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0 pointsMichaelZuo2y ago0 comments

Don't all Verizon sim cards, by definition, rely on Verizon's servers? How can they be federated?

i.e. If every last Verizon server is shut down then they become small plastic bricks.

It wouldn't matter how many agreements have been signed with AT&T, T-mobile, etc...

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ImJamal2y ago· 2 in thread

It is federated in the same way matrix or mastodon are. You join a server and it can talk to other servers. If the server you are on shuts down you won't be able to login and make posts no matter how many agreements have been signed between different servers. It also uses the hardware of the server you are on.

You could even start your own carrier just like you could set up your own Mastodon server. Of course there would be far more regulations, but it is technically possible.

MichaelZuoOP2y ago

It's clearly not as procuring another SIM card from another carrier requires actual effort and money that is by no means guaranteed to be available for everyone. (And in some countries there is an ID check or other legal obligations/contracts must be signed.)

And even then the new SIM card still won't allow the phone to connect with any of the proprietary cellular towers and antennas for normal usage, only emergency situations.

This is not federated in any sense.

ImJamal2y ago

>It's clearly not as procuring another SIM card from another carrier requires actual effort and money that is by no means guaranteed to be available for everyone

Setting up an email/mastodon/matrix server requires effort and money. You either need to self host which requires a local internet connection, electricity, and ideally a static IP none of which are guarantee. If you host at a hosting company it costs money.

>(And in some countries there is an ID check or other legal obligations/contracts must be signed.)

Hetzner and other hosting companies require IDs as well. I wouldn't be surprised if in some countries you have to have an ID to get internet.

>And even then the new SIM card still won't allow the phone to connect with any of the proprietary cellular towers and antennas for normal usage, only emergency situations.

A mastodon server won't connect with a proprietary protocol so it seems like it is the same boat? It won't even connect in emergency situations!

>This is not federated in any sense.

Seems exactly the same. There are just far more gatekeepers when it comes to carriers.

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