We love the idea of hacking mobile phones. Enabling root access, modifying apps, activating advanced features... there's a lot to learn. The same extends to mobile networks themselves, but authorities get a bit nervous when they see enthusiasts playing with antennas and reserved frequencies. However, that doesn't stop Brandon Creighton from working on creating his own 1G mobile network compatible with old Motorola DynaTAC and StarTAC. The entire project is open source, and it shouldn't require more than $400 in hardware...
The AMPS Standard
I calculate that many of our readers probably still have a Motorola StarTAC or similar model stored in some drawer collecting dust. Those devices represent a much simpler era of mobile telephony, without massive data transfers or smart devices. They were essentially landline phones turned portable (some as big as a briefcase), and nothing more. The first mobile networks were developed under the AMPS standard, which did the heavy lifting during the '80s and '90s until the arrival of alternatives like CDMA (IS-95) and GSM. Being analog, AMPS suffered from limitations (noise, static, phone cloning, etc.)... but at the same time, it is a simple standard (135-140 pages), which these days can be implemented by a single person, with a little money.
Building the Network
How much money? About $400, according to Brandon Creighton. Creighton is known for having set up his own GSM mobile network at one of the DEF CONs, but now it's the turn of a 1G network based on AMPS, which could potentially bring back all those DynaTACs and StarTACs. After reading the documentation and assimilating the code available on GitHub (which, by the way, is preliminary and may contain errors), the next step is to create a software defined radio compatible with the old AMPS frequencies (across the pond they were 824-849 MHz, but it varies by region).
Is It Legal?
Now, how legal is it to create a 1G network? Well... it depends. Some countries have completely abandoned that portion of the spectrum, while others have focused on reusing every available bit. I imagine that as long as your range is limited and you don't generate too much noise, nobody will ask questions, but despite the risks, I personally welcome something like this. What would be great is if someone created a kind of 'bridge' between a homemade 1G network and current networks...
