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Mexican Village Creates Its Own Mobile Phone Service

Posted by Soulskill on from the NSA-surveillance-team-on-their-way dept.

Dave_Minsky writes "The small indigenous village of Villa Talea de Castro (pop. 2,500) in the state of Oaxaca is showing the world that it doesn't have to rely on major cellular telecommunications providers for service. With the help from indigenous groups, civil organizations and universities, village residents put up an antenna on a rooftop, installed radio and computer equipment, and created its own micro provider called Red Celular de Talea. Service costs only 15 pesos ($1.2) per month and a few pennies per minute to make calls to the United States. However, there is one catch: calls are limited to a maximum of five minutes to prevent saturation of lines."

110 comments

  1. Other private Mexican mobile phone services by dtmos · · Score: 0

    While I have no doubt that TFA describes a fine public service built by those of the highest integrity, I must confess that my first thought was quite the opposite, given recent history.

    1. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While I have no doubt that TFA describes a fine public service built by those of the highest integrity, I must confess that my first thought was quite the opposite, given recent history.

      It is just as unfair to assume everyone in Mexico is involved in the drug cartels as it is to assume everyone in America is a spy for the NSA and supports what they do.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by pipatron · · Score: 1

      Remember that the NSA is a tax-founded government agency, thus it's much more likely to assume that indeed everyone in America (I take it that you mean the United States version of America?) support what they do. At least most people voted for it, considering both parties are equally eager to keep NSA running.

      --
      c++; /* this makes c bigger but returns the old value */
    3. Re: Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      :-)

    4. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      Remember that the NSA is a tax-founded government agency, thus it's much more likely to assume that indeed everyone in America (I take it that you mean the United States version of America?) support what they do. At least most people voted for it, considering both parties are equally eager to keep NSA running.

      You don't honestly believe that Americans have granular control over what our tax dollars are spent on, do you?

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    5. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Everything said there speaks to the fact that it wasn't something expressly desired. If you wanted to move out of the US you face lots of challenges. Cost of the move, immigration restrictions in destination, language barriers in destination, cost of living might be higher in destination, climate may not be comfortable(I would move to Canada if it were warmer). There are lots of places I'd move if it weren't for the fact that Americans are hated in so many places.

      Or simply a desire to live where you consider home.

      Just because you pay the taxes you are legally required to, or vote for one of the two parties from which there is to choose, does not mean you completely embrace every single ideology. You can have an icecream sunday without eating the cherry. It doesn't change the fact that a cherry died for your sunday, but you may not have had any choice in that outcome.

    6. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow's_impossibility_theorem

      Even we we presume that voters had 100% information regarding the spying before the election, and the respective parties were 100% transparent in their support for it, there's still no reason, barring additional information, to believe that a majority of voters preferred the spying.

    7. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by thaylin · · Score: 4, Funny

      (I would move to Canada if it were warmer). .

      Just give it a few years..

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    8. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by h4rr4r · · Score: 0

      We refer to the USA as America. Deal with it, the whole world even calls us Americans.

    9. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Politicians are voted into power on a cyclical basis, and unless a piece of legislation is put to a referendum vote, then the legislation is voted on solely by members of congress/parliament, which in many countries goes through a second round of voting (US: Senate, Canada: Unelected senate, UK Unelected House of Lords) before it is signed into law by some kind of head of state.

      Now, please, tell me, where do the "people" come in? Did the "people" vote on the disagreeable laws? Very rarely do they do that. And if no one in your electoral region (sometimes referred to as a "riding") promises to revoke all the laws you don't like, are you just going to throw your vote away and possibly let someone of even worse contempt for sensibility walk in?

      While answering the above, please enlighten everyone to what "United States version of America" even mean? What "America" is there? There is certainly two continents, one called North America and one called South America, and possibly some region called "Central America", but if there are multiple versions of THE America I would love to know what they are.

      captcha: supreme - and you better fucking believe it ;)

    10. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hey gringo, how do you know what we call you? Do you speak-a ma language? No you fucking don't.

