What’s the News: Libyan rebels can put away their semaphore flags and pick up a cell phone again, now that a group led by a Libyan-American telecom executive has hijacked the nation’s downed cell phone network and restored service to part of the country. Colonel Moammar Qaddafi cut off access to the network a month ago in an effort to hamper rebel organization, which it did quite effectively: "We went to fight with flags: Yellow meant retreat, green meant advance," said Gen. Ahmed al-Ghatrani, a rebel commander in Benghazi. "Gadhafi forced us back to the stone age." (via WSJ) The rebel phone network went live on April 2, and rebel leaders are using it to communicate with the front lines.
How the Heck:
Telecom executive Ousama Abushagur came up with the idea for the network when his phone didn’t work during a humanitarian trip to Libya. Sketching his plan on ...
