<font color="#996633"><font size="2"><font face="verdana,sans-serif">VNL's present focus appears to be cellular telephone services while Village Telco's interests lie in Wifi / mesh networking. <br><br>If these disruptive technologies are used to provide Internet Access solutions, there is a possibility of solutions beyond telecom dependent networking. <br>
<br>Village Telco's business model (of retaining profits for rural and informal settlements rather than feeding a telco) is an indication that telco-independent infrastructure and business models are feasible. <br><br>
<br clear="all"></font></font></font>Sivasubramanian Muthusamy<br><a href="http://www.isocmadras.com">http://www.isocmadras.com</a><br><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 6:54 PM, McTim <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dogwallah@gmail.com">dogwallah@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Compare this with the village telco model (<a href="http://www.villagetelco.org" target="_blank">www.villagetelco.org</a>),<br>
where profits are kept in rural and informal settlements instead of<br>
all going to a telco.<br>
<br>
Mesh potato beta unit draws 2.47 Watts at 12.3 Volts with radio on,<br>
phone on hook, Ethernet and Batman running (3 nodes), ssh remote shell<br>
connected via wireless. When the phone is off hook the power<br>
consumption increases to 3.26 Watts.<br>
<br>
Running gear on sunshine is nothing new either, but this may be the<br>
1st crack at mass production of fully contained solar systems.<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
--<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
McTim<br>
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A<br>
route indicates how we get there." Jon Postel<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 3:57 PM, Yehuda Katz <<a href="mailto:yehudakatz@mailinator.com">yehudakatz@mailinator.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> A 50-Watt Cellular Network<br>
> Solar-powered base stations can link up remote rural areas.<br>
> By David Talbot | Wednesday, February 10, 2010<br>
><br>
> Art. Ref.:<br>
> <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=24511&channel=communications§ion=#" target="_blank">http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=24511&channel=communications§ion=#</a><br>
><br>
> Print:<br>
> <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=24511&channel=communications§ion=#" target="_blank">http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=24511&channel=communications§ion=#</a><br>
> -<br>
><br>
> An Indian telecom company is deploying simple cell phone base stations that<br>
> need as little as 50 watts of solar-provided power. It will soon announce plans<br>
> to sell the equipment in Africa, expanding cell phone access to new ranks of<br>
> rural villagers who live far from electricity supplies.<br>
><br>
> Over the past year, VNL, based in Haryana, India, has reengineered traditional<br>
> cellular base stations to create one that only requires between 50 and 120<br>
> watts of power, supplied by a solar-charged battery. The components can be<br>
> assembled and booted up by two people and mounted on a rooftop in six hours.<br>
><br>
> One such station--dubbed a "village station"--can handle hundreds of users.<br>
> Groups of such village stations feed signals to a required larger VNL base<br>
> station within five kilometers. In turn that larger station, which is also<br>
> solar-powered, relays signals to the main network. The village station can turn<br>
> a profit even if customers spend on average only $2 a month on the service,<br>
> instead of the $6 required to make traditional systems cost-effective, the<br>
> company says.<br>
><br>
> "We've scaled down the cost, the energy, and the equipment so that almost<br>
> anybody can deploy it," says Rajiv Mehrotra, VNL's CEO. "It lends itself to<br>
> many business models that can serve the bottom of the pyramid," a reference to<br>
> the roughly 1.5 billion rural people who do not have access to electricity<br>
> grids around the world.<br>
><br>
> To date, some 50 VNL base stations have been installed in the Indian state of<br>
> Rajasthan, introducing thousands of people to cell phone service for the first<br>
> time. An African rollout is imminent, the company says, without elaborating.<br>
> The initial batch of 50 stations supports only voice calls, not text or data, a<br>
> decision mainly based on the fact that many of the new users may not be able to<br>
> read or write.<br>
><br>
> Besides enabling basic communication, cell phones can provide enormous<br>
> financial opportunities for rural people, especially if those people adopt<br>
> services that provide banking and lending via cell phone. More than half of<br>
> India's 1.1 billion people lack any access to basic financial services, and<br>
> instead pay usurious rates to local loan sharks. Furthermore, while<br>
> microlending can lift people from poverty, only about 150 million people<br>
> worldwide use such services. Expanded cell networks, together with banking<br>
> programs geared to the rural poor, could change all of that.<br>
><br>
> The base station rollouts are "incredibly empowering for the world's remote and<br>
> low-income masses," says Valerie Rozycki, head of strategic initiatives at<br>
> mChek, a mobile-payment platform based in Bangalore that is unconnected with<br>
> VNL.<br>
><br>
> Expanding cell networks in many rural areas comes down to the availability of<br>
> sufficient electricity to power base stations. Existing off-the-grid base<br>
> stations in India require expensive diesel generators. "The cost is substantial<br>
> enough to make many rural markets unprofitable and therefore unwired," says<br>
> Ethan Zuckerman, cofounder of Global Voices, an aggregator and promoter of<br>
> blogging worldwide. "Solutions that reduce the cost of building a base station<br>
> are helpful, and those that reduce the costs of powering a base station are<br>
> crucial."<br>
><br>
> Russell Southwood, CEO of Balancing Act, a London-based telecom and Internet<br>
> consultancy focused on Africa, says low-energy, self-sufficient solutions will<br>
> be key to expanding cellular access further in the developing world. "Energy<br>
> costs are particularly high, as [base-station] sites often have two generators<br>
> and some have three months' supply of fuel," he says. "Anything that cuts fuel<br>
> costs is bound to be attractive to operators, and it's also a more sustainable,<br>
> green approach to communications."<br>
><br>
> But while VNL has optimized its unit for rural areas, it is not the only<br>
> company making low-cost, low-power base stations. "We are seeing a trend toward<br>
> commoditization" in the cellular industry, says Ray Raychaudhuri, director of<br>
> WinLab, a wireless research laboratory at Rutgers University. "Where it was<br>
> traditionally vertically integrated, you are seeing that break down into<br>
> something that looks more like a Wi-Fi architecture, where you can buy a box<br>
> and install it."<br>
><br>
><br>
> Article Links:<br>
><br>
> Rajiv Mehrotra, CEO, Haryana, India<br>
> <a href="http://www.vnl.in/" target="_blank">http://www.vnl.in/</a><br>
><br>
> Valerie Rozycki, mChek<br>
> <a href="http://main.mchek.com/" target="_blank">http://main.mchek.com/</a><br>
><br>
> Ethan Zuckerman, cofounder of Global Voices<br>
> <a href="http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/" target="_blank">http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/</a><br>
><br>
> Russell Southwood, CEO of Balancing Act:<br>
> <a href="http://www.balancingact-africa.com/about.html" target="_blank">http://www.balancingact-africa.com/about.html</a><br>
><br>
> Ray Raychaudhuri, director of WinLab<br>
> <a href="http://www.winlab.rutgers.edu/" target="_blank">http://www.winlab.rutgers.edu/</a><br>
><br>
><br>
> Copyright Technology Review 2010.<br>
><br>
> ---<br>
><br>
> -30-<br>
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