So we see the same thing over and over again, whether it’s because of
natural disasters like hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, wars like Syria
and Bosnia, deliberate attempts by the government to shut down the
internet (most recently in Egypt and Iran), or NSA surveillance.
After Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines last month, several towns
were cut off from humanitarian relief because delivering that aid
depends on having a reliable communication network. In a country where
over 90 percent of the population has access to mobile phones, the
implementation of an emergency “mesh” network could have saved lives.
Compared to the “normal” internet — which is based on a few
centralized access points or internet service providers (ISPs) — mesh
networks have many benefits, from architectural to political.