Facebook is not one to shy away from trying to create new networks or systems. These initiatives are focused on bringing technologies to developing countries and are not always warmly received. The latest plan comes in the form of OpenCullular, a plan to bring mobile networks and internet connectivity to the world.
Posted on his Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg shared the image of a small white box with the message:
On our journey to connect the world, today we announced OpenCellular — an open source wireless access platform to bring connectivity to remote areas of the world.
More than 4 billion people still don’t have basic internet access, and one of the biggest challenges is figuring out how to reach remote areas existing infrastructure doesn’t cover.
We designed OpenCellular as an open system so anyone — from telecom operators to researchers to entrepreneurs — can build and operate wireless networks in remote places. It’s about the size of a shoe box and can support up to 1,500 people from as far as 10 kilometers away.
Along with our solar-powered aircraft Aquila and high-bandwidth laser beams, OpenCellular is the next step on our journey to provide better, more affordable connectivity to bring the world closer together.
The idea is that OpenCellular will be made open source with everything from their hardware to their software being freely available to the public, letting people connect and modify the technology the world over. With testing currently underway at their headquarters, they’ve currently managed to send texts, make calls and even get basic data connections from the device which currently sits with no release date.
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