Yesterday I learnt about a hacklab located in Madrid (Spain) named hamlab. They are attempting to run a GSM network for free. They do that under a R+D license and with a gsm machine, Ettus, affordable for 300 Euros aprox. The GSM machine redirects to a local Asterisk server. And that should do must of the trick (w/ OpenBTS).

At the 25th Chaos Communication Congress (25C3) held in bcc Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany, you could get some info about GSM workarounds. See;  http://events.ccc.de/congress/2008/wiki/GSM.

gsm directional directional antenna. from antoniotomas.com

Now, this is interesting because it confirms the ongoing trend to move and experiment towards a Citizen Management of Technology. Once was Free Radio Air Waves, Then TV signals, WiFi and it seems that now GSM is targeted. Great. But, why would anyone bother to do so? well, here are some reasons;

a) Affordable prices for tech pieces and components

b) Networked Knowledge about highly specific skills. (How to’s and Man pages – which, btw, constitute a great example of what Pierre Levy understands as a movement of virtualisation-actualisation of knowledge)

c) Frustrations with existing telecom infrastructures.

d) A Will to play with machines. Just the fun of it.

e) A Will to innovate.

f) A claim for a right to the city (following Henry Lefebvre term);  We may propose here a right to infrastructures.

Certainly something to keep thinking about for my thesis…

RAX!