Facebook has taken its first step towards solving part of the world's internet problem, introducing a new wireless access platform designed to assist remote areas.

OpenCellular is currently in a testing phase, and the hardware will be made open source for other researchers and companies to join in the build process.

Global community

Developed to fill a gap where current infrastructure and technology is expensive to install, OpenCellular supports the older 2G mobile system as well as more modern options such as 4G.

Facebook hopes open-sourcing OpenCellular, in partnership with the Telecom Infra Project, will result in progress that enables a cheaper and more accessible system.

Information highway

Facebook's OpenCellular joins Google's balloon-powered Project Loon as a system taking up the challenge of connecting the billions currently offline.

OpenCellular's testing has involved sending and receiving SMS messages, making calls and connecting to the internet with 2G technology.

The company says its first iteration will be available in the coming months prior to its continued development within the company and through open-source partners.