I love living in the future.

[theweaselking]

Ever wanted to operate your own GSM cellphone access point?

A phone company would have to invest about $200,000 to install a network in a rural, off-the-grid village. That would cover a few thousand people in a radius of about nine miles (15 kilometers). Because there's no power, the company would need a generator. If the generator runs on imported diesel, then fuel, plus delivery and security expenses, could cost $12-18,000 per month, Burgess figures.

A comparable OpenBTS network would cost about $20,000. That includes solar panels, so the power would be nearly free. At that price, a monthly calling plan could cost about $2 per month, Burgess says.

These are the guys who make cellphones work at Burning Man, for the record.