The first WiFi Mesh network in Serbia: Internet for everyone Special

Company “ZoviMe” (“CallMe”) has invested 450,000 Euros and is planning to buy additional 500-600 base stations till the end of the year and by that the amount will reach the total of 2 million Euros.

During April and May, the citizens of Belgrade have the opportunity to try out – for free – the first WiFi Mesh network in Serbia. Wireless Internet was provided for them by the company “ZoviMe” (“CallMe”) for now in the city centre – on Terazije Square and the Square of Nikola Pasic, in Knez Mihailova and Cika Ljubina Streets. By June, there will be somewhat 100 Motorola MotoMeshDuo base stations in Belgrade and so the area covered by WiFi will continue to grow constantly. In this way, Belgrade will become the first capital in the Balkans with this type of telecommunication system. Zoran Markovic, the owner of ZoviMe, said that he is satisfied with how the whole project is getting along, even though this was just a non-commercial start. "People need to see how the system works and they need to be offered the possibility to use it and then they will try on their own to find out the advantages and the techniques. We have ordered in a about 100 base stations more in order to cover the Belgrade area and then the entire effect of the system will be visible." How much do Serbian people know about WiFi technology? "The same as with any other new technology. I often like to emphasise a conclusion reached on a Telecommunication Fair in Barcelona, where I recently participated – there were some talks that the most wanted jobs in 2010 will be precisely the jobs that didn’t even exist in 2004. That says enough about the technological innovations," explains Zoran Markovic and adds: "In any case, the point is for people to learn more about it. Young people, who are our target group, should use their Wi-Fi enabled phones which then become VoIP phones and they can call abroad for a much better price. Simply said, the system works like Skype on a computer does, but it is on a mobile phone. The user downloads the ZoviMe application and through it calls any place in the world. Of course, communication over other networks is possible because the idea is that not everything has to be in our network. In that way, people will use Wi-Fi more." You were the first ones to start the paging system in the 90s. How did you get the idea for this new project? "I always followed the new technologies and this is not some science fiction thing, people do this. Engineers say it is not really simple to implement it, but I am not an engineer… (smile) Mesh network usually works through base stations which have to have optical visibility among themselves, and every fifth has to have a direct access to Internet. They communicate among themselves and if one link breaks the connection is transferred to the others. Motorola has done a great job with developing protocols for Mesh, the so called mesh connects which measures the parameters of the network on the basis of 29 different entries and in one part of a second it pleasures the route and the way in which the stations are connected, so there is no break-up. If the connection with the nod which is directly connected to Internet is broken, other nods will reconfigure their route to the next one and that will enable a continuous access to Internet." What are the possibilities of application of mesh network? - The advantages and benefits of the application of this system are manifold: unremitting video surveillance of the services of public security of city and its surroundings as well as local control and monitoring of selected locations such as schools and public institutions. Wireless networking of all public and state services in interior and exterior working environment, the speed and effectiveness in performance of public and municipal services as well as their 24-hour updating, high coverage of wireless Internet and availability for civilians are some of the advantages of this technology. We have planned a project for connecting all the schools in Serbia in Wi-Fi network. That is something Motorola did in Macedonia where they connected 600 schools. The next step is a proposal for the Ministry of Education which will be realized with the cooperation of Motorola and additional funding from European and American funds. How big is the investment in the first Wi-Fi Mesh network in Serbia? - The starting investment was 450,000 Euros but we are planning to buy additional 500-600 base stations that cost 3,000 Euros each till the end of the year which brings us to the total amount of two million Euros. According to our business plan, by the end of 2009, we are planning to have about 60,000 users. Company “ZoviMe” is planning to open a call centre which would provide employment for a considerable number of people with disabilities and thus enabling them to get involved in everyday life of the community. We have a very good cooperation with The National Employment Services and we hope to contribute to the further development of business environment in Serbia in this way and to give the possibility of employment to persons with disability. What will happen to the old, slow Internet? - The old Internet will take a long time to die out, I know people in Canada that still use dial-up. My idea is to offer to every city that has small providers to take 20-30 base stations, they can even be majority owners, but it is important to make a big system and bigger traffic in the entire country. The hardest part is to explain to people that the development of telecommunication infrastructure such as this one can create thousands of new work places, from employment opportunities for people with disabilities to everyone else who can sit at home and program, make applications… The more Internet we have, the more knowledge, intellectual capital we have. It will be better for all and… CallMe…