to make money in Africa exists without having to take the extreme risks I did! Bandwidth trading market exists and is real now.
After all the hiking in semi trucks, eating wild foods, getting in motorcycle accident, sleeping on floors and couches, talking my way out of jail, showing pictures of what I want due to language barrier issues, balancing how to work today when there’s either no power, or maybe the water ran out, or good ole Internet network outages. YES, even having to bathe in a small cold bucket of water! 🥶And don’t start complaining either because you will get a “who does this spoiled American think he is..” talk(in another language). So suck it up and get to washing your a$$. Deep down, I would do it all over again.
Because, it’s not the destination! It’s the journey!
I enjoy reading about commodity trading and how raw materials can add so much value to portfolios and the betterment of the human species in general. I have spent time thinking about futures, derivatives and other new instruments that can be harnessed from the relationship between those who want Internet and those who can buy and re-sell fiber connections on the African continent. The deficit of fiber connections is actually a good thing. Because as any real trader knows. Shortages can drive up the price(supply and demand).
If you want to know more about my teams work or to just drink beer and talk about my missed opportunity with Miss Rwanda you can message me on the Telegram chat or Reddit to get the link to the white paper. We are launching an ICO. And it would be great for you to get some tokens. Just as a souvenir to know there’s been a lot that went into creating this token. Maybe, we’ll call the token. Damnthiscrazyamericanguywentthroughhellonearthtoreachagoal token?
Or gunghofirepowerrisktakingchilipowderdrinkthisforenergy token?
Not Sure.. probably not. But keep a few tokens, they are already getting valuable.
Overall, I don’t intend on people reading this experience to think Africa is a deadly, wild, hostile, war-torn continent.. well it is. But depending on what you’re doing on the continent can differ from person to person, timing, location, …. what you will or will not eat.
Here’s some photo’s at least on the wireless installations in Rwanda. If you visit for a few weeks you will not get to see the behind the scenes action then If you are here for years or even decades. So don’t just up and leave if a global pandemic strikes and your being threatened with detainment if traffic police with machine guns ask why you’re not wearing your mask properly! Geez, man don’t be so thin skinned.
If you do decide to stay long-term I can suggest not staying in any one place for long, keep moving and never ever settle. The strategy of attack is always be a moving target so you don’t get eaten by Kenyan women. I won’t forget in Fire training a good lesson learned, always have an egress route! Even in the world of crypto.
Thanks for reading and get some of our tokens! Also, thank you Mom and Dad for allowing me to try, fail, try harder, fail harder, then LEARN!
Get in-touch with me to help start-ups!
Abraham R. Wilcox
Chief Visionary Officer, CVO
Hacker, modder, researcher, entrepreneur, traveler, ramen noodle aficianado, couch-surfer : )
Twitter: @mine4me01