    11. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Jmc23 · · Score: 0

      That's funny. There's lots of things USians are called in other countries, most of them have to do with the type of Only-we-matter attitude you so nicely exhibited.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    12. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      I never hear that in the countries I visit.
      Just variations on American, like Amerikaner

    13. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Jmc23 · · Score: 1
      ah, not very good at hearing sarcasm or denigration in speech either, eh?

      Ever think that Amerikaner would be a reference to the US's hypocritical bipolar disorder? I mean, you do know what an Amerikaner is right?

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    14. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Noun[edit]
      amerikaner c (singular definite amerikaneren, plural indefinite amerikanere)
      a person from USA
      (rare) a person from the Americas
      ice cream cone with a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat and jam

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    15. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Genda · · Score: 1

      Ahhhhh, the tropical beaches of Vancouver... sorry, getting a frosty Moose-Head, delivered by a tanned Canuck cabana boy just makes my head hurt, Ayyy?

    16. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by khellendros1984 · · Score: 1

      While answering the above, please enlighten everyone to what "United States version of America" even mean? What "America" is there?

      I've known some people (Canadians, Central and South Americans) to take umbrage at the fact that people in the United States are frequently referred to as "Americans", both by themselves, and from, well, a good bit of the rest of the world. Presumably, their phrasing was supposed to show that they are offended.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    17. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by pspahn · · Score: 1

      First of all, USians, or the other variation, USAians, are terms I have never heard spoken anywhere. In fact, the only place I've ever even seen this term is here on /. I can't even begin to try and prounounce it, as it is likely said with a foreign accent which I am unaccustomed to. I'm thinking something such as "OOh-shuns" might be correct.

      Second, GP simply mentioned the fact that those who hail from the United States of America, are often simply called Americans. Nowhere did he/she display any sort of "only-we-matter" attitude. That was purely inferred by yourself. Michael Jackson has a song about a mirror I think you'd do well to listen to.

      Third, I propose a new term for Europeans, since European is not etymologically significant. We shall now call them EUians. The homophonetic construct of this word also serves a purpose, but I'll leave that to EU to ponder.

      --
      Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
    18. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by therealkevinkretz · · Score: 1

      By "support" do you mean "pay for"? If so then all Americans "support" the NSA spying. Well, half of us anyway, but that's another discussion.

      If you meant "condone" then no, it's ridiculous to declare that "everyone in America" is in favor of those programs, even if you argue that we all voted for representatives who voted for them. First, no we didn't. Second, the more onerous details of the NSA programs weren't made available even to those representatives. Even the legislators who wrote the law on which the programs were based didn't intend parts of it to mean what NSA has interpreted them to mean.

    19. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by mcgrew · · Score: 0

      I refer to both of you as "insane". Give it a fucking rest! pspahn, stop feeding the troll. Troll, get back under your bridge.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    20. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Have you ever HAD a Moosehead? It's like Dos Equis but less drinkable. I'm sure Canada has some fine beers, but Moosehead isn't one of them. Canadians, what do you guys drink up there?

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    21. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by pspahn · · Score: 1

      pspahn, stop feeding the troll.

      The Dude abides. It's a holiday weekend, I was feeling a little spicy.

      --
      Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
    22. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The sleeman are not that bad...

      But there is a slew of micro breweries in Quebec to check out.

    23. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by RandomFactor · · Score: 1

      While answering the above, please enlighten everyone to what "United States version of America" even mean? What "America" is there?

      I've known some people (Canadians, Central and South Americans) to take umbrage at the fact that people in the United States are frequently referred to as "Americans", both by themselves, and from, well, a good bit of the rest of the world. Presumably, their phrasing was supposed to show that they are offended.

      This presents more as a perpetually handy bash-the-US topic for people so inclined, rather than any true concern for the precision of language.

      --
      --- Mercutio was right.
    24. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by murdocj · · Score: 1

      Given that the NSA is violating the law, that's like saying that everyone in the USA supports car theft. It doesn't follow.

    25. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you ever HAD a Moosehead? It's like Dos Equis but less drinkable. I'm sure Canada has some fine beers, but Moosehead isn't one of them. Canadians, what do you guys drink up there?

      I drink Moosehead..

