BandZ: Ensuring the Internet is available to everyone, everywhere and anytime

In a sense, the internet is life itself, seeing it plays a crucial part in the life of billions of individuals and millions of companies around the world.

With the internet going mainstream in the early 90’s, life as we knew it took a different turn-a good one I must add, and this rendered many businesses obsolete.

On the other hand, it created an enabling environment for huge corporations such as Amazon and Alphabet Inc. (parent company of Google).

I feel that every human being should not be denied access to the internet, and it should be made as affordable as possible-if not free.

Thankfully, it seems this company we are about to look at, shares the same sentiments.

BANDZ: WHAT IS THE FUSS ALL ABOUT.
With the creation of the blockchain, it was only a matter of time, before decentralized solutions were applied to solve many of the worlds problems.
The essence of a business being on the blockchain is to ensure that it can benefit from decentralized features, which makes the blockchain the next level option, seeing the blockchain offers more security, is more efficient, and enables businesses to operate at a fraction of the cost centralized organisations operate at.

BandZ is no different in this regard. BandZ hopes to decentralize the internet, and bring it to just about everyone around the world at a fraction of the cost traditional ISP’s offer their services. Seeing BandZ does not need to deploy any expensive infrastructure, their overhead is low; they also harness the power of the collective, via Mesh Networks. This amplifies and stretches the reach of the wireless network of ISP’s, and more users who may be in dead zones can benefit from this.

It doesn’t stop there. Users who help to extend the reach of ISP’s using their smart devices get rewarded with BandZ tokens. As a result of this, users have a reason to use their idle resources for the benefit of everyone.

BENEFIT OF BANDZ TO USERS
Users have a lot to benefit, by making use of BandZ’s offering. Some of these are:

ROAMING: Roaming charges can be very steep, and might not be affordable for everyone. Getting sim cards might also be a problem for foreigners in some territories. With Mesh Networks deployed, users can take advantage of services available, and they will be able to connect to the internet at a lesser rate and faster speeds.

SECURITY: With the help of VPN’s, users can browse the internet securely and anonymously. Being on the blockchain also brings that extra level of security, and users will feel much more safer, seeing their personal information/data are better protected. BandZ offers VPN and Proxy services at no extra cost-premuim quality at freemium prices.

EMPTY WIFI ZONES: Deploying infrastructure is expensive, and in sparsely populated or remote areas, ISP’s tend to shy away from deployment since it seems they are unlikely to make a tidy profit. With the aid of Mesh Networks, these areas are monetized without the deployment of expensive infrastructure. Customers that are part of these Mesh Networks are also rewarded with BandZ tokens.

Other benefits are the monetizing of data plans users might have that they do not exhaust. Bandwidth marketplaces in different regions will also push the price of data down. Also, enterprise grade softwares are too expensive for users to benefit from. BandZ’s extranet is designed to build such services into the foundation of the future internet, making them accessible via bandwidth and easy to use user interfaces.

BENEFIT OF BANDZ TO INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (ISP's)

REMOTE AREAS: As I stated earlier, deploying infrastructure is expensive, and spending so much in less dense areas doesn’t give a good ROI. Using Mesh Networks will ensure that ISP’s can increase their profit margins with no additional investments made, by deploying expensive infrastructure.

AVERAGE REVENUE PER USER (ARU): ISP’s need to sell more products and services. Customers usually shy away from making additional purchases, and try to keep it to a minimum. VPN’s/proxies, Mesh Networks and Bandwidth markets are tools brought in by BandZ. These will help to increase profits for ISP’s.

SECURITY: ISP’s have battles on their hands, trying to ward off attacks on the network from hackers. VPN and proxies help to solve this issue.

CUSTOMER CHURN: When customers see cheaper alternatives, they tend to leave and move on to those options. With the aid of BandZ, subscribers can be offered many additional services, some of these being services offered at a premium by the competition. Among these, they (ISP’s) are also able to offer services to foreigners coming into their region.

NETWORK CONGESTION COLLAPSE: When incoming bandwidth to the nodes is more than the outgoing, this will lead to choking and network congestion. Seeing Mesh Networks stretch the network, it will help to solve this problem.

Other benefits are ISP’s are able to benefit from one another’s research and development, and customers not only share their demand with the network, they also share their resources. This is helpful with respect to congestion, and network speed.

WAYS BANDZ WILL CHANGE THE INTERNET SPACE AND THEIR ADVANTAGE .
There are a number of reasons why BandZ will be ahead of the pack, and they will change the way we view the internet.

