Geekcorps Mali launched a project in mid-September of 2004 to investigate the technical and business feasibility of building small, low-cost antennas for the Malian wireless Internet market. The “do-it-yourself” antenna design uses materials that are easily available in Mali, such as plastic water bottles, used valve stems from motorcycles, window screen mesh, low cost coaxial cables for television reception, and cell phone chargers. This approach minimizes the technical skills needed to build the antennas and significantly reduces costs. The first tests of this antenna were performed using prototypes assembled in October from materials costing about $1 per antenna.

Geekcorps Volunteers Rian Aldridge and Moussa Keita installing the “bottle antenna.”
Photo Credit: Ian Howard/Geekcorps

The tests concluded that the antennas provided clear signals resulting in reliable Internet connections. To further reduce costs, Geekcorps mounted the radio receivers with the antenna directly on the antenna mast, eliminating the need to purchase expensive cabling to connect the antenna to the receiver, and designed a method of providing power to the receivers using inexpensive cell phone chargers. The result of this design is that a community can build a wireless Internet antenna and power the receiver for about $3, compared to about $100 if using commercial equipment. USAID is building the capacity of local radio stations and community learning and information centers to provide Internet access by sharing Internet bandwidth and costs with local organizations; the antenna system designed by Geekcorps will make it much cheaper for them to connect to these networks.