    26. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Made my head hurt, too.

      But then I took my pants off.

      I, for one, can't wait to move out of the States and into a more sane part of the world. I've always considered it a tragedy that the weather in is always in inverse proportion to the sanity and desirability of living in any given place.

      Soon, there won't be a place fit for human habitation on this planet anymore -- if, indeed, it can even be claimed for the present. I just can't find a qualified observer to tell me yea or nay.

    27. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First of all, USians, or the other variation, USAians, are terms I have never heard spoken anywhere. In fact, the only place I've ever even seen this term is here on /. I can't even begin to try and prounounce it, as it is likely said with a foreign accent which I am unaccustomed to. I'm thinking something such as "OOh-shuns" might be correct.

      Second, GP simply mentioned the fact that those who hail from the United States of America, are often simply called Americans. Nowhere did he/she display any sort of "only-we-matter" attitude. That was purely inferred by yourself. Michael Jackson has a song about a mirror I think you'd do well to listen to.

      Third, I propose a new term for Europeans, since European is not etymologically significant. We shall now call them EUians. The homophonetic construct of this word also serves a purpose, but I'll leave that to EU to ponder.

      Yeah, that always bothered me too. In a similar vein I never got the world 'Islamist'. People attach that word to every Middle Eastern hooligan, bandit and hate monger they see, as if Islam is somehow inherently violent and preaches flying airliners into buildings, blowing yourself up in public places and gunning down tourists as a religious virtue (which it does not, that message is preached by a few morons who have twisted the message of the Quaran). I would thus like to coin a new term, 'Christianist' as a blanket term for all hooligans and violent fanatics from predominantly christian countries. This would cover organisations like the IRA, Ku Klux Klan, various N-American Militias, Combat 18 and other European Neo Nazi groups, football hooligans, a multitude of Criminal organisations... and generally any potentially threatening person who looks like he/she might be Christian ... since this is about as sensible as labelling everybody who looks mildly Middle Eastern and who you perceive as potentially threatening an 'Islamist'.

    28. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      sounds fucking awesome.

    29. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Noughmad · · Score: 1

      The Americans, living in a constitutional democracy, have almost total control over the government. It's just very difficult to exercise this control, and most people just don't care.

      --
      PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
    30. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every American have granular control of who they spend their votes on. And you don't vote on a single subject, you vote for a package.

      With 51.1% supporting Obama and 47.2% supporting Romney we can determine that 98.3% of the U.S. voters directly supports the tax money spent on NSA. Or at least thinks that it is a non-issue.
      They could have decided to cast their votes on one alternative that doesn't fuck everyone over, but they didn't.

      You may think that you can't do anything about it but that is wrong. You can talk to you friends and relatives and convince them to vote for another alternative, but you don't because you don't want to ruin the family dinner or night out with the friends with a political discussion.

    31. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We refer to the USA as America. Deal with it, the whole world even calls us Americans.

      Por acá raramente les decimos "americans"... "gringos hijos de puta" se escucha mas frecuentemente :)

    32. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      EUians is quite useful, for excluding Norway and Switzerland :-)

    33. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by shokk · · Score: 1

      Or unfair to assume that this phone service is really nothing more than two cups connected by a string, which everyone stands in line for their 5 minutes, primarily to receive a ransom call about or pay a ransom for their relatives kidnapped by a cartel.

      --
      "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
    34. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by doccus · · Score: 1

      Well, yes, quite. We never get snow anymore. Last winter, on the day it hit zero degrees, nobody noticed because it warmed up right away. This year spring started in the middle of January.. and, for all intents and purposes, summer started on valentine's day.Our weather is becoming like northern California used to be..

    35. Re:Other private Mexican mobile phone services by doccus · · Score: 1

      Lucky ;-)

  2. Max 5min on calls by Qazimov · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is it bad that I would pay extra to have this 5min rule on voice calls?

    1. Re:Max 5min on calls by thoriumbr · · Score: 2

      They have a small, experimental tower, and users can saturate it quickly. Limiting each call to 5 minutes means that even on a saturated situation, everybody can use the system. You get dropped and enter the queue, and you can be sure that you can get access again later. If there's no such rule, some users could talk 4 hours straight and deny access to every other user. Here in Brazil we have dropped calls every few minutes and almost everybody accepts this as normal, so I guess the Mexican folks can handle that fine.

