Palm and Pumpkin to Spread Mobile Phone Technology?

October 16, 2006 – 11:53 am

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No, I am not joking and there is no pun here. If you are living in Europe or in America, it will be difficult for you to imagine that there are many places in the world where access to electricity is a tough ask for many people. So, mobile phone service providers find it almost impossible to expand their network in the rural areas. In the rural areas of Africa and many parts of Asia, even if you have electricity facility it does not mean that you will enjoy uninterrupted supply.

Palm and pumpkin seed oil seem to be the best materials to support mobile phone companies in the rural areas of Africa. Africa is a vast continent and the mobile phone providers find it difficult to cover such huge areas. The rising price of fuel in the international market has not helped them at all. Ericsson and MTN (of South Africa) have come up with an interesting solution to the problem. Reuters reported:

Swedish telecoms networks group Ericsson (ERICb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) and South African cellphone operator MTN (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday they want to start replacing diesel with biofuels in electricity generating stations powering mobile phone base stations in rural Africa.

Supported by the GSM Association’s development fund, they will start with a project in Nigeria to use biofuels for power generators supplying mobile base stations located beyond the reach of the electricity grid.

The initiative is going to start from Nigeria. Palm, groundnut, pumpkin seeds and jatropha will be used as fuel and this fuel will ensure electricity for the mobile phone base stations. In the rural parts of Africa, transporting fossil fuel (diesel) is a nightmare and ensuring safe passage of the fuel is another major concern for the mobile phone operators. So, instead of focusing on providing good mobile phone service, the operators have to be busy with carrying fuel to the base stations in the rural areas. On the other hand, alternative fuel sources like palm, groundnut, pumpkin seeds and jatropha are available in rural parts of Africa. So, this way, the mobile phone operators can ensure electricity and focus on providing quality service for the users.

If this project becomes successful then it can work as a role model for many other countries in the world.

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