BandZ: THE FUTURE SERVICE-PROVIDERS WITH A DIFFERENCE

Introductory part

If you would take a look on the title, you would notice that i used the phrase "future service providers". I used this phrase because I believe that a project with a vision like this, is capable of ruling the world in subsequent years to come. Their vision is just too perfect for my liking. It was really really interesting getting to know about a project like this whose main focus is to eliminate high charge rate for using the internet, I am beginning to wonder what will happen if this project will extend its services to making of international calls as well, rather than being focused on just the internet stuff.

Hopefully, I believe that their vision will help reduce the burdens faced by the end-users of the internet.

After reading the white-paper and all the sources I could lay my hands on, I was made to understand that this project is focused on providing its users with an easy-flowing network connection, no matter the environment nor barrier it may incur.

What Actually I'm I Talking About? I'm talking about BandZ network. The name BandZ was taken from the word "Bandwidth" which means

The rate of data flow in digital networks typically measured in bits per second.

This definition was gotten from my English dictionary. Generally, this definition talks about the "internet" and how it's been used.
This is an already established business based in Toronto, Canada and focusing on decentralizing the internet. There are many peer-to-peer project based on the blockchain network right now but the uniqueness of this particular project gives it, it's exceptional qualities to stand out from others.

the main aim is to make internet connections censorship-resistant, secure, cheaper, as well as accessible over large distances and in low infrastructure areas.

Or you can simply put,

their vision is to create is to create a robust, super-cheap extranet experience that changes enterprise-grade network infrastructure from a premium purchase to a free, downloadable app.

BandZ TOKEN

Just like every other projects that are coming up on the blockchain network has their own token that will eventually turn to crypto coin, the BandZ network is not an exception. They have also created their own tokens which is known to be the heart of BandZ network economy. The BNZ tokens will be used for exchange purposes of all types.

THE BENEFITS OF DECENTRALIZATION

When technology is centralized, it typically means that it is controlled and run by a single company, government, or individual. Decentralized technology on the other hand, is run by a network of participants that no one actor can control or shut down. Here are some benefits of decentralization:

Users don’t have to put trust in a central authority.
We trust companies and governments with our information and money all the time, and it is completely ok to make these decisions on a case by case basis. But we see plenty of examples where this trust lets us down to varying degrees, ranging from the product that you trusted to backup all your photos getting shut down when the startup gets bought or goes out of business, to the social media company selling your data to advertisers who follow you around the internet. In a well designed decentralized network, you should be able to reduce or eliminate the trust that you’re required to put into third parties.

There is less likely to be a single point of failure.
We see single points of failure all the time in the form of outages of centralized web sites. Gmail goes down and productivity halts as you can’t get your email. Your bank’s web site shuts down for maintenance and you can’t do an online transfer to pay your bills. In decentralized networks, no one node going down can take down the entire network, so no matter how many users come and go, your applications should remain up and running.

There is less censorship.
It is becoming increasingly common that governments shut down their citizens’ access to social media, as they attempt to censor reports of what is going on internally. It is easy for them to shut down access to Twitter, as all they have to do is stop traffic going to Twitter’s central servers. But it is far more difficult for them to censor traffic on a peer to peer network, in which every single outbound packet being sent could be communicating with another peer on the decentralized network, who can then forward that message along.

Decentralized networks are more likely to be open development platforms.
This means that anyone can build amazing tools, products, and services on top of decentralized networks. Contrast this with centralized technology which is more often closed off with intentionally limited development opportunities. Open and decentralized doesn’t mean that companies can’t make money. In fact, it means the opposite, as the more great products and tools that are built, the larger the network effects are locking users into the network, and therefore the more opportunities to build great businesses on top. The world wide web itself is a great example of an open network, in which many great businesses such as Amazon, found opportunities to grow enormously due to the network effects of all the great things being built on top of the network.

There is potential for network ownership alignment.
This is the idea that the people who contribute value to a decentralized network receive ownership or economic stake in the network, that becomes more valuable as the network grows. This is one of the most exciting things that blockchain technology brings to decentralized networks, as it allows economics to be designed into the networks themselves, to create the right incentives for early participants to become powerhouse evangelists and value-contributing users. Contrast this to a centralized network where only the company controlling the network receives value as the network grows, and you can see why it’s exciting for users to participate in a decentralized network.

Decentralized networks can be more meritocratic.
The best product, service, or content should be more likely to be recognized and rewarded over time when everyone is playing by the same, transparent rules. If traffic, attention, and economics are distributed instead behind a closed, centralized algorithm, it’s possible that the system is less meritocratic.

Of course decentralized networks come with their own tradeoffs: they can be slower to develop and interact with, they can be more expensive or inefficient to run, and mainstream users may just not care that the backend implementation of their service is decentralized or not, as long as they can accomplish their intended task as easily or cheaply as possible. This last point in particular is a common philosophical stopping point when debating whether or not decentralization is worth the effort.