• BandZ doesn’t need to deploy expensive infrastructure, this ensures that the cost of creating their solution is lower. Hence their projections are much more achievable.
• As compared to some, BandZ is hardware agnostic.
• BandZ also has a Proof of Concept and working Minimum Viable Project, which cannot be said about some of the solutions/proposed solutions.
• The cost of making use of some of the available/proposed solutions is really high. It will be virtually be impossible for individuals to afford it. This is a huge advantage BandZ has over the competition.
• Their team is public, and they do have experienced individuals in this sector.
• Unlike some of the competition, they are yet to renegade on their word, so they do get the benefit of doubt.
• BandZ’s solution is based on the blockchain. This ensures that the solution is much more secure, transparent and more efficient. This also ensures that the service can be provided at a fraction of the cost, and individuals around the world can benefit from it.
  

PRACTICAL CASES
Roaming costs are a pain for many travellers. Sometimes, the cost is so high that frequent travellers have to find alternatives. In many cases, traditional options are cumbersome and/or also expensive to get, or not reliable in some other cases. Seeing ISP’s in the local area make use of Mesh Networks, travellers can now take advantage of this to access the internet at very low costs, and this is no longer a problem. It’s now left for this service to be deployed in more cities around the world.

On the other hand, Lex is a millenial in Abu Dhabi. He discovered that most times, he has more resources left than he spends, and this is left to waste. Lex decides to partner with his ISP, who is a BandZ partner, and uses his smart devices to extend the networks reach; users in need of his idle resources can make use of them, when they need it. As a result of this, Lex ISP rewards him for helping them to solve a problem. The end user is happy, and the ISP is happy-a win-win-win for all parties. With the aid of the BandZ tokens, Lex is rewarded by his ISP. He can decide to cash it in, or leave them to be used in making bandwidth purchases whenever he needs it.

Just about anyone with access to smart devices and more resources on their hands than they can use can be a part of this. Individuals in areas with little or no infrastructure are taken care of, as a result of this action.

SOME TECHNOLOGIES/FEATURES OF BANDZ.
MESH NETWORKS: Mesh networks are networks of smart devices, which help to extend the services provided by ISP’s.

BANDZ TOKENS (BNZ): The fuel for the ecosystem is known as BandZ tokens. It’s used to transfer value within the ecosystem. BandZ tokens are not mineable, and the value of the tokens are dependent on demand for them.

LIVE MARKETPLACE:This is the channel via which IP’s from around the world are made available to everyone. Of course, some are more valuable than some, based on location. Filters can be applied to match specific needs.

VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK (VPN):Users are able to use the internet securely and privately, with the aid of VPN’s.

ROTATING PROXIES: This process involves a group of IP addresses. When users carry out activities on the internet, switches between these IP addresses are made.

CONCLUSION
The benefits of a decentralized internet are much, and in addition to points already discussed, this will create an avenue for individuals to have some residual income, especially in developing markets. It will also ensure that those who could not afford such services before, now have an access point to the internet, to be able to learn, earn, and develop themselves in general. Decentralization acts like an amplifier, and this will take care of the security of users data, and also ensure that bandwidth distribution is carried out more efficiently. ISP’s will be able to cover more ground, seeing they do not have to deploy expensive infrastructure that requires a lot of planning and huge budgets. In so doing, it will ensure that no one is left behind. Areas with poor coverage won’t be left out either.

Travellers will no longer be stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. With the rise of more ISP’s partnering with BandZ, roaming charges will gradually become a thing of the past, thanks to Mesh Networks and the people.

Users are not also forced to use just one way to connect to the internet. They have a multitude of choices such as http proxy, IP table, kernel hooks, Sock 5, or VPN protocol.

Having the right team is key to bringing visions to reality, and we can be confident in BandZ’s team, because they haven’t given us a reason to doubt their competence yet, and they are also vastly experienced in this field. Quite a number of team members seem to be from areas most affected by this problem, so perhaps, they might truly understand the problem.

Improved user experience is important to BandZ, and services to be deployed will ensure that billions around the world will have a reason to smile. It’s safe to say that BandZ has set out to save the internet. I for one, won’t bet against them achieving this.

TEAM

ROADMAP

VIDEO

NOTES

• Options with regards to blockchains being considered by BandZ are Ethereum, Cardano, HyperLedger, and Aeternity. Building their own chain is also a possibility.
• Token sales is from July 7-August 7, 2018.
• Airdrop is going live soon. To find out more information, kindly click here.

MORE INFORMATION & RESOURCES:
BandZ's Website
BandZ WhitePaper
BandZ Telegram
BandZ Linkedin
BandZ Facebook
BandZ Twitter
BandZ Reddit
BandZ Github
BandZ YouTube

My entry to the originalworks BandZ contest here

bandz2018