SFP#3 about Free Software mobile phone communication with Harald Welte

Once a month, we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this third episode, our guest is Harald Welte, Free Software programmer and activist. Harald discusses with us his current projects regarding mobile phone communication and the general status of Free Software in this area.

One of the main topics this year was and still is the coming implementation of the 5G standard. There were long debates, and several countries have taken steps to ban specific vendors. These countries are even trying to convince others to do likewise. To allow enough room for this broad issue and include an expert's point of view, we dedicate a full Software Freedom Podcast episode to discuss this with Harald Welte. Harald is a Free Software developer known for his involvement in OpenMoko, the first Free Software phone; his work for gplviolations.org to make sure companies adhere to the obligations of Free Software licenses; and nowadays his work on the umbrella project "Open source mobile communications", or Osmocom for short.

Together with Harald, we give you an overview of the use of Free Software in mobile phone communication; talk with you about the basics of this technology; about the difference of 3G, 4G, and 5G; the Huawei ban and Osmocom; as well as about the state of Free Software in those fields.

Read more:

• About Osmocom
• Osmocom Git repositories
• Huawei case demonstrates importance of Free Software for security
• Three conclusions to draw from Google denying Huawei access to software

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