‘P2P isn’t just for downloading music’ Shocker.

As unbelievable as it seems, Swedish mobile technology firm TerraNet reckons it has got a good way to utilise the wonderful technology behind P2P networking: using the technology to allow users to speak on specially designed handsets without relying on (occasionally spatially sparse) mobile phone base stations, reports P2P.net.

The founder of TerraNet Anders Carlius told a news programme that the idea was spawned by his trips to remote places of the poorest countries in the world. These barren areas are often too far away from base stations to be able to make or pick up calls. Often this isn’t confined to rural areas, either, with some larger towns and even cities not having anywhere near adequate coverage.
The network developed by TerraNet uses specially adapted handsets that work in peers in the P2P network to route calls for other nodes (phones, in this case) also on the network. Each handset will reportedly have a coverage of about 1 kilometre (0.625 miles):

When a TerraNet phone is switched on, it begins to look for other phones within range. If it finds them, it starts to connect and extend the radio network.

The more phones, the more the connections and better signal. The more phones the greater the reach. If you’re lucking enough to be in range of the person you want to call, and there’s no need to use satellites or masts, then there would be no reason to charge (although we can wager TerraNet – or whomever implements this on a commercial basis first - will find an excellent reason to charge).

Interesting, but we can see a number of problems, one involving the lack of any paying calls in and around large cities and conurbations.