back to article Facebook sniffs at slow telcos, launches own Telecom Infrastructure Project

Facebook is adding more telco friends as the social media giant launches another initiative, this time called the Telecom Infra Project. It is a collaborative effort to come up with new ways to design and build telecom network infrastructure. Founding members of the infrastructure club include Deutsche Telekom, EE, Globe …

  1. Christoph

    EE's latest tech?

    An example of how up-to-date the tech at EE is:

    I just had an advertising text from EE, with a link to stop further texts. I sent the STOP text. I got a text back saying 'we will remove you from our lists. This may take up to 30 days'.

    What are they using to talk to their marketing bods? I could do it in far less than 30 days using carrier pigeons! In the 21st Century it should take milliseconds.

    1. frank ly

      Re: EE's latest tech?

      The only way to 'get through' to marketing bods is with a baseball bat that has nails in the end. They measure 'success' by the number of eyeballs impinged upon.

      (I had the same situation with Tesco Mobile when they sent me loads of text messages telling me how wonderful they are and that I should try them: after I'd signed up to a monthly paid contract for a year.)

    2. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: EE's latest tech?

      Reply "STOP" to prevent further messages. We will remove you from the list of recipients, but as you will have confirmed that you are an active target, we will place you on a different list that we will sell to other marketing agencies. Thank you.

    3. mi1400

      Re: EE's latest tech?

      Aaah the curse of deliberately failing WiMax. Hay Vodfone, TMobile, Vrizon its payback time!!! soon ur SIMs will become virtual and your networks like once ISPs used to be ever aw so inspiringly prestigious white collar jobs! :)

  2. BurnT'offering

    Why do we need telco innovation?

    Surely OpenReach bring us all the innovation we need. Love those copper wires, guys!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Faecebook + ISP??

    I feel dirty already, just thinking about it.

  4. hplasm
    Happy

    Facebook saves the world!

    1. Zuck buys BT

    2. Zuck closes BT down

    3. Zuck unrolls fibre everywhere

    4. PROFIT!

    He has lots of cash, but few friends...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Facebook saves the world!

      5. Zuck puts El Reg in the slow lane for not paying its FaceTax.

  5. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    Facebook cozying up to ISP ? Welcome FaceNet - you can't escape from it

    Given The Zuck's track record over "Free Basic" in India, I'm not at all enchanted at the idea of him getting his mitts on an ISP portal already used by millions.

    The amount of privacy-invading surveillance "for your convenience" is going to make the NSA blush.

    1. Chris G

      Re: Facebook cozying up to ISP ? Welcome FaceNet - you can't escape from it

      Yup! Not content with slurping you data when you are in Fartbook he wants to get everybody's bits at the first tower it encounters. Oh well! Back to the cocoa tins and string.

  6. Alan J. Wylie

    using existing infrastructure like the lighthouses or ferries to locate tiny base stations

    Never underestimate the bandwith of a CalMac ferry full of basestations steaming across the Minch.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    £££

    So, who gets to pay for all this sped-up innovation? Oh silly me, I'll pay for it course in my phone tarriff - and I don't even use Facebook(*).

    (* Nor do I want to. I am happy with the data services I currently get on 3g, to power email, texts and an occasional bit of web browsing)

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Rural coverage using "tiny base stations"

    Rural coverage using "existing infrastructure like the lighthouses or ferries to locate tiny base stations".

    By tiny base stations, do they mean WiFi type of output power ? You would be lucky to get a signal at the base of the lighthouse.

    Not sure Facebook understand the laws of physics, but they can start with understanding radio link budgets and how the decrease of the signal power is proportional to the inverse square of the distance (geometric spreading).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_budget

    Or put more simply, more power = more distance = more coverage and thus "tiny base stations" are not going to do much good.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "By tiny base stations, do they mean WiFi type of output power ? You would be lucky to get a signal at the base of the lighthouse."

    No. They mean physically small base stations that can sit unobtrusively on existing buildings.

    I saw Alcatel Lucent demonstrate their solution a year or so ago. A briefcase contains dozens of the things, they can quickly be deployed all over something like a baseball stadium, mesh together to eliminate the need for all to have backhaul and work together to deliver the most effective RAN given the resources available and the terrain to be covered. It's seriously impressive.

    I'm pretty sure Facebook do understand the laws of physics. They employ a lot of engineers.

  10. Roland6 Silver badge

    I'm pretty sure Facebook do understand the laws of physics. They employ a lot of engineers.

    Doesn't mean they understand the reality of geographic deployment...

    For example, lighthouses don't tend to be on mains electricity and have a smooth and sealed outer surface for very practical reasons...

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like