TMK, in Canada it's illegal to use amateur radio frequencies to transmit encrypted data. I can understand needing to license allocation, but explicitly requiring the ability for the feds to surveil radio communications is something I have a problem with. That said I think ad-hoc mesh networks such as those created for IoT devices are a potential alternative. Stuff like LoRaWAN (notwithstanding it's proprietary) could offer a way around this legal constraint.