In the late 1980s and early 90s, the development of the GSM standard was influenced by significant political pressure from European governments and intelligence agencies.
Transitioning away from proprietary firmware is difficult due to the complexity of cellular standards (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G) and strict regulatory requirements. Projects like have attempted to create open-source baseband software, but they are often limited to older hardware (like 2G) because modern chips are locked behind encrypted signing keys. Conclusion gsm secret firmware