Design and implementation of the KioskNet system

Rural Internet kiosks in developing regions can cost-effectively provide communication and information services to the poorest sections of society. Yet, a variety of technical and non-technical issues have caused most kiosk deployments to be economically unsustainable. KioskNet addresses the key technical problems underlying kiosk failure by using robust ‘mechanical backhaul’ for connectivity, and by using low-cost and reliable kiosk controllers to support services delivered from one or more recycled PCs. KioskNet also addresses related issues such as security, user management, and log collection. In this paper, we describe the KioskNet system, outlining its hardware, software, and security architecture. We describe a pilot deployment and how we used lessons from this deployment to re-design our initial prototype.