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If it rains, Ask Grandma to disconnect the nano: Maintenance & care in Havana’s Streetnet

Abstract:

In Cuba, where internet access is severely constrained, technology enthusiasts have built StreetNet (SNET), a community network (CN) that has grown organically, reaching tens of thousands of households across Havana. Through fieldwork conducted in 2016 and 2017, we investigate participants’ strategies as they engage with a network where the material elements—cables, switches, nanos, and servers—are regularly breaking down. Drawing on maintenance and care (M&C) scholarship, we present an in-depth investigation of the management and anticipation of breakdowns in SNET, foregrounding the deeply relational nature of repair work, collective efforts required for SNET’s M&C, and the values and motivations underpinning these practices. Our paper contributes a unique perspective on how CNs are run locally and organically, outlining considerations for how interventions along these lines might be more suitably designed. We also complicate perspectives of innovation through a discussion of cultural ideologies and tensions underpinning M&C practices.