Nokia Siemens Networks Village Connection is a connectivity solution enabling operators to capture the rural market potential by offering affordable voice and sms service to villages for a relatively low investment, serving a dual purpose: providing access and connectivity to remote areas while helping NSN to fulfill its target of reaching 5 billion mobile subscribers’ target. The project targets population with very meager income (less than $2 per day) and provides them affordable access by making it economically viable for the telcos (by significant reduction in CAPEX). The major advantage lies in the cut down in the prices of infrastructure and equipment.
“The coverage uses modular, compact GSM Access Points, comprising radio frequency, power and a standard PC with Access Point software.”
Such is the potential of this project that it introduces a new business model for telcos. Other vendors like Huawei is also considering the Village Connection solution. The local access point is generally installed with an omni-directional antenna with customer premises equipment (CPE) which can be hosted with a local entrepreneur, moreover, very little network planning is required. Diesel powered generators and solar panels ensure power access during electric supply outages. The solution ensures that local calls are switched locally and the billing services can also be pushed to local entrepreneurs handling the equipment.
The Village Connection solution supporting voice and SMS can be easily expanded into range of value added services. Internet Kiosks provide internet access to the locals through the village connection. The inherent IP connectivity of GSM access point ensures internet connectivity. The solution has been successfully implemented in many countries, starting from India and extending out to Tanzania (by Vodafone). The brochure of Village Connection can be accessed here.
Aneeqa Ishaq
uzairsukhera
Heh, the caption in the first image is quite self-explanatory.
However, I do seem to be seeing in third world countries a concerting phenomena, where the governments put complicated requirements on issuing of sim cards.
There was a forum post in the ITU YF about this in Ghana. And I recently understood that in Nepal you need to have a photograph and ID card to issue a SIM card.
This is NOT helping the 2$ per-day target, where people are less capable of following those kinds of requirements, increasing the digital divide.
This comes in direct contrast to what people are talking about in there west, where the trend is to move to yet more open and free issuing of SIMs, even as far as reducing them to just software and bits (you could just e-mail a sim to your friend, for example).
You are right about the complexities involved but in these poor countries, subcontinent in particular, the mobile SIMs have been selling like eatables on each and every shops in evey nook and corner of the cities. This resulted in serious security threat with millions of unregistered sims!
Since the only ID in these countries is the National ID card it was decided by governments to issue sim cards against NIC numbers to keep a track of the SIM owners and to cut down their illicit use in planning and execution of terror attacks.
Believe me the telcos have come up with this issue in a pretty smart manner. The subscriber has to just produce his/her ID card the operator will do the rest of work of filling documentation etc etc. Besides they will offer free talk time and SMS on each new SIM, the cost of which surpases the $1 amount required for getting a SIM.
Western countries have computerized systems making it possible to tackle all such issues in software, wheras, in poor countries ID registration is a necessary nuisance!