The Extraterrestrial Operations Global Relay Infrastructure and Data Network
Created by the Valen, the Exogrid empowers pilots, planets, and terrestrial operations to all communicate quickly, securely, and easily across most of Magnus. While everything accessible via the Exogrid is often referred to as "the Exogrid," this is similar to calling all of your favorite websites part of "the Internet."
OPIP is a technology utilizing terrestrial radio technology to broadcast information to visiting pilots, incoming transports, and other incoming craft about current conditions on the planet. This can include atmospheric and weather information, but can also include info about current hazards or any social customs foreign races may not be familiar or comfortable with. It's a proven, useful technology deployed throughout the galaxy.
OPIP is used in some capacity by space stations and rest stops even, despite what its name might imply. It can also be used to initiate negotiation with landing bays, automatically handle paying fares, and plenty of other tricks.
Utilizing the same technology found in the SENT network (see Magnus for details), communication across the galaxy can occur with extremely low latency considering the distances. From one half of the galaxy to another, communication can be quite slow (a few seconds round trip!), but it's a far cry from a message simply not making it to you.
When tuning into open frequencies, the Exogrid nodes nearest you will put out a request to be sent the broadcasts on those frequencies from adjacent nodes. This propagates out as far as you request, allowing you to tune into all broadcasts across the entire galaxy if you so pleased. Generally, though, most pilots opt to stick within a few hops to keep the latency low and avoid talking over others constantly.
With the need for improved ways to socialize and keep in touch over vast distances in Magnus without the rather low quality and relatively unstable connections provided by the original Valen protocols, the Damari company Tango devised new technologies, techniques, and software to allow for crystal-clear voice and video communication across the galaxy.
While things like latency can make real time conversation a bit of trouble at times, high framerate video and high fidelity audio can make connecting with friends, family, and loved ones quite easy over the grand distances possible in space travel.
The Exogrid allows for remote payments between pilots via a convoluted payment system involving various digital currency technologies. Credits can be offloaded onto "offline" payment wallets, which allow the anonymous and untracked transfer credits between individuals before the credits return to the network via an Exogrid ATM of sorts. The network has to be contacted to update the ledger after all in-person transactions using these offline wallets before the credits are valid again, but the transactions can be validated offline very easily.
Offline payment wallets are sometimes used as physical currency in of themselves, notably because they are about the thickness of a credit card and are easily verifiable in value due to how payment transfers from these offline wallets work.