According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, cellular service has now been restored in Eastern Libya, allowing citizens "to communicate without interference from government personnel loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi."
"A team led by a Libyan-American telecom executive has helped rebels hijack Col. Moammar Gadhafi's cellphone network and re-establish their own communications", says the paper.
The paper confirms reports on the cellular and security forums that the rebels - assisted by white hat hackers and non-Libyan telecommunications engineers - have been working hard to effectively cut off the Eastern elements of Libya's cellular network from the control of the government in Tripoli.
And in doing so, they have effectively hacked the network from inside, and restored service to Eastern Libya for the first time in around a month, Infosecurity notes.
The WSJ says that the cut-off over the last month "had rebels waving flags to communicate on the battlefield."
"The new cellphone network, [which] opened on April 2, has become the opposition's main tool for communicating from the front lines in the east and up the chain of command to rebel brass hundreds of miles away", notes the paper.
The mastermind of the hacking of the Libyana cellular network is reported to be Ousama Abushagur, a Libyan telecom executive raised in Huntsville, Alabama, and who now lives in Abu Dhabi.
The problem with doing this appears to be that the Libyana cellular network routes much of its calls via Tripoli, effectively giving Colonel Gadhafi control over the phones and the internet.
The WSJ asserts that the UAE and Qatar supplied several million dollars’ worth of cellular systems to install a new network operations centre in Benghazi, where the Libyan transitional authority is based.
There were still problems, however, as China's Huawei Technologies - a company whose offer to install a cellular network on the London underground recently was reportedly turned down – is said to have refused to supply the transitional authority with the necessary kit.
But since April 2, the rebels now have their own cellular network, although the WSJ says that international calling is limited, and inbound calls have to be paid for by prepaid calling cards, except when originating from Jordan, Egypt and Qatar.
The good news is that internal calls in Eastern Libya, are free - a situation likely to continue until "Free Libyana gets a billing system up and running."