The GSM Association (GSMA), a global trade association representing more than 690 GSM mobile phone operators across 213 countries, launched a global Development Fund in 2005 to catalyse growth of effective and scalable development initiatives using mobile technology in emerging markets.
Although mobile telephone ownership continues to see strong growth, and initiatives ?? such as the GSMA Emerging Market Handset (EMH) Programme (in collaboration with Motorola) ?? have helped reduce handset prices to less than $30, about 1 to 1.5 billion people will not have access to mobile telephones in the foreseeable future, according to GSMA estimates.
To help give these people access to telecommunications, it is funding projects designed to stimulate the rollout of “shared access” mobile solutions across the developing world. Two projects have been initially selected for implementation: “Shared Access to Voice” and “Shared Access to Data”. Today, GSMA is working with operators in countries including Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda on these projects to determine a configuration that will lead to a large-scale rollout and hence, large-scale social and economic impacts. Some of these pilots are now evolving into broader rollouts of shared voice services. Shared data pilots using EDGE and WCDMA technologies are also under way.
Ram Rajagopal, strategist, Accenture Development Partnerships, working for GSMA in India, says: “The GSM Association’s Development Fund plays a key role in implementation of these projects. It advises on the strategic and technical aspects based on prior projects and knowledge of innovative uses of GSM technology in emerging markets. It also provides project management for pilot planning and drives pilot planning by facilitating relationships between suppliers, operators and others.
One such scheme uses specialised software from the South African company Sharedphone, which enables ultra-low-cost handsets from Motorola to work like a mobile “payphone”. The company’s software can modify the Motorola C113 and C113a handsets to act as mobile payphones that local communities can use to make a call. Local entrepreneurs can then sell airtime on these phones to people wishing to make a call or send a text message. This innovative approach allows an entrepreneur to set up a payphone business for just the cost of a handset and simultaneously extend the accessibility of communication.
In addition to extending access to basic voice services, GSMA is also using the Development Fund to explore how high speed mobile networks, based on 3GSM technologies, can aid social and economic development. In many instances, 3GSM networks are the most economical way to make internet access and other data communications widely available in the developing world.
For example, GSMA is running field trials in Bangladesh, promoting the concept of low-cost internet access terminals for the developing world. In rural Bangladesh, villagers are using low-cost terminals to connect to the internet via a mobile network that uses EDGE technology to transmit data at speeds of up to 240 kilobits per second. As a result of the successful pilot, GrameenPhone is now rapidly rolling out 500-plus centres across Bangladesh over the next few months.
“This programme has the potential of being bigger and more useful than the EMH programme launched at last year’s 3GSM World Congress. It will be good for the market and society. Handset makers, operators and financial institutions are all backing the initiative,” says Ben Soppitt, director, GSMA Development Fund.
“The project had been in the pilot phase since last October and the 3GSM World Congress was the appropriate place to launch it,” said Soppitt while launching the programme at the World GSM Congress in Barcelona in February this year.
From the operator’s perspective, this results in higher ARPUs (average revenue per user), increased brand awareness and future individual customers. For entrepreneurs, this programme offers a side business with very low investment and an enhanced status in community. Lastly, for consumers, the benefits include cost reduction, convenience and addressing of social needs.
In India, the truly low-end mobile voice market remains unaddressed despite a 68 per cent growth in mobile subscribers last year. “An investment of about Rs 10,000 is required to set up a fixed PCO whereas a mobile PCO can be set up at 20 per cent of the cost,” says Soppitt.
The GSMA Development Fund has recently helped Airtel launch a pilot project in western Uttar Pradesh that equips the local entrepreneurs with handsets specially adapted to function as payphones. The project was formally launched in June this year and the response has been enthusiastic, particularly as the operator has scaled down tariffs to match fixed line tariffs. It also helped Idea Cellular to launch the pilot in Maharashtra recently.
Soppitt is optimistic that “these projects have the potential to transform millions of lives by giving them access to information. For instance, farmers can now get weather reports as well as information on crop prices and sell directly to the market instead of going through middlemen. Another major advantage is e-medicine. Villagers no longer have to commute long distances to get medical help.
Thus, going by the success of the pilot projects, GSMA is confident of achieving its target of creating half a million entrepreneurs across shared voice and shared data by the end of 2006.
