Members of the Access Music Project (AMP!), Village Scribe Association, Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE) and Telkom Centre of Excellence have started working on erecting a Mast lattice at the Joza Youth Hub.
Members of the Access Music Project (AMP!), Village Scribe Association, Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE) and Telkom Centre of Excellence have started working on erecting a Mast lattice at the Joza Youth Hub.
Guy Halse, who works at the Rhodes information and technology services department (ITS), says that the idea of a mast came about when trying to solve a minor internet connectivity problem that the Joza Youth Hub and AMP! were having.
Halse says that the site has a significant amount of potential because it is one of the few places in Grahamstown East that has both a clear line of site to a useful part of Rhodes' campus and a good view of the surrounding area.
"The mast itself is a way of building a backhaul network between the university and a number of locations in Grahamstown East." Halse said
The idea of taking eduroam, the Rhodes WiFi network, to public libraries was originally tabled in 2010; the inspiration for the new mast was the JYH mast site.
The mast is largely funded by the Information & Technology Services (ITS) Division at a site that has been developed by the RUCE.
According to AMP!'s Gareth Walwyn, the mast lattice will support long-range wireless devices that use a method of data transmission that is different to Wi-fi, although similar in nature.
"We are using the height of our new antenna network to receive and transmit content-bearing wireless communication between the university and some chosen sites in the location," Walwyn said.
Walwyn has emphasised that the transmission will not be available to everyone in the public and at every location.
At certain sites, the content will include Internet access, such as at partner schools which have been identified.
Walwyn says they hope to extend the list of schools over time, as well as identify other initiatives which could partner under the same definition and agreement as current partners.
"Some of the content may be delivered by WiFi, but this is such a site-specific and unimportant detail of what we're doing that it's sufficient to say that no, we still are not providing WiFi." he said.
Rhodes and RUCE are mandated to provide access to information technology to improve learning situations research and engagement.
Halse says one of the things that the ITS Division would immediately like to do is to facilitate access to eduroam from public spaces such as the Duna Library.
"Rhodes will effectively sponsor their Internet access as part of a reciprocal arrangement. The existence of the mast will simply improve the speeds and reliability," he said.
The mast will also allow the provision of Internetto various Rhodes community engagement projects that have offices in Grahamstown East.
Diane Hornby, director of RUCE added that the main aim of having the mast at the Joza Hub is to create a vibrant hub for pupils and help develop their minds through the different programmes offered.
Ingrad Sieborger of the Telkom Centre of Excellence said, "This wireless [network]will help schools in Joza by providing links for teaching and research."
For more information go to eduroam.org/
