Here's MCOM's answer to a question frequently asked on
this thread - this is from Ricochet's "unwired"
subscriber newsletter:
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To better help you understand the process, we thought
we'd share some of the basic steps we go through in
order to deploy our network in Any City, USA.
Step 1- Determine who owns each light
pole and fixture so we can rent the space
to install our radio transceivers. Sounds
simple, but the poles can be owned by
more than one entity, and pole ownership
records may, sometimes, be hard to come
by.
Step 2- Educate city/county officials
about Ricochet. We've found that one of
the biggest issues is not so much
negotiating a rental agreement, but
educating public officials about what
Ricochet is and how it benefits their
citizens. Local governmental officials want
to make informed decisions; their
responsibility to their constituents is taken
very seriously, as it should be.
Occasionally, that means the education
process can take a while. Once a city
manager or other representative is on
board, there's still a final approval process
from the city, county or municipality,
which again, takes time.
Step 3- Deployment. Once we've
gathered all the proper permits, it's time to
install the radios. Ironically, after what can
be months of negotiating and piles of red
tape, the installation process is really quite
simple. It only takes about fifteen minutes
per poletop.
So now you know what it takes to bring Ricochet to
cities and counties around the country. What can you
do to help? Since public officials want to serve their
citizens, let them know you want the freedom and
flexibility of computing with Ricochet. And rest assured,
we'll keep doing our part to expand the Ricochet
network as far and as fast as we can.
=========
Chip
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