More than four billion people still lack access to the Internet, traditional providers only expand their infrastructure according to their commercial objectives, and state solutions are slow or poorly implemented. For these and other reasons, companies like Facebook have a great interest in developing alternative connectivity solutions, and one of them is OpenCellular, a new open-source platform that promises to bring Internet to the most remote places.
For some time we have closely followed certain parallel projects presented by Google and Facebook, aimed at reducing the connectivity gap and attacking one of its most important causes, the lack of infrastructure. In Google's case, readers may remember Project Loon, or its interest in funding a new satellite network, while on Facebook's side we find its Internet.org initiative, and its idea of using solar-powered drones. In recent days, Mark Zuckerberg himself presented OpenCellular, a platform we could consider as another concept arising from the Internet.org ideal.
OpenCellular will consist of devices capable of providing different connection speeds, from 2G to LTE, and even support as a WiFi access point for situations where a more "local" service is required. Each node has a range of ten kilometers, and with dimensions of 49.5 by 21.5 by 11.5 centimeters, communities can install them on poles, or carry them in a backpack for temporary connections. Facebook anticipates that both the software and hardware design will be open source, although this will take some time. The first prototypes are already being evaluated at the social network's headquarters in Menlo Park.
Obviously, OpenCellular nodes cannot escape a basic energy demand, and a "backhaul" that allows them to receive the necessary signals. However, one of OpenCellular's plans is to develop a wireless backhaul, thus making each node a kind of repeater. The fact that OpenCellular is open source should enable the creation of even more compact and economical solutions, a critical aspect considering the markets Facebook is targeting with this, essentially India and the African continent.
