Open GSM Networks in London?
The British Radio Telecommunications Agency is reviewing options on what to do with 2 narrow slivers of GSM spectrum in the 1800MHz band. And one of the options is to open it up for u8nlicensed, regulated use.
My good friend Julian is trying to gather some momentum around this, by gathering the Open Spectrum people into answering to this proposal.
License-free spectrum in the GSM band is such an awesome concept. Set up your own GSM cell, link it to VoIP, and when you're at home, you can uswe your existing GSM phone to talk at Voice-over-IP rates.
If you're Interested, this is the place to visit: ROAM - Home Page
Cory also blogged this over the weekend.
The uk radio authority is running a consultation process on what to do with the sidebands of the 1800Mhz spectrum. These bands formed a safety band around the 1800Mhz frequencies that are used for mobile phones. Its been decided that these saftey bands are no longer necessary so the spectrum is being freed up.
The UK Radio Authority is requesting comments on whether to make the spectrum license exempt and operated in much the same way as 802.11 (WiFi) - so you wouldn't need a spectrum license to set up your own network.
This would mean for instance that anyone could set up a local GSM network.
http://boingboing.net/2003_06_01_archive.html#200443141
