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Where Cellular Networks Don't Exist, People Are Building Their Own

Posted by Soulskill on from the teach-a-man-to-mobile-and-he'll-tweet-for-the-rest-of-his-life dept.

New submitter TechCurmudgeon writes: According to a story at Wired, towns in Mexico that aren't served by the nation's telecom monopoly are taking matters in their own hands with the help of a non-profit and open source technology. "Strategically ignored by Mexico's major telecoms, Yaee is putting itself on the mobile communications grid with the help of a Oaxaca-based telecommunications non-profit called Rhizomatica." A locally-made tower is the backbone of Yaee's first cellular network. The town's network is composed of two antennas and an open-source base station from a Canadian company called NuRAN. Once Yaee gets the tower installed and the network online, its 500 citizens will, for the first time, be able to make cell phone calls from home, and for cheaper rates than almost anywhere else in Mexico.

3 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Re:what about spectrums rights? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 4, Informative

    i imagine if you did this in the usa you'd get sued for using spectrums you don't own. does anyone care in mexico?

    In point of fact, the company that sold this town its base-station has legal rights to the spectrum they're selling, granted by the Mexican government.

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  2. Try reading the article first by lommetennis · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Armed with an experimental concession from the Mexican government that grants Rhizomatica access to coveted cellular spectrum all over the country, Bloom is slowly but surely bringing coverage "

  3. Re:Open source base station? by ciaby · · Score: 3, Informative

    Gee... I didn't find links to the schematics and source code on their web site. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? Where are they?

    Or..... maybe it's yet another click-bait article abusing the term "open source'.

    You're right, we are a bit messy right now. Code (rhizomatica specific): https://github.com/rhizomatica Open source GSM code: http://openbsc.osmocom.org/tra... Anything else I can help you with? :)