OpenBSC / GSM network at camp site

Hi Henrik, first of all, thanks for your introduction and thanks for your interest in OpenBSC. Let me just raise some general thoughts about operating your own GSM network at such a camp site: 1) whenever those teenagers register to your local network, they will no longer be reachable from the public network, i.e. their parents or other friends cannot call them on their regular phone 2) when you operate that network as an official services for those youth groups, think of liability aspects. As opposed to the HAR 2009 or 26C3, you will not deal with technical people who understand what they're doing, but you're dealing with innocent "normal" people. People who e.g. expect emergency calls to work reliably - something that OpenBSC clearly cannot offer at this time. 3) Also, I am not sure if you are already providing a telecommunication service to the public at that point. There are regulations regarding data safety, privacy but also lawful intercept and data retention that need to be considered. Operating an actual network for people who just want to use it (as opposed to people who want to test and research GSM technology) is really a different case. So my question would be: What is your reason for wanting to operate a GSM network at that camp? * Is there no real GSM network coverage on that camp? * Or do you want to provide free calls / sms for your camp attendees? (do you want your youngsters to spend even more time with their phones than usually?) * Or are you simply interested in doing it because it's cool? ;) I only know of one unit, owned by somebody in Austria, and the last time I knew that unit was even broken. What you can find more often are ip.access nanoBTS for GSM 1800. Those units have 200mW output power, which is the same power level than what we used at HAR2009 - though in a completely different frequency band with different signal propagation erties. I think the regulatory license is the smallest problem - if at all. Regards, Harald -- - Harald Welte <laforge(a)gnumonks.org> http://laforge.gnumonks.org/ ============================================================================ "Privacy in residential applications is a desirable marketing option." (ETSI EN 300 175-7 Ch. A6)