Global mobile market penetration reached over 80% of the population at the end of 2011. Limited in the past to developed markets and urban zones, the growth and benefits of mobile telephony is now reaching rural regions in emerging markets. In Africa and the Middle East, the market penetration was 59% at the end of 3rd Quarter of 2011, with around 70% of this population living in rural areas. For consumers living in off-grid environments, mobile phone charging remains today one of the main barriers to phone adoption.
Most of mobile phone owners still travel to the nearest phone charging shop (from a few meters to a few kilometres) and spend several US$ per month on charging their phone battery. The introduction of innovative solutions based on the combination of renewable energy, reliability and affordability to end users have opened the door to a new generation of decentralized local energy access devices. Based on the previous reports from the GSMA, Green Power for Mobile Charging Choices 2011 and Harnessing the Full Potential of Mobile for Off-Grid Energy, the Community Power from Mobile team remains in close contact with solution providers in this space, monitoring recent innovation and disseminating content to GSMA members.
Several solutions now cohabit, from very simple and cheap solar chargers, solar lamps with charging capability, household batteries combined to renewable charging solutions and larger solar home systems, providing energy for household basic needs (lighting and powering small devices).
The design of new solutions should ensure reliability is correlated to affordability. As it is the case in the developed world, there is a sense of pride when owning an object, and people prefer reliable, efficient and desirable charging solutions even if they have to pay a more expensive price for it.
However, low income population can hardly afford a charging device costing more than US$20. Partnering with a microfinance institution allows end users to get a small loan to purchase such products. Rental model and progressive ownership are also becoming solutions to avoid high full upfront prices and dilute costs over time. Econet Solar recently launched a Home Power Station with a model based on the rental of a solar home system for a US$1 per week fee, with Econet subscribers topping up for energy the same way they top up for airtime. Eight19 and Simpa Networks use a Progressive Ownership model, where each payment made to purchase energy also allow them to progressively own these charging devices. These models are inherently based on the integration of a cellular GSM chipset, which remotely monitor the use of the solar systems, locking or opening up usage according to users credit situation.
Growing from phone charging to a more global supply of steady power to households, the use of “low cost smart meters” for micro-grid networks is also gaining more traction. Micro-grid companies such as Shared Solar in Mali and Uganda, Husk Power in India have been developing their own smart meter technologies to increase payment collection efficiency and flexibility for end users. The combination of these smart technologies with mobile money services could open new grounds for entrepreneurships in the energy but also water sectors in underserved regions.
From a mobile operator perspective, enhancing access to phone charging solutions has several business benefits. ARPU increase, churn reduction, customer loyalty are some of these benefits. More than just providing a charging solution to end users, access to energy has a catalytic effect on the empowerment of communities; for example, a field study from Fenix International showed that mobile money shop owners were able to open longer hours thanks to the access to lighting, then increasing mobile money transactions. Access to charging solutions are indeed an enabler for in country socio economic development, phone charging being the first step on the empowerment path.