HOW BANDS CAN IMPACT LOCATIONS WITH LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE

It's as simple as this.

The under-developed parts of the world can truly unlock the financial potential of both the internet and the blockchain if only, the BandZ network will be able to achieve the goal of providing a global extranet which will treat each individual user as their own intranet.

Also allowing users to share and exchange bandwidths among themselves can go a long way to eradicate the problem of "lack of infrastructure".

ADVANTAGES OF MESH TOPOLOGY

Some advantages would include the ability to communicate data without the need to broadcast to every node on the network, or switching data between nodes.

Mesh Topology is not so commonly used network topology. But the Mesh topology is still followed in certain circumstances like a point to point connection or all points to all connections etc.

Apart from mesh topology, we also have bus topology, star topology and ring topology, but our main focus for today's discussion is Mesh Topology.

WHAT IS MESH TOPOLOGY

A mesh topology is a network topology in which all the network nodes are individually connected to most of the other nodes. There is not a concept of a central switch, hub or computer which acts as a central point of communication to pass on the messages.

Unlike other network topologies, it can be divided into two kinds:

1. Fully connected mesh topology and,

2. Partially connected mesh topology

A fully connected mesh topology has all the nodes connected to every other node. If you know the graph theory, then it is like a fully connected graph where all the nodes are connected to every other node.

On the other hand, a partially connected mesh topology does not have all the nodes connected to each other.

Advantages of mesh topology:

1. Each connection can carry its own data load

2. It is robust

3. A fault is diagnosed easily

4. Provides security and privacy

There is a saying which states that "anything that has an advantage also have disadvantages". It's no different from this but the only difference is that, the advantages of a mesh network is more than the disadvantages, and I believe that these disadvantages can still be eliminated from the surface and be converted to good by this prestigious project called BandZ.

Disadvantages of mesh topology:

1. Installation and configuration are difficult if the connectivity gets more

2. Cabling cost is more and the most in case of a fully connected mesh topology

3. Bulk wiring is required

Some use cases of Bandz.

Here in Africa precisely Nigeria, the internet service is very slow, very expensive and the bandwidth is very small so I have no other alternative than to pay for outrageous internet subscriptions. If i don't do this, then I have to remain offline. But With Bandz network, I am sure of accessing the internet no matter where I find myself. Not only will i be able to access the net, but also with fast, unique and affordable internet service. This network would be highly beneficial to me in times of great celebrations like Christmas, Easter, traditional celebrations in my hometown, when most people are forced to visit their hometowns with low infrastructural facilities. At least I would be able to share with the whole world as this event go live in my hometown.

With Bandz, I could share, sell or exchange my connection token with other people who also face the same situation like I do, even without them knowing how to go About, they would be able to share events as it is happening "live".

Who can benefit from being able to exchange bandwidth?

Anywhere an exchange is about to take place, there is always 2 or more parties involved. But the 2 major parties are the the giver and the receiver. Talking about who can benefit from this, all the parties involved can benefit from it.

The givers, can benefit from it in the sense that the bandwidths could be exchanged in monetary terms or could be exchange for services offered by the receiver. When this happens, the BNZ tokens would gradually turn into a digital legal tender that can be used to pay for goods and services. They can also use the bandwidths for their own benefit.

The receivers comprises mostly of the end users. When i say end users, I am talking about those who frequently use the internet for business deals and transactions. Majority of those people are the youths of our days because they engage more on social activities online more than adults who obviously will be busy with either office work or other things

How about the navigating officers on the high seas, and the pilots on airplane, they stand out to benefit from this as they travel round the world and they are likely to be faced with the challenge of internet connection. But with exchange of bandwidth, they can easily connect to the internet.
Those who use large volume of data and do not wish to be out of data at any point in time are not left behind as this project aims to give them the maximum service that would help keep their business flowing continuously. So it will be of great benefit to them.

HOW CAN BANDZ GET RID OF NEEDLESS ROAMING CHARGES?

Roaming fees are very expensive for people who have no other option and buying a sim card in foreign countries is an incredibly cumbersome experience. So therefore,

Mesh Networks extend the user’s range of access

Bandwidth markets create a lower fixed cost of hardware for ISPs and therefore cheaper data services for end users

The price of services will decrease, but the amount of services consumed will flourish (benefitting ISP's as well)

Meet the team behind this project

References were made from these sources

BandZ whitepaper

https://medium.com/@petkanics/the-benefits-of-decentralization-88a0b5d0fd39

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-advantages-of-a-mesh-topology

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fossbytes.com/what-is-mesh-topology-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-mesh-topology/amp/

https://steemit.com/crypto/@originalworks/470-steem-60-bonuses-sponsored-writing-contest-bandz

For more information, you can visit their website, or join their telegram group via the link right above this sentence 👆

BandZ2018