Fairwaves Inc. is a winner of the GSMA Connected Society Innovation Fund for Rural Connectivity, a project which aims to support innovative mobile internet connectivity solutions for unconnected rural communities.

Fairwaves’ develops and deploys disruptive 2G, 3G and 4G cellular solutions that make mobile coverage commercially viable in low income markets and rural areas. Its software-defined radio base stations are optimised for solar power, satellite or microwave backhaul.

Fairwaves will showcase a number of innovations for rural coverage with key strategic partners, and will provide 2G and 3G coverage which will be software-upgradeable to 4G. This will be backhauled over satellite with SES Networks with traffic terminated locally in Ghana. The passive infrastructure will include iengineering’s 20m concrete-less tower design with Greenpole solar power system. All elements including radio, satellite backhaul and power will be monitored by Fairwaves’ cloud-based monitoring system. Helios Towers are supporting the deployment with GIS analysis.

The overall aim of the trial is to bring Vodafone mobile coverage to 16,000 underserved people in remote communities in northern Ghana with innovative solutions optimised for the rural market.

Fairwaves will receive a £330,000 grant which will be used to test and evaluate their new, innovative mobile internet connectivity solution for unconnected rural communities in Ghana. The fund will be allocated in partnership with Vodafone Ghana and is set to run for approximately 18 months.

“Fairwaves is really proud to have been selected by the GSMA and Vodafone Ghana as winners of this grant. The only way to achieve sustainable mobile broadband coverage in rural areas such as northern Ghana is by deploying new and innovative technologies such as software-defined radio base stations, solar power and satellite backhaul to crack the problem. We are really grateful to DFID and the GSMA for this grant which will help us to demonstrate this to the wider market.”

– Albert Gardiner, CEO, Fairwaves, Inc.

Click here to read the GSMA’s recent press release on the Connected Society Innovation Fund.