Althea

Althea is meant to operate on the last mile, from a source of internet connectivity (such as an internet exchange or tier-1 or -2 network connection, or even a business grade ISP connection) to the end user, and creates a decentralized ISP. The last mile is currently an inefficient market and many areas only have one ISP. Althea aims to replace centralized ISPs with a competitive market of individuals and businesses participating in one decentralized network. Althea’s goal is for any person to be able to install a piece of networking equipment (such as a long range radio transmitter), participate in the decentralized ISP, and receive payment for the service. Switching costs within the system are reduced, as nodes switch peers to find a route with the best combination of reliability, bandwidth, and low cost. Advertising and marketing costs for people running nodes are eliminated, as the only advertisements in this system are the automatic advertisements of price and route quality between nodes. This makes things easy for new entrants. Contract and billing costs are eliminated by an automatic node to node billing and payment system using blockchain payments.