Mexico's First Cellphone Network for Isolated Mountain Village

A mini-transmitter is connected to a computer while doing small-scale tests for a local GSM network in Santa Maria Lachixio, Mexico. Residents of this isolated community are following in the footsteps of a neighboring town in the mountains of Oaxaca state that are using a combination of radio base stations, open-source radio software, radio/cell interfaces and voice-over-internet to basically set up their own local cell phone company.

Two men use their cellphones while conducting small-scale tests for their town's local independent GSM network in San Juan Yojovi, Mexico. The communications revolution that swept the globe missed Zapotec villages in the mountains of southern Mexico, where making any sort of call meant trudging to a community telephone line and paying what could be a day's wages for a crackly five-minute conversation. In just six months, more than 720 residents have signed up to use the new system. Local calls made on off-the-shelf cellphones are free, and phoning relatives in Los Angeles costs just 20 centavos (1.5 cents) a minute. What's more, every subscriber has a distinct mobile number.

A small homemade 2 watt antenna, left, with a range of 8 kilometers, powers the TaleoGSM network in the San Miguel Talea de Castro, Mexico. Residents of this isolated community in the mountains of Oaxaca state are using a combination of radio base stations, open-source radio software, radio/cell interfaces and voice-over-internet to basically set up their own local cell phone company. Talea de Castro may be the first community to own, administer and operate what essentially amounts to a mini-telecom company, and the example could go viral as local communities learn to fight for bandwidth and set up systems for their neighbors.

Local community radio announcers Keyla Mesulemeth, left, and Mauricio Flores Loza use their cellphones running on the TaleoGSM network while riding in a car in San Miguel Talea de Castro, Mexico. Talea de Castro may be the first community to own, administer and operate what essentially amounts to a mini-telecom company, and the example could go viral as local communities learn to fight for bandwidth and set up systems for their neighbors.

Ramiro Perez holds up a small receipt for what could be described as a "pre-paid" card for his cellphone running on the TaleoGSM network in San Miguel Talea de Castro, Mexico. Residents of this isolated community in the mountains of Oaxaca state are using a combination of radio base stations, open-source radio software, radio/cell interfaces and voice-over-internet to basically set up their own local cell phone company. (AP Photo/Agustine Sacha)

A person holds up a cellular phone running on the TaleaGSM network in San Miguel Talea de Castro, Mexico. The communications revolution that swept the globe missed the Zapotec village of Talea de Castro high in the mountains of southern Mexico, where making any sort of call meant trudging to a community telephone line and paying what could be a dayâs wages for a crackly five-minute conversation. All that has changed, thanks to an ingenious plan that backers hope can bring connections to thousands of other small, isolated villages around the world.

A small road winds through the mountains near San Miguel Talea de Castro, Mexico. Using simple radio receivers, a laptop and relatively inexpensive Internet technologies, the people of the village have leapfrogged into the 21st century by setting up what amounts to their own mini-telecom company - one capable of handling 11 cellphone calls at a time at a small fraction of what they used to pay.

A man listens while members of the non-governental organization, Rhizomatica, not seen, conduct small-scale tests for the town's local independent GSM network in San Juan Yojovi, Mexico. The new mini-telecom system has had some hiccups, including poor reception in some of the communityâs outlying houses, occasional weather-related problems and momentary losses of Internet service. But it has generally worked well, and has proved so popular that the local assembly voted to impose a five-minute automatic cutoff to avoid saturating the lines. (AP Photo/Agustine Sacha)