Rwanda News Agency/Agence Rwandaise d'Information (Kigali)
18 October 2007
Kigali — With millions of people living in rural Rwanda away from the communications network there's a significant drive from the industry to link up the villages affordably but at a profit as well. Infrastructure provider Nokia-Siemens Networks (NSN) is the latest with a model for wireless communications for rural villagers.
Nokia Siemens Networks, a 50-50 joint venture between giant Finish handset makers Nokia with Germany's Siemens was launched early this year targeting to be a supplier of telecommunications solution. Later Village Connection business model was launched that has already reached South Africa.
The new telecom infrastructure giant will be rolling out a pilot project with the South African national ICT research institute in the SA Eastern Cape before year-end. But the costs of the project are still being worked out.
The Village Connection, as it is known, comprises GSM access points and regional access centres located in villages. Each access point can handle call control and completion for up to 80 subscribers within a village. Up to 200 access points in different villages aggregate to an access centre, which handles call completion within a particular region.
According to the Nokia Siemens Networks Spokesman Mr. Scott Smith, there are talks ongoing with MTN Rwanda to have the Village Connection scheme brought to Rwanda.
"We already have the technology and ready to launch into any market but now we are having discussions with the operator MTN and some South African banks to see how Village Connection can come to Rwanda", Scott told RNA on phone from South Africa.
Mr. Scott said discussions are in advanced stages with a "few issues to be settled". He however declined to name the banks that Nokia Siemens Networks and MTN Rwanda are engaging.
The head of MTN Rwanda VillagePhone division Mr. Albert Kinuma said officials from Nokia Siemens Networks have been to Rwanda of recent but declined to divulge details referring RNA to the CEO (Chief Executive Office) Mr. Themba Khumalo who is out of the country.
The Nokia Siemens Networks Village Connection offers an easy concept to build rural connectivity village by village, enabling a franchise-based business model between an operator and local village entrepreneurs.
A village would typically host one access point module comprising GSM radio, power and IT hardware and software components. The access point only requires simple installation and powering can be done, for instance, by solar energy.
Each access point connects to standard GSM mobile devices and autonomously handles calls within a village through local switching. Access points are connected via Internet Protocol links to a regional access center (an operator). The access center connects the villages to the main GSM core network and handles the calls between the villages.
The model includes a local entrepreneur, who hosts a mobile access point, and a regional GSM operator, which aggregates the traffic between different villages and provides external connectivity to Village Connection subscribers. Broadband internet is another service that is sourced the same system.
People network
NSN Mr. Scott said Village Connection is a "people initiative" that will bring hundreds of jobs to the local communities. Village Connection allows transferring responsibility for network and business functions to a local level, building cost-effective connectivity village by village.
It employs local people to manage access within each village, or local entrepreneurs may license the mobile access rights for their surrounding area.
According to Mr. Scott, potential village entrepreneur candidates will get to know about this opportunity and participate through promotion of the village entrepreneurship that will need to driven by the main stake holder in the value chain.
"It could be the mobile operator or it could, for example be government if this is considered by a particular government as a public sector initiative", said Scott.
While today's mobile customers in emerging markets typically spend between USD 7 and USD 10 per month on mobile services, providers seeking to access emerging rural markets have to make mobile connectivity affordable for people who can spend just USD 2 or USD 3 per month. This demands an effective way to keep the total cost of mobile ownership below USD 3 per month. The situation is worse in Rwanda.
The NSN official says Village Connection will bring along "low cost calling and access rates as well as providing all the values of GSM technology."
MTN Rwanda already has VillagePhone targeting rural Rwanda. S.A-based MTN Group says that over the next three years VillagePhone aims to create 3,000 new businesses throughout the country. Operators will soon be available in 14 of Rwanda's 30 districts. But the costs of calling in Rwanda remain high.
Nokia Siemens Networks officials will be in Rwanda to showcase the Village Connection solutions at the International Telecommunications Union Connect Africa summit due October 29-30.
Meanwhile, the infrastructure provider has been granted rights to deploy broadband access across 7000 Indian villages in time to cover more than 20.000. The firm announced October 16 that the new access network's high bandwidth will allow the India operator - BSNL to deliver high data and triple play intensive services such as Video on Demand, Video Multi cast, IPTV, Video Conferencing and VPN among others to its customers.
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