If the challenge in pulling participants away from networking breaks is any indication of interest levels, then we can confidently say there’s a very high level of engagement and ideas around mobile enabled community services.
The MECS Working Group in Kampala, from May 29th-30th, showcased innovative approaches by mobile network operators and service providers, including a field trip to see their innovations in action.
The event also marked the launch of the MECS Innovation Fund Grants. With the support of the UK Government, these grants are aimed at understanding what types of mobile technologies and business models can enable access to water and energy services; what are the building blocks to implementing these at scale, and what are their social and commercial impacts. The first round of Concept Notes ends on June 30th!
The MNO Initiatives and Opportunities
Digicel kicked off the MNO panel presenting the successes and challenges of their combined solar street light and mobile charging stations in Haiti. Reflective of their strong commitment to social enterprise, they’ve been conscious of outcompeting mom and pop solar charging shops and are exploring further opportunities to enable energy services through their network.
Airtel Uganda shared how they’ve taken the first step toward energy cost savings by having 8 off-grid base stations on a solar-hybrid and are looking at how they can provide community power for these sites. TNM Malawi presented opportunities identified in a recent GSMA feasibility study to similarly enable access through their base stations.
A key discussion theme was the MNO’s choice of either owning and managing their own energy hardware at towers (the CapEx model), or outsourcing this to an energy company or a tower company (the OpEx model). Fitting with GSMA’s research in this area, there was increasing interest in finding the most suitable OpEx model, particularly for the addition of community energy services. The key concern is ensuring that any community power sharing won’t jeopardise power requirements for the tower, and having a third party provide that guarantee is often more effective for the operator.
Cost savings is of course one driver for an MNO to shift to renewable energy, but the added security that comes from extending that power to the community was another tangible motivator. Real stories from operators and energy service providers demonstrated that once communities value the energy provided to them, they collectively protect it as their own.
The Service Providers
The service provider presentations brought to life just how many models of mobile enabled community services are under development. Yet as Erica Mackey from Off.Grid:Electric noted, “Renewable technologies work, but the business models don’t,” hitting at the heart of the challenge. Off.Grid:Electric is applying a model in which household solar systems are sold through agents that are responsible for finding good customers that won’t default. At the same time, households have their risk reduced by being able to pay as they go and have a warranty with available local agents to make repairs.
The water story was a similar one about how mobile can improve the business model of water services. The Uganda National Water and Sewerage Corporation supplies urban centres has closed all cash payment offices and in favour of mobile payments, electronic pay points or banks. This has reduced the high costs of cash handling and transfer, and for customers increased ease of payments, which can be made from anywhere at any time with mobile money, and giving them instant SMS notifications as their accounts are settled. Mobile payments are now used by 31% of their customers.
From the rural water supply side, Triple-S shared how their M4W (Mobile for Water) programme is using SMS reporting to alert hand pump mechanics and district managers about non-functioning rural water points and integrating this data into the national database. They key steps now are trying to pin point how M4W has reduced downtime and improved the functionality of rural water services.
A holistic approach to community services and income generating activities is a key principle for Pamoja CleanTech and RVE. SOL. RVE. SOL’s approach to holistic services is KUDURA- an integrated stand-alone system that provides clean water, renewable electricity, biogas and bio-fertiliser for communities. Their business model relies on a mobile operator as an anchor client for clean base-station power services under a service agreement while providing a soft loan for the capital cost of the system. The community consume the services on a pre-pay basis and pay down the loan over time.
Pamoja CleanTech has implemented corn husk biogas power systems through partnerships with farmers. The pilot will ultimately see a collective of famers selling their husks to Pamoja, and Pamoja selling them back the electricity and providing a maize processing facility that runs on the same biogas supply. Though they have found the business model challenging namely due to the high cost of the micro-grid, they are overcoming this with a focus on enabling productive and income generating activities with the power.
Seeing is believing, so off we went to visit one of Pamoja’s sites and Fenix International. Fenix International has partnered with MTN Uganda for the distribution of their ReadySet, a solar phone charging and lighting system designed for shop owners. Interestingly, the shop owner we visited had power from the grid, but given its unreliability, the ReadySet was a sure way of providing phone charging and sales after dark. At the Pamoja site, the value of a power and a maize processing plant was imminently clear as we drove through dense fields of maize and other crops. “Pamoja” means “together” in Swahili and the commitment to this was clear in their holistic approach which included a forestry NGO to improve the productivity of farming outputs.
There are challenges in finding the right model for community services, but partnerships and the OpEx model can help. The business models take planning, regulatory compliance can be complex and slow, and community participation and capacity building are a must. GIZ presented how they have worked on these pieces as a third party between an MNO and a solar energy provider. Through this partnership they have enabled a mobile tower to run flawlessly on solar power, with a mini-grid powering a community with a capacity of 20kWp (this serves 100 households, 5 social institutions and 20 SMEs).
The Working Group concluded with a real buzz around the different opportunities for mobile to enable energy and water access, as well as excitement about accelerating or testing these through the MECS Innovation Grants. Amidst this excitement, partnerships were seeded and there was genuine learning; even innovators hungry for similar markets seemed to have an open exchange of ideas and pain points. To this fertile ground, we hope to provide the right nutrients- innovation grants, feasibility studies, research and learning activities- to grow the best ideas into the most successful solutions for water and energy services in emerging markets.