Nokia Siemens Networks

From affordable voice to affordable internet

Expanding Horizons 03/2008

Bringing the advantages of the internet to isolated villages will take more than clever technology. Assisted access is a key evolutionary step that will help new users to appreciate the benefits of information services.

As personal voice services become a reality in emerging markets, the focus of operators will shift towards providing internet access. While new technologies and innovative business models are bringing the cost of internet access within reach of more and more consumers, other challenges need to be addressed, particularly in rural areas.

Many rural dwellers have limited or no experience of information technologies. Nor do they have any concept of how they can benefit from using content and services offered on the internet. They need to be taken on a journey of discovery, to learn how to use services and explore the rewards for themselves. The most practical way to do this is through shared and assisted internet access.

 “When consumers understand how they can increase their productivity and earn more money when using the internet, they will be willing to pay for their own IP connected device and personal internet access. We need to progressively build competence and motivation in consumers,” believes Mr. Frank Oehler, Head of Business Development at Nokia Siemens Networks.

“It will take time for users to become familiar with new technologies. Information services will have to be intuitive to match the level of competence that can reasonably be expected from new users.”

Engaging with people by offering them shared access at the village level is an interim step and a viable short-term goal for operators.

Promotion by example

“Villagers tend to trust their community peers, so once someone in the village has enjoyed a particular benefit, word of mouth will spread rapidly. This basic form of viral marketing is of the utmost importance in helping people to identify the personal value and improved efficiency that information services can bring, and we need to support this,” says Oehler.

One solution being assessed by several operators is the Nokia Siemens Networks Village Connection, which provides personal voice and SMS services and Internet Kiosk for shared internet access. Village-based GSM Access Points can be operated by local employees, or run as a franchise by entrepreneurs.

Internet Kiosk uses the existing Village Connection IP backhaul connection, enabling an operator to provide internet access easily and cost-effectively with a sustainable business model.

An Internet Kiosk is easy to operate via a shared computer in the village, and the entrepreneur has a valuable role in tutoring villagers on how to use the internet to access relevant information services. Tanzania’s leading operator Vodacom has elected to trial Village Connection to develop its mobile communications network.

The main beneficiaries of the project will be the millions of villagers in Tanzania, who only have up to five euros to spend on telecommunication services per household per month.

“The low OPEX and operational simplicity that the solution presents provides us with the necessary arsenal to maintain our coverage and quality leadership,” comments Mr. Peter Correia, Vodacom’s Chief Operational Officer.