    2. Re:Max 5min on calls by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't think the GP is saying it's a bad idea, he's saying he'd pay for that as a feature.

      "Hi Mom, everything is OK, yes, that's a fascinating story about Aunt Myrtle ... Oh, gee, look at the time ... gottago, kthanksbye".

      Slightly more on topic, I should think some phone service would be far better than no phone service. Many of us take this kind of stuff for granted, but that's far from true for much of the world.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    3. Re:Max 5min on calls by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 4, Funny

      A whole bunch of my extended family should move there... Maybe make the call limit 3 minutes or less.

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    4. Re:Max 5min on calls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1

      but poor gramma go broke with all the retellings of stories about bunions and corns and all the 'cute' stuff her cat does.

    5. Re:Max 5min on calls by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      I don't think the GP is saying it's a bad idea, he's saying he'd pay for that as a feature.

      "Hi Mom, everything is OK, yes, that's a fascinating story about Aunt Myrtle ... Oh, gee, look at the time ... gottago, kthanksbye".

      So a technological fix for his lack of discipline / ability to simply stop someone and politely say that he/she has to go? I understand that (most) people want to be polite and don't want to blow someone off, but unlike (e)mail, a phone call (or IM) is an intrusion on the receivers immediate time and the caller should be aware of that - that's why I prefer email and don't have an IM client installed. (My wife always had a problem disconnecting herself from a rambling phone caller. On the other hand, when I need to get off the phone, I simply say so, wrap it up and go.)

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    6. Re:Max 5min on calls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can see why you've never been laid.

    7. Re:Max 5min on calls by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      Pardon me, but there's an investigator from Scotland Yard at the door asking for you - he would like to ask a few questions regarding the disappearance of your sense of humor...

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    8. Re:Max 5min on calls by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      ..because he's married!

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    9. Re:Max 5min on calls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whatever happened to "Whoosh!"?

    10. Re:Max 5min on calls by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      Pardon me, but there's an investigator from Scotland Yard at the door asking for you - he would like to ask a few questions regarding the disappearance of your sense of humor...

      No I got the joke, but from personal experience with people I know (like my wife), it's actually a problem for some people to be able to stop someone who's yammering on and say, "look, I gotta go." My time is important to me and certainly more important to me than yours :-)

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    11. Re:Max 5min on calls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At the risk of being called a misogynist sexist chauvinist mansplaining dick, I assume you've never had a phone conversation with a woman.

      "Oh honey, I've got to go. Love you!"

      "Love you too. Oh, I forgot to tell you. I talked to Aunt Mabel the other day, and she said, well, you know how she does, she wouldn't shut up, and I couldn't get a word in ed..."

      "Honey I've got to go!"

      ".ge ways, and, oh just wait, this'll just take a second, anyway, Aunt Mabel called because she wanted to know, which of course she couldn't just say, oh no, she had to talk about this and that and everything under the sun first and did I hear about Uncle Owen and the thing with the blue milk and..."

      "Honey I'm at work, I'm about to walk into a meeting, I love you but I really must go..."

      "...OK. sorry. Fine. Listen when you leave work tonight, can you run by the supermarket? We're out of butter. And... hold on, let me just check the fridge in case there's anything else we need, hold on..."

      (Continued for twenty more minutes.)

      (Moral of the story: Start hanging up 20 minutes before you get to work.)

    12. Re:Max 5min on calls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Simply tell her to text the important parts to you. Any woman that can't understand the necessity to get off a personal call at work is not one I want to be around.

      Any woman that takes offense, is clearly selfish or stupid.
      If all your experience with women has told you otherwise, then you need to raise your "personality" standards and maybe lower your "attractiveness" standards.
      Yes it is misogynist to think that intelligent or unselfish women don't exist.

    13. Re:Max 5min on calls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, but you're an idiot. Nobody's suggesting women take offense at being told the conversation is over. Women ignore being told the conversation is over.

