As an industry we seem to focus on higher bandwidth enabling us to go fast to consume more. More bandwidth, more content, more data … more, more, more. But, what about areas that have less and need to do less. Africa is a place where both of these scenarios exist and the telecom companies in the region need to think about both of these realities.
Below are eight scenarios that might change the way you think about the impact of wireless on a community. These are topics that change lives and future opportunities.
- Net 1 Mobile Solutions solar-powered lamp. It’s not about lighting the lamp, it’s about giving access to the Internet. It’s about giving people access to the world outside their village. Jobs, education, resources for their future. Think about school children that now have light to do their homework and access to the Internet. This changes people’s lives.
Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile banking program now has over 13 million users and enables companies to pay employees their salaries via mobile banking. The “cash lite” society continues to evolve in this region. Transaction time is less then 30 seconds and now billed as “instant.”
- Tuluntulu is focused on mobile only content distribution for low bandwidth video streaming. As most of the world focuses on more content being provided for those users with higher bandwidth, Tuluntulu is focusing on those with lower bandwidth. Adaptive Real-time Internet Streaming Technology is the technology developed to enable their solution. This is targeted at users with 30 to 300 kilobits per second of throughput. The service is free on Wi-Fi and funded via advertising.
In parts of off-grid Africa there is more access to mobile phones then electricity. Now there’s a problem that not many other places have to deal with. Customers send a text message saying they need to be able to charge and can locate a mobile solar-powered station and have access to a port for charging their phone.
- Vodacom Tanzania and Finish company Sibesonke partnered to enable remote farmers to access a mobile farming app. Remote farmers have the ability to access real-time weather forecasts, crop and livestock management tools and advice on pest and disease treatment. More importantly payment for the sale of crops and livestock can be processed directly to the farmer’s mobile phone.
- Cattle rustling proves a substantial challenge in East Africa. What is more surprising then the impact to the farmer’s livelihood is that thousands of people are killed each year during these cattle raids. In these regions, cattle is a way of life, not only specifying your ranking in the community and used to gain income, but also to pay off debts. So basically cows are the monetary system. An RFID chip that lasts for up to five years can be inserted into the cattle and tracked via a radio receiver that works up to 15 kilometers in range.
- How about crowd-mapping and social media to save Vultures poisoned as a result of poachers? Vultures look for dead/dying animals. Poachers are using poison to kill prey such as elephants and rhinos. When a vulture feeds on these animals they get sick. As a result, the vulture population becomes sick. People are asked to note the location of a sick vulture via Facebook and Twitter in order to create maps to locate the poaching areas.
E-waste is fast becoming a large problem in Africa, with a reported 3,000 tons annually of mobile device and computer electronics generated in
the region. So what’s the answer? Jewelry and shoes of course! Well, I’m not sure I’d wear them, but high points to E-Lab for creativity.
Hopefully posing these examples will cause people to stop and think about how different we are around the world. Even within large cosmopolitan areas, one size fits all services are not the answer. It would be great to see more telecom operators really thinking about their market demographics when they launch new services. There’s an opportunity here for both parties to win.
