IKEA-style low-cost mobile phone access

By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 2008-08-28

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India-based mobile company VNL's WorldGSM technology offers rural areas in third-world countries a do-it-yourself alternative to the expensive mobile networks we are used to in the industrialized world.

GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) is the most widely used technology for mobile phones. However, it is expensive to set up networks - up until now, that is. VNLs mobile system offers mobile transmitting station technology that runs on solar power, can be set up using low technical skills, and enables mobile users to have cell phone connections at a fraction of the cost paid by users in developed nations.

Anil Raj, CEO of VNL, a Swedish-Indian start-up company, says its easy-assemble system is aimed at areas where "there are no roads, no electricity, no qualified personnel, and an average revenue per user of just $1-$2."

WorldGSM, says VNL, is designed from the ground up to profitably serve rural populations in developing economies. "Our vision, says CEO Raj, "is that villagers can go and pick up a base station, put it on their ox-cart, travel for two days and install it themselves."

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