      Yes, we have all tried the "Can you text it to me when you're ready?" thing. It doesn't work, at best it just means the conversation goes on to a new topic.

  3. feature, not a catch by DeBaas · · Score: 3, Funny

    However, there is one catch: calls are limited to a maximum of five minutes to prevent saturation of lines."

    Every married man knows this is not a catch but a feature

    --
    ---
    1. Re:feature, not a catch by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      They need to have a family plan where it's limited to 2 minutes for the kids....

    2. Re:feature, not a catch by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      Actually, this got me thinking... I can imagine someone doing the 2-sim dance with some custom firmware; after 4:59, the phones automatically establish an alternate connection and drop the previous one, for "uninterrupted" voice communication....

    3. Re:feature, not a catch by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I feel like if you're going to all that effort (entertaining though it would be) you might as well just set up your own personal tower.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:feature, not a catch by centipedes.in.my.vag · · Score: 1

      Assuming that a queue doesn't exist, preventing you from making instant connections.

      --
      Only on /. can I lose karma with 2x "5, Funny" posts.
    5. Re:feature, not a catch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. I would genuinely pay extra for a feature.
      It is like twitter for phones.

      Oh wait, that sounds horrible. What if the people start doing to their voices what they do to text to fit in as many words as possible?
      Oh god, oh man, the horror, devoweled-speak everywhere.
      Soon people won't even speak words, it will just be a bunch of chained noises.
      "hey, want to go to the bar?" "AAAAAAAHH OOOOO PTTPT BOINGBOING" "Sure. Pick you up at 8."

    6. Re:feature, not a catch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      However, there is one catch: calls are limited to a maximum of five minutes to prevent saturation of lines."

      Every married man knows this is not a catch but a feature

      Yes, indeed

  4. Question by PPH · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Where did they get the frequency allocation? If it was here in the USA, all available channels would have been put out for bid by the FCC and snapped up by the incumbents. Running a system on "their" channels would be frowned upon.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Question by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      Where did they get the frequency allocation? If it was here in the USA, all available channels would have been put out for bid by the FCC and snapped up by the incumbents. Running a system on "their" channels would be frowned upon.

      Hypothetical question: If everyone in the US came together and built such a system, would there be any way to stop us? Short of putting the entire population in jail, anyway.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    2. Re:Question by EmperorArthur · · Score: 2

      Where did they get the frequency allocation? If it was here in the USA, all available channels would have been put out for bid by the FCC and snapped up by the incumbents. Running a system on "their" channels would be frowned upon.

      The US doesn't care about negative publicity, plus cell companies/The FCC actually does give certain licenses for special events. See OpenBTS at Burning Man.

      This isn't the US, so the rules are different. I would love it if the US had a rule along the lines of "You have first choice to this spectrum, but if you aren't servicing the area then anyone can be granted a license for that locale. If you want to use that frequency there, then you have 6 months to set up towers."

      First come first served has disadvantages, but it's much more fair than the current auction system. Right now, the largest cause of the small number of cell providers is government regulation. For example, despite what I said in the first paragraph, this would never work in the US.

      --
      So lets pretend that we've just completed writing this code, as opposed to having just completed sabotaging it -Altera
    3. Re:Question by Jawnn · · Score: 2

      Where did they get the frequency allocation? If it was here in the USA, all available channels would have been put out for bid by the FCC and snapped up by the incumbents. Running a system on "their" channels would be frowned upon.

      Two words for you, Junior: "pirate radio". Now get off my lawn and learn about Mexico's long and noble history of giving the finger to the FCC and other reguladores.

    4. Re:Question by Greyfox · · Score: 2

      I've thrown stuff together with a wireless access point, some SIP phones and a computer running asterisk. One of those would probably meet all the necessary requirements to work. Put a few of 'em around a city with call routing between the various asterisk nodes and it'd probably start to get pretty spiffy in no time. If you prefer a smart phone to the default SIP phone solution you can do that, as long as can install a SIP dialer on it.

