Friday, June 02, 2017

Serval Project: Carrier independent network

Almost 5 years back, while putting in an my idea of building a mobile experience for myself, I had suggested a carrier independent network is what I want - something what will not only distribute the need to create infrastructure but also free us from lousy carrier plans and create a world where communication is free between humans where ever they are. [Ref: http://tovganesh.blogspot.in/2012/01/kosh-building-mobile-user-experience.html]. Obviously carrier based / satellite systems are necessary for emergency situations - but our reliance on them could definitely be minimised.

So when I saw the Serval Project (http://www.servalproject.org/), I was pleasantly surprised that they have exactly the same goal. More over, instead of building a whole new OS as I earlier proposed they are going for a more practical solution of putting it in an Android app. This is a big shout out to you guys developing the Serval Project. It is like a moment when you feel that you are not alone in the thoughts you have about how to make things different in this world. I have just installed the app on my secondary Android device and tested it with a friend. Though the interface is quite primitive at this stage, and the call quality not upto mark - it works. It is experimental and yes, it will improve.

After digging a bit into history of Serval Project (http://developer.servalproject.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=content:about), I discovered that it was proposed almost 2 years before I had written the above mentioned article and an early system was used for emergency response during Haiti Earthquake.

The Serval Project is also opensource (https://github.com/servalproject) and in the coming days I plan to explore this project more in depth to see if I can contribute in some way here.

Meanwhile any one should be able to install the app from Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.servalproject), and be the part of experiment and the quest to build a carrier independent backup network. 

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