WCN blog

The Center for Neighborhood Technology’s (CNT) Wireless Community Network project (http://wcn.cnt.org) has responded to the call for technical expertise in establishing communication infrastructure for first responders and evacuees in the Gulf Coast area following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. There is a “desperate need” to re-connect people with basic resources which communication systems help facilitate. An initial team of CNT network engineers (Paul Smith and Rogers Wilson III) is on its way to Louisiana as a component of Part-15.org (http://www.part-15.org/), an operation of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to provide the necessary broadband and phone services to people with no or limited access to their families and friends, emergency services, and government authorities. CNT’s Community Wireless Team will help deploy wireless networks, that will allow evacuees and first responders to email, make phone calls, post pictures of missing people, request services, and report conditions in evacuee camps that are popping up across the region, among other important tasks. The networks will be similar to those being deployed in Illinois as part of CNT’s Wireless Community Network project.

CNT’s team is scheduled to arrive in Louisiana later today (Tuesday, September 6). While Senator Barack Obama is providing critical support for this effort and several individuals have pledged financial support to get us this far, more help may be needed. We anticipate that we may need more equipment, funds for travel and materials, and volunteers who can make the trip to the Gulf region to assist with network set-up. We will keep you updated as to our Team’s progress and the needs they identify. In addition to email alerts, you can track developments at http://wcn.cnt.org. You can contribute to this effort by going to CNT’s donation web page.

CNT is working with other community internet and media justice groups throughout Illinois and the nation, including the Champaign Urbana Community Wireless Networks (http://cuwireless.net/) and the Media Access Project (http://www.mediaaccess.org/). We are pleased to be a part of this effort and to be able to lend our expertise at this crucial time.

We will let you know how you can help as soon as we have more information.

Thank you!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 6th, 2005 at 2:23 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.