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    5. Re:Question by iroll · · Score: 1

      Hypothetically, if everyone in the US came together and smoked a blunt, would there be any way to stop us? Or didn't pay taxes? Or ate horsemeat? Or drove without a license?

      I mean, hypothetically, if everybody in the world could just come together, there'd be no more killing, pollution, discrimination, or overpopulation.

      Realistically, not everyone will come together, and of those that do, you only need to punish some fraction of them in order to deter a significant proportion of the rest. There will always be some scofflaws, and the authorities will continue to mete out punishment to them. See: every prohibited substance ever.

      --
      Repetition does not transform a lie into the truth. - FDR
    6. Re:Question by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      I would love it if the US had a rule along the lines of "You have first choice to this spectrum, but if you aren't servicing the area then anyone can be granted a license for that locale. If you want to use that frequency there, then you have 6 months to set up towers."

      I wish I had mod points. A useless +1 for you since I don't.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    7. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Imagine all the hypothetical people, sharing all the world...
      You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

  5. Is it me or does the place look *lovely*? by aoeusnth · · Score: 1

    Oh wait, that's not a picture of the village. Kinda weirds me out.

    1. Re:Is it me or does the place look *lovely*? by dfsmith · · Score: 1

      Headline: Mexican village disguises itself as Powell & Hyde in San Francisco.

      Subheadline: We discover where Rasputin gets discount CDs from.

  6. Cool beans, by TheSkepticalOptimist · · Score: 1

    However if any Canadian village tried to do the same thing then the Rogers, Bell and Telus oligopoly would mount an armed strike and blow the village off the face of the planet because only one of those three companies can provide shitty telecom services to remote Canadian villages. I bet this Mexican village is still getting better service than even many people in Canadian urban centers.

    --
    I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
  7. Well by houbou · · Score: 0

    Maybe these Mexicans will gain the reputation of a people of few words... :)

    1. Re:Well by Jmc23 · · Score: 2, Informative
      No.

      Mainly because these are indigenous people, are already known for being people of few words and some might actually decide to kill you if you keep calling them mexican.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    2. Re:Well by geekoid · · Score: 0

      There from Mexico, so I'm not sure what the issue with calling them Mexican.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:Well by houbou · · Score: 1

      But, still live in Mexico.. so, how do you call them? "Not Mexicans indigenous people from Mexico?"

    4. Re:Well by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      Great! You go down to Oaxaca or Chiapas and start calling people mexican. Your ignorance of history, past and present, will be corrected quite quickly.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    5. Re:Well by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      Depends, mexicans have inherited the same stupidity as USians and so call the indigenous people indians (they've corrected the cognitive dissonance of having two groups of Indians by calling Indians Hindus, not sure if that's better than the stupid indian indians and american indians). So, you can be ignorant by calling them mexican, ignorant and stupid for calling them Indians, or the prefered pc term used by occupiers: aboriginals, natives, or just indigenous people. It's best to ask them, since there is more than one group and they actually have names for their groups.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    6. Re:Well by geekoid · · Score: 0

      Thanks that wasn't helpful at all. Since Oaxaca is in mexico, I'm still, trying to figure out what the issue is.
      Heaven forbid I don't know the intricacy of a completely different country. If there is a problem you would think they would call themselves Mexican on their website.

      https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Oaxaca&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x85c0d84f3a0e5c51:0x44c60c433dd90bc9,Oaxaca,+Mexico&gl=us&ei=eBAhUtbiKsXHigKai4DoBQ&ved=0CKkBELYD

      and Chiapa is a federal entity of Mexico, so again, I'm not sure what the issue is.

      You seem to be implying the the term Mexican is derogatory. Do you think that's how I mean it? becasue I don't.

      the Chiapa are Mexican the same way California are American.
      I look forward to getting down their, and if my experience holds true, the people their will be far more nicer and forgiving of any ignorant fopaux I do then some jerk wad on the internet.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    7. Re:Well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thankfully they have you as their spokesman.

    8. Re:Well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >There from Mexico
      >getting down their
      >the people their

      Are you doing this on purpose? Because it looks like you're doing this on purpose. Maybe you should just be quiet, and you wouldn't have to worry about "fopaux."

