Mobile Telephony to Reach 400,000 People in Remote African Villages

At a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya - Zain, Ericsson and the Earth Institute announced the provision of telecommunications deliverables to the Millennium Villages of Dertu (Kenya), Ruhiira (Uganda) and Molla (Tanzania).

The initiatives were first outlined in September 2007 at Columbia University, when Zain, Ericsson and the Earth Institute announced a partnership to provide mobile communications and Internet connectivity to the Millennium Villages projects covering up to 400,000 people in 10 sub-Saharan African countries where the project is working.

Ericsson and Zain (through its wholly-owned African subsidiary Celtel) have teamed up to develop a comprehensive end-to-end telecommunication strategy in the villages and to drive mobile phone connectivity and coverage build-out to selected areas.

Chris Gabriel, CEO of Celtel, says: "It is wonderful that the people in this remote part of Africa will have access to basic, but effective mobile internet access over an EDGE network. Here we can see how mobile communications can play a key role in helping improve the quality of life for people even in the remotest parts of the world."

Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO and President, Ericsson, says: "The Millennium Village project provides us with a unique ecosystem to demonstrate the benefits of voice and Internet. We believe the uptake of mobile services could go even quicker than anticipated in this environment, as the need for even basic services is so much greater. The project is one concrete example where we are actualizing our commitment to the MDGs, while at the same time stimulating positive business impacts and opening new markets in remote parts of rural Africa. "

Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and Director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, says: "Mobile communication is perhaps the single most transformative technology for rural African villages to improve access to health care and education, create new business opportunities and access to markets, and ultimately to help eradicate extreme poverty. We are excited by the tremendous opportunities which mobile phones make possible in every kind of community and economic activity - ranging from pastoralists and farmers, to traders, health workers and teachers."

In Kenya, Zain and Ericsson have deployed a temporary mobile network providing service to 5,000 people in Dertu for the first time.

In October this year, the temporary network will be replaced by a permanent one that will continue to be operated by Zain. The permanent solution will also use EricssonĂ's sustainable energy solutions including wind, solar energy and other solutions to drive equipment at minimum power requirements. It is estimated that the permanent solution will run at 80% increased efficiency over traditional diesel-powered mobile sites.

Sony Ericsson has supplied mobile handsets to the Millennium Village health clinics and community health workers. Together with Ericsson, they have developed a new Solar Village Charger that is capable of re-charging 30 mobile phone batteries each day and eight phones simultaneously for each village cluster.

In Tanzania and Uganda, Ericsson has upgraded ZainĂ's GSM network to EDGE and at the same time improved coverage and network reach. Using a combination of ‘fixed-wireless terminalsĂ' mobile Internet connectivity will be provided to schools and health centres. Plans are also in-place to extend coverage to all 73,000 people in both village clusters. Sony Ericsson and Ericsson also have provided handsets to community and health workers and piloted new healthcare applications for mobile learning purposes as well as basic household data collection Zain has provided SIM cards and established emergency numbers to improve access to healthcare and emergency services.

Zain will also provide a toll-free number that can be used in medical emergencies to connect patients with on-duty medical personnel. Other initiatives include a mobile learning tool to train community health workers and mobile applications to collect and share basic household data and health information.

Posted to the site on 9th May 2008