Nokia Siemens Networks is adding Internet capability to its Village Connection infrastructure solution, enabling people in remote villages to access the Internet at affordable prices.
Village Connection is made up of GSM access points and regional access centres located in villages.
Each access point handles call control and completion for up to 80 subscribers within a village, says Nokia Siemens. Up to 200 access points in different villages aggregate to an access centre, which handles call completion within a particular region.
"With a small additional cost, the Village Connection infrastructure can be upgraded to create an Internet kiosk," Nokia Siemens head of new growth markets Rauno Granath told ITWeb at the unveiling, held in Sandton this week.
He says the Village Connection Internet kiosk is styled along the lines of an urban Internet caf'e, and at a basic level, it is made up of two PCs, with one PC used to provide IP backhaul connection and the second PC serving as the user access point.
The Internet kiosk provides users with voice, data and Internet at affordable prices, he says.
In addition to addressing the affordability issues that rural communities face, staff manning the Internet kiosk also provide value for rural customers, as they can teach new users how to access relevant information and services, he adds.
Granath notes the Village Connection has been tested successfully in selected emerging markets, including India and Tanzania.
Plans are under way to trial the solution in SA, he says. However, he would not provide details as to when and where the trail would take place, saying that information would be provided in due course.
Business models
Granath says there are three possible models dictating how the Village Connection and Internet kiosk can be owned and managed.
"These local networks can be run by village entrepreneurs as franchises, reducing costs for network operators," he says.
In turn, local networks support full connectivity to the operator's main network, he says, adding that operators can also employ local people to manage access within each village.
A third option is for the local entrepreneurs and operators to partner to run the local access point.
"Whichever option is chosen, capital costs can be slashed and operating costs are significantly lower compared with conventional network operations."
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