    9. Re:Well by PhamNguyen · · Score: 1

      Who cares? You don't become a tough guy by proxy for taking their side in an issue that is absolutely nothing to do with us or them. I know some white guys who might decide to kill you for being such an annoying liberal.

    10. Re:Well by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      um, people who care about truth and precision? I know you're a USian since you don't care about that and because you automatically turned it into US and THEM, but i'm not, I'm American, so I don't know how conservative your 'liberal' is on the world scale, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't describe me.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    11. Re:Well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, a growing percentage of people in California aren't american's, they're mexican too. That's almost all you hear spoken here where I live (spanish).

    12. Re:Well by PhamNguyen · · Score: 1

      Perhaps you are not a liberal, but what you share in common with them is making implicit threats, of the form "if you don't hold X opinion, SOMEONE is going to do violence to your for it. Not me, I'm not violent, but you would still deserve it".

      You should cut that out because it's really pathetic, and also if you really thought that "might makes right", you should support the colonization of the Americas by Europeans.

    13. Re:Well by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      Dude, I'm warning the guy, not making threats. Learn the difference, if you're looking for some examples perhaps you should start proofing your posts.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    14. Re:Well by PhamNguyen · · Score: 1

      No, you were making threats under the guise of warning him, which is a really pathetic thing to do (and you do it again later in the thread). If someone had started a thread saying "I am going to Oaxaca, what should I call the natives" your reply would have been totally appropriate. Given that the actual post referred to Oaxacan's as Mexicans in passing, your post was stupid and irrelevant. Also, my original reply was (A) worded exactly the same as yours and (B) clearly a parody of what you wrote, although you seem to dense to grasp this.

      If you think calling Oaxacan Mexicans is offensive, just say so.

    15. Re:Well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For most of the time California has been known as that, they WERE part of Mexico, or New Spain...

    16. Re:Well by houbou · · Score: 1

      Ah, PC.. politically correct people... the type who smile in your face and stab you in the back.. LOL.. I would rather be plain, no-nonsense and to the point and just call a spade a spade. In the end, life shouldn't be about the labels we can be identified with, but rather the actions that we do and the way we conduct ourselves.

    17. Re:Well by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      um, calling a native an indian isn't calling a spade a spade it's just ignorant and stupid. I mean, come on, everybody found out it wasn't India centuries ago.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    18. Re:Well by houbou · · Score: 1

      I've not called anybody an indian.. I don't know what you are smoking, but stop.. if you read my threads, you don't see me calling anyone an indian. NOWHERE.

  8. So it is better than the Verizon network? by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    I was lucky if I could get 1 minute before I got dropped on Verizon. These lucky people get to talk for a whole 5 minutes.

    --
    God spoke to me
  9. Answer by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

    RTFA

    --
    Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
  10. Cf: South Africa's "Village Telco" by ivi · · Score: 1

    WiFi + VoIP system design to enable local calls;
    add Internet connectivity to enable outside calling.

  11. So What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just about anyone can setup their own cellular tower/network. The cost of equipment can be under $1,000 for a single tower and the software required is just not quite plug and play.

    The reason it doesn't happen very often is because it is illegal! Most countries in the world restrict the use of most radio frequencies. Most countries in the world require that you acquire and or buy a license to use the required frequency from the government.

    The only thing of any interest here is that a Mexican town decide to become scofflaws and have not yet been subject to judicial action.

    Spoiler alert: They are about to get sued and forced to shut down.

    1. Re:So What? by bferrell · · Score: 1

      Actually, systems of this type ARE legally sanctioned.

      Just because it works "that way"in locality doesn't mean those rules apply in the case in the article

  12. informative video by OmarArmas1159 · · Score: 1

    Here's an informative video of the case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRNisk2tsFM

  13. youtube video of the case by OmarArmas1159 · · Score: 1

    Here's a video of the case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRNisk2tsFM

  14. "help from indiginous groups" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Help from the indians = "We are putting a tower here. Move your grass huts or they will be "moved" for you."

  15. Have you ever been to... by gwolf · · Score: 1

    ...Any other country in America?
    I mean, any country that actually has a name?

