Networking Co-Op

I’d like to help organize a cooperative here that would create a local wireless network between local ISPs. Rather than backhauling traffic to DC or elsewhere, members could create links directly to each other.

The links would be wireless antennas using off-the-shelf 802.11b gear. Anyone could join provided they paid a small fee, bought their own equipment, erected their own antenna, and agreed to act as a relay for other nodes, if necessary. It would be governed by a GPL-like agreement to share the bandwidth whenever possible.

The idea springs mainly from my observation that there is no peering point here in the Triangle area. Sure, there are private agreements, but we really need a public point where networks can meet. A coop seems like the ideal business arrangement: everyone is an equal partner. It sounds like something that could be made to work, providing the details of governance are properly defined.

Let’s hear it from the Peanut Gallery. Can this idea fly?