Central Services - Telecom Division

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• Referral from August 19, 2014
  

  Gloria G. asked:

  Newbie question: Is there a way to *reliably* receive messages from the outside world once on playa? My mom is going through some pretty serious health stuff and I'd like to know if there's some way for my sisters to get messages to me. I hear there's internet somewhere central -- can you actually check messages using this? Is there some sort of central switchboard? Are there any theme camps for incoming messages in the way that there's one for mail? Thanks for any advice.

  

  Shawn M. replied:

  Other than that... sometimes there's cell coverage, sometimes not. Anecdotal wisdom says that sometimes the mornings are better than the evenings. It's also apparently better out by the fence. If you walk SW out of the city and aim for somewhere between point 1 and the greeters along the fence you might have some luck there. If you head out past the temple to point 3, (They're numbered clockwise starting with 1 at the lower left corner of the pentagon fence) you're walking deeper into the Black Rock Desert, so my guess is that it's less likely to be better out that way. Capacity on the cell networks also plays into this, I'm imagining. Some carriers are better than others, but that would just be conjecture on my part, since I have yet to pass any kind of messaging out there via cellphone. Other than that, there's a "payphone" that was in the 3 O'Clock portal last year. My understanding is that it will still be there. Long lines await you... There are some other camps that run phone networks. Papa Legba has run an Open Source GSM cell network out there. Sometimes it's allowed you to reach the outside world, sometimes not. In talking to them, my understanding is that it was gated by how the phones (they supply sim cards, and sometimes phones) work, but the idea is that it's a playa only cell network. There is also Central Services, run by SOAKs Power and Com's guru, Brandon, though their setup doesn't guarantee anything other than maybe talking to other camps on Playa. https://www.facebook.com/centralservicestelecom?ref=br_tf There is indeed Wifi smattered and scattered through out the city, though, I imagine using those is a wild goose chase, as some of them are just there to gather people and point and laugh while they stare at their device. In short: There are no guarantees in life.

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