  16. Right, and a second important word... by gwolf · · Score: 1

    Mountains.

    This particular experience is in a small town in Oaxaca. Oaxaca is a very mountainous state, with a great cultural richness stemming precisely from its orography: It is so hard to move around Oaxaca that it went practically unconquered during the 300 years of Spanish rule.

    Of course, when you look at the network coverage maps, you will immediately recognize our country is a mess full with mountains and areas where... Lets put it nicely, where people are not in the proper economic situation to enjoy the full benefits of cellular telephony. You can look at the GSM voice and SMS, 3G voice and SMS and 3G internet coverage maps for Telcel, Mexico's leading mobile operator. FWIW, Oaxaca is at the South-East of the map, but a similar argument could be pushed in many other regions of the map.

    I doubt this little expereiment will cause even a "blip" in the radars of our regulatory bodies (no FCC has no say in how radio frequencies are handled in Mexico, but we have our own COFETEL), because of this same fact: The country is too complex, and nobody is claiming that bandwidth in that area. Of course, were the experience to start replicating along small communities enough to be noticed in a map, a crackdown would surely follow.

  17. FWIW, completely untrue. by gwolf · · Score: 1

    Indigenous people are not offended by being called Mexican. More often than not, they will recognize themselves at least to be as Mexican as those of us living in urban areas are. Even the most vocal groups claiming for indigenous rights, recognition and differentiation recognize living in Mexico and being Mexicans — But demand a just, fitting government level more aligned to their shared culture than the Country/State/Municipality imposed from "Above"; this different organization level would not even amount to a fourth level, because it does not follow State borders (that were, in many cases explicitly, drawn to divide and weaken identities of the many peoples that form the Mexican nation).

    1. Re:FWIW, completely untrue. by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      No, some of us really are offended. Lots of people don't like being called the same thing as the people that took their lands, abuse them as labour, talk like potty mouths with no respect for family and society, and show no consideration for nature around them.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    2. Re:FWIW, completely untrue. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They were born in Mexico. Until they revolt and form their own separate state they're Mexicans. If they don't like it they can give up on their citizenship (if they find a country stupid enough to accept them as citizens).

  18. Oaxaca did it right by Alyssey · · Score: 2

    I came in to read what people thought about what Oaxaca did...instead I just found people laughing about it or about the language, geography or whatever. Meh. Let me explain, since most people either don't read TFA or don't educate themselves further. These people asked all three cellular networks to put a tower in their village, they all said no. TONS of times. So, they took the matter into their own hands. Now all three cellular networks are asking if they can help (Read: Get a piece of the pie) I am SO happy they are the ones that are now saying NO. It's interesting what us Mexicans are able to do when we're told no. We are a stubborn bunch.

  19. Puedes oírme ahora by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Diz que a Verizon cara.

  20. Financially unviable by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    From TFA:

    "telephone (service) providers refuse to use because it is financially unviable."

    I suspect this should translate into "not enough profitable". When shareholders want a two digit ROI figures, companies leave behind themselves any profitable project that does not result in a two-digit ROI.

    1. Re:Financially unviable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As they are legally required to do... the company works for the board.

  21. Cool POC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And something that has been done elsewhere in Latin America and has been shot down by the government, either due to landline State monopolies or constitutional level ownership of the radioelectric spectrum by the State. Setting up a cell and a VoIP gateway is quite easy. Governments call it "bypass" and you are fined and/or go to jail. Perhaps in this case they have special legal status or something. Otherwise this is bound nowhere.

  22. Kewl! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am a white-bread American, but I have family in Mexico, I studied there, and my late brother-in-law was from Oaxaca. They are some of the most resourceful people I have ever met! I am not surprised that they did this, and I say kudos to them!

    FWIW, the biggest street in the city of Oaxaca is named after my brother-in-law, Eduardo Mata, and I still have a lot of family (both direct and extended) there. It is one of my favorite vacation spots to visit - we (me, wife, her brother, his wife, and her 2 sisters) try to spend Christmas there every couple of years. Something not to miss, La Noche de los Rabanos (the night of the radishes) on the 23rd of December! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Radishes