[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6986\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EHyperlocal radio and do-it-yourself networks bring information closer to home\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy taking a fresh look at community radio \u2013 with an FM signal broadcast over a catchment area of only a few kilometres \u2013 researchers are finding new and surprising ways to connect remote or rural communities, even in areas where communications may be patchy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We think that FM is still a very useful and very important medium, and it deserves a fresh look as to how it works \u2026 and how will it interact with \u2026 these more recent technologies,\u2019 said Professor Christopher Cs\u00edkszentmih\u00e1lyi, who is leading a project called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/rcn\/213180\/factsheet\/en\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EGrassroot Wavelengths\u003C\/a\u003E to create a network of community owned and operated radio.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018While it may be relatively old technology now, it is still very relevant in many parts of the world,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERather than replacing FM radio, new mobile and web technology can extend the medium and offer fusions unexplored by more traditional radio platforms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018What differentiates these stations from a lot of community radio stations is that they are very highly networked, so they are all going off a strong connection to the internet and mobile telephony,\u2019 said Prof. Cs\u00edkszentmih\u00e1lyi, who is based at the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute\u0026nbsp;(M-ITI) in Portugal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Grassroot Wavelengths project makes FM frequencies available for hyperlocal community radio stations, which can work off a transmitter connected to a mobile phone, broadcasting over a radius of up to 12 km, perhaps covering a neighbourhood, or a village and its surroundings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead of having a studio and a large transmitter, the system can be controlled through speech recognition and a web interface, so a manager can line up a series of programmes, or switch between podcasts or streamed material, and live calls to a chat programme, in a similar way to hosting a conference call. People can listen on an FM receiver or via streaming, and can call the station or interact with it via the web.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBucket\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe whole system can fit into a 15-litre bucket and the version trialled by Grassroot Wavelengths costs about \u20ac1000-\u20ac1500. After set-up, it needs little more than someone to manage the schedule and maintain a power supply equivalent to a 50-watt lightbulb, or in some cases, substantially less.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHaving trialled their platforms in Uganda, projects are under way in Portugal and licences have been issued in Ireland and Romania, where stations are being installed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Ugandan pilot project included slots such as having a vet using a mobile phone to field calls on air from listeners who would otherwise have little chance to ask about problems with their livestock.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENational legislation usually dictates the permitted formats, including possibilities such as prohibiting advertising, or allowing cheap, community advertising or even full commercials, which can help to cover set-up and operating costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Cs\u00edkszentmih\u00e1lyi says organisations such as UNICEF have been exploring the use of local radio for public service messaging, and by financing such announcements, they could help to cover the costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERenato Lo Cigno, associate professor in the department of Engineering and Information Science at the University of Trento, Italy says that community facilities can have multiple benefits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Communally owned and operated networks and services can promote resilience, as well as support sustainability, self-determination and social integration,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Lo Cigno leads a project called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/rcn\/213180\/factsheet\/en\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EnetCommons\u003C\/a\u003E, which has been looking at how local communities can set up their own communications network infrastructure at the grassroots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIsolated\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the most isolated or remote communities mobile data signals and access to the internet may be very limited or even non-existent, having too few people to attract commercial telecommunications providers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERather than waiting for a large telecoms company to turn up, community networks help people take matters into their own hands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018While (FM radio) may be relatively old technology now, it is still very relevant in many parts of the world.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProf. Christopher Cs\u00edkszentmih\u00e1lyi, Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, Portugal\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESuch networks are owned and run as commons \u2013 resources that are accessible to all in a community, operated by and for its users.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Lo Cigno says this can help maintain values such as net neutrality \u2013 the principle that all data on the internet is treated equally. \u2018The key point is recognising that the global communications today are not a perfect, democratic place,\u2019 said Prof. Lo Cigno.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In contrast, community infrastructure can protect network neutrality, so access is equitable and not tilted in favour of the wealthy and powerful,\u2019 he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETechnology is obviously essential for setting up such local networks, but netCommons found that it is not sufficient to ensure success, Prof. Lo Cigno said. Policy and regulations are just as important.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDisputes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs soon as there are more than a few dozen users, disputes inevitably arise over issues such as usage and abuse of the infrastructure, or even basic internet rights. So there is a need for some kind of legal framework. And setting up such networks may also have sociological and political dimensions, which need to be considered in each case.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut Prof. Lo Cigno said that some community networks have proved so successful that the major market players have taken note and turned up eventually, exploiting the local infrastructure to hook these communities up to the broader networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Sometimes the community network disappears as a result, and in a way this is a success, because the community network has forced the incumbent to recognise there is a market,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile netCommons has mainly looked at such local networks in Europe, Lo Cigno sees scope for them to benefit communities in developing countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe also says they demonstrate a different model of networked communications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Part of the societal impact is to show a different way of imagining global communications, with people at the centre of communication, rather than people as customers of a communication service,\u2019 Lo Cigno said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research in this article was funded by the EU. 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