Redes comunitarias: acceso a internet desde los actores locales

Abstract

This article seeks to identify the characteristics of wireless community networks from a historical perspective as "alternative" experiences to the development of a communication technology and, in turn, to describe the emergence of this movement at the beginning of the 1990s. Although it is a recent process, there is a wide diversity of experiences and a new focus in recent years that links these networks with the universalization of Internet access due to their potential to provide last mile connections in rural areas and to low income populations. Regarding the latter, two Argentine cases are presented: AlterMundi, in the province of Córdoba, and Atalaya Sur, with deployments in Villa 20 in the City of Buenos Aires and the North of the Jujuy province. From the Political Economy of Communication perspective and the infrastructure studies, we investigate the dynamics of these actors with the State and the market to understand the regulatory and economic limitations as well as the critical junctures that have been identified so far, in order to risk some reflections regarding key aspects of public policy that may influence the direction of these projects.