A gadget for text messaging within a 50 mile radius without telecom service is reportedly recording a spike in interest around the world.

The mobile accessory, called GoTenna, lets the user communicate via Bluetooth without cell service. It has taken off with Bitcoin enthusiasts, partly because it protect user’s privacy.

Industry experts are reportedly already saying that if developed well to allow communication with a wider radius, GoTenna could deal a further blow to SMS, which is already losing grounds to OTT (over the top) web messaging apps like Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook, Tango and other.

GoTenna designer, Daniel Levy is a Web developer living in the Puna District of Hawaii, where he had to live through a 12-day blackout after a rather vicious hurricane earlier this summer.

Many residents in his community were stuck powerless, while other used solar energy until the local utility company restored the grid. It was after that, Levy said he sought a solution and came upon GoTenna.

The device is a small Bluetooth-enabled rod packed to the brim with modern radio innards. It allows the user to send message to a compatible device which is up to 50miles away from the when it is.

“It lets you create your own private, secure communication network for sending messages without cell service using your smartphone,” cnet.com reported on its website.

Though marketed toward outdoors and emergency situations like hiking and disaster relief, GoTenna is said to be getting a boost from the cryptography community. Users of the new crypto-currency called Bitcoin have reportedly favored the device.

"We do not need to be dependent on centralized industries for our communication, which is a very important part of our modern lives," Levy told CNET.

He said: "with GoTenna, we can create our own, decentralized mesh network that we own, and be in control of the data that we create," he said. "If it proves to be useful, I would like to encourage my community to start utilizing these devices."

 

Chatting in dead zones

GoTenna is reported being shipped around the world already since July this year.

Its product mixes everyday consumer needs with the modern, more niche necessities of Web-savvy users who rely on encryption to navigate our increasingly spying- and risk-fraught communications technology.

While a novel accessory, GoTenna's multipurpose functionality is popping up more and more, especially in software. Mobile apps like FireChat and the Serval Mesh let users create mesh networks -- a way to rig together smartphone communication links via Bluetooth, like daisychaining USB or Ethernet cables -- for communicating without cell service as well.

But systems allw communication between devices within far shorter ranges, while GoTenna allows communication between devices up to 50 miles apart.

 

GoTenna's dual purpose

GoTenna can communicate with a smartphone

GoTenna also pairs with smartphones and lets the user send text messages and location data through an app to other users of the device, which is why the gadget is sold in pairs.

The messages are end-to-end encrypted using public-private key encryption, the company said, the same method that protects e-commerce transactions on the Internet.

The catch: GoTenna was designed for everyday consumers, but with some wiggle room. On one hand, it was meant to be a device that wouldn't have to rely on gadget-loving early adopters.

It is recommended for persons with hearing impairment and for persons who love to go hiking where telecom service providers may not have coverage.

 

Ghana

Ghanaian Social Media Strategist Maximus Ametorgoh said GoTenna can be used in Ghana just like anywhere else, adding that it would be most useful in remote areas with little or not telecom coverage.

“Because it works with a 50 mile radius it will be good for people in a group and it be very dependable for communication during disasters,” he said.

GoTenna is yet to come to Ghana, and when it does, it promises to further reduce spending on SMS, which is already on a down turn. This is likely to occur in the unserved and under-served area where average revenue per user (ARPU) for the telcos are already very low.