According to Dan Gonzales and Sarah Harting in a New York Times Op-Ed on 3/4, the United States has the technology to restore cellphone service to disconnected Libyans. The restoration of the service would involve having the US Air Force and Navy functioning as cellphone service stations. Instead of service being routed to subscribers from towers in Libya (which are currently controlled by Qaddafi's son), the service would emanate from base-stations tethered to balloons or in airplanes. Calls would pass to the Navy which would then send the calls to a satellite and from there to the recipient. The only difference is that instead of receiving signal from a land based tower, it comes from a mobile base-station.
According to Gonzales and Harting, this is a feasible way to aid the protesters and circumvent Qaddafi. However, placing the US in the middle, as the operator of the base stations, would make it super convenient for the US to monitor calls to and from Libya, which is reminiscent of the wire-taps during the Bush era which were deemed unconstitutional.
Then again, monitoring the phone calls may be beneficial. It will give the US access to the pulse of Libya and the protests. They will learn the progress of the revolution, the hurdles facing it etc... and will be able to provide directed support to the opposition, helping it achieve its goals. On the flip side, the US may also have the ability to drop calls which they do not want to take place, for example: between opposition organizers who decide to adopt an anti-American outlook. Such action would limit some of the rights of the Libyans. But then again, Libyans are not Americans and may not have the same constitutionally granted protections.
I do not know much about the situation in Libya, but it doesn't seem like its the US's business to try and step in.
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