A key reason why many regions of the world lack GSM coverage is the limited reach of the electricity grid. In Nigeria for example only 25% of base stations are connected to ‘the grid’ which means Operators have to solve the power issue themselves in order to extend coverage to remote parts of the world. As a result, Africa alone consumes over 30 million litres of diesel per annum powering base stations (an average of 18,000 litres per base station per year).