TerraNet: free mobile calls on a P2P cellular network

Tired of monthly voice plan fees for that cell phone? Sure you could go month-to-month but why pay for the calls at all? Anders Carlius founded TerraNet to answer just that question. The idea is to for every cell phone handset to be a peer in a giant P2P network: effectively, each phone within one kilometer of another sends and receives call data on the network, which expands the overall coverage and diminishes the network cost.

There’s a few obstacles to overcome of course. First, the major carriers might be none-to-happy to watch their monthly revenue streams dry up. Second, current handsets don’t have the hardware capabilities required for the TerraNet approach. There’s also a concern of privacy and security although many folks are comfortable using a similar approach with services like Skype. It might not become a global network but TerraNet might work well in remote areas.

(via Gadgetell)

Comments have been disabled for this post