TerraNet AB is a company that delivers mobile telephony and data services via a peer-to-peer mobile mesh network of handsets and light infrastructure. It is headquartered in Sweden and currently led by CEO Pär-Olof Johannesson.

The system uses each unit within range as an additional network node allowing voice and data transmission via its own radio frequency rather than conventional cell sites. The TerraNet concept was originally developed as a way to bring mobile coverage to under-served geographies and populations, but the technology in itself has a much broader market.

When a TerraNet phone is switched on, it begins to look for other phones within its effective range. If it finds them, it connects and extends the radio network. When an actual number is dialled, the handset uses checks to see if the person being called is within range of any handsets in the network, and if they are, the call goes through.

Detractors have questioned TerraNet’s lack of a clear business model, though device manufacturers appear to be interested in its efforts. Noted thought leaders in Voice over IP, such as Alexander Straub of Truphone, have identified mesh networks as the “next big thing” in telecoms.