Communications Oasis

Clearly, communications is a critical function, one that people, even in the poorest of nations are willing to pay for. But as more people have access to these services and can take advantage of new telecom technology, less of them are doing so using traditional hardwired infrastructure of landline phones, and the telecommunications companies are rapidly changing their business model to reflect this change.

If we were to rebuild our phone system from scratch, using today's level of sophistication, would we even bother stringing wires? Lines go down in inclement weather and require maintenance in order to keep the system up and running. If we were to start with nothing - absolutely nothing - don't you think we'd just all start with cell phones? Well, that's just what the developing world is doing.

According to a recent survey by the survey by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), "There has been a clear shift from fixed to mobile cellular telephony and by the end of 2008, there were over three times more mobile cellular subscriptions than fixed telephone lines globally. Two thirds of those are now in the developing world compared with less than half in 2002." In a separate report, the ITU reported that in 2007, there were about 250 million cell phone subscribers in Africa and predicted the number would continue to grow at a rapid clip.

In 2006, MSNBC reported that China is the world's biggest cell phone network, with over 400 million users and in 2003 the number of mobile phones in China surpassed the number of fixed-line phones. Tom Friedman wrote in Hot, Flat and Crowded that there's only 5 percent landline (phone) penetration in China.

And now, as the industry races to catch up the market, the latest offerings from the services providers are starting to look like GreenZoneSolutions.

VNL is focusing on the next billion cell phone users by developing the world's first solar powered mobile network designed from the ground up to serve rural populations in developing economies — and do it profitably.  The Base Stations are erected in days by non-engineers and powered by the sun. They call this new technology microtelecom, and define it as the optimization of telecom infrastructure for a very specific application: serving low-income, hard-to-reach communities in rural areas. It's pretty cool. In April 2009, VNL received an award by the CTIA in the Green Network Hardware Infrastructure category.

VNL augments pre-existing landline systems, extending range to rural sites using conventional methods, then stretches even further and provides coverage to outlying areas where the population may be widely distributed or pockets of people are relatively isolated but still would benefit from the ability to connect with others via a cell phone via these Village Sites-  VNL calls it a cascade of stars.

The Village Sites are the smallest, most energy efficient base stations ever built, according to VNL. They are completely solar powered, able to be set up in hours, and built specifically for easy transport by vehicles typically operating in the area as opposed to specialized resources. If you can change a flat tire, you can probably put one up, claims VNL - I love it!

The tower design itself makes an important contribution to the overall WorldGSM™ system, helping minimize power consumption and maintenance while supporting installation by local workers.

A WorldGSM™ site packs into a few small carts and is designed for easy assembly with no special tools — just a compass to make sure it’s pointed South. The rooftop poles are even smaller and easier to deploy.

Conspicuously absent from a WorldGSM™ deployment are such things as a buildings, air-conditioning, mains power, generators, diesel fuel and armies of expensive engineers.

Information from VNL site on their committment to clean technology: Mobile telecom networks require an enormous amount of power. In markets with unreliable grid power, this energy often comes from diesel fuel. By some estimates, India alone already uses over 1.8 billion litres of diesel fuel every year to power Base Stations when the grid is not present or not available. This does not include the fuel needed to transport fuel to the mobile sites. Adding hundreds of millions of rural users can only multiply this destructive environmental impact — unless these users are supported by a sustainable alternative. WorldGSM™ is the lowest power mobile infrastructure ever invented — by an order of magnitude. This not only directly reduces its carbon footprint, it also allows the system to be entirely solar- and/or wind-powered. For the first time, mobile communications come without the associated environmental impact.

The social impacts are incredible. Think about how much change could be brought into a place that previously had been essentially an island - the education, medical, economic implications, just to name a few, are amazing.

Just as microfinance has revolutionised developing economies, microtelecom is set to release the potential locked inside rural communities, helping hundreds of millions of people overcome the limitations of geography.

There is much more information about VNL's technology, business model and social mission at their website. Clearly, VNL is not only dedicated to the new triple bottom line - people, planet and profit - but also to the GreenZoneSolution bottom line: Renewable, Reliable and Remarkable.