Recycled phones - Good for the environment, Good for revenues?

by Karen Coppock
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Handset manufacturers have multiple incentives to remove used handsets from the marketplace - keep environmentalists happy while decreasing a formidable threat to first-time handset purchases (used phones)

Environmentalists vocally encourage the reuse and responsible recycling of mobile phones. In the summer of 2006, Greenpeace began rating the environmental policies of mobile phone and personal computer manufacturers. The Greenpeace ratings are based on the amount of hazardous substances used in the product and the company’s take back and recycling program. None of the top five handset manufacturers – Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung – analyzed by Greenpeace received the highest “green rating,” and many were penalized in their rating due to the lack of disclosure or progress on voluntary take back and recycling programs.

Mobile handset manufacturers may want to consider implementing more aggressive take back programs in emerging markets as an environmentally friendly mechanism for decreasing the amount of used handsets in circulation in these high-growth countries. By decreasing the availability of used handsets in these markets, manufacturers could minimize a significant competitor to the low-end models they are increasingly launching in these markets. Mobile handset manufacturers may even want to evaluate the feasibility of offering "certified used handsets" that they have cleaned, tested and updated potentially capitalizing on the used handset phenomena themselves while being good, and clean, corporate citizens.

Brazil's New Mobile Regulations: Pro-consumer, Pro-Operator or Both?

by Karen Coppock
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Several news outlets, including cellular-news.com, carried a story today reporting that "Brazil Regulator Announces New Pro-Consumer Cellular Rules."

Could these rules, which include the requirement that prepaid mobile phone credits must be reactivated when phones are recharged and must be valid for 180 days rather than current requirement of 90 days, be good for mobile operators as well? Definitely.

During a global study of potential first-time mobile handset purchasers, our field researcher team in Egypt reported that Mobinil's new Lifetime Validity program (allows customers to make only one charged call every three months to retain their prepaid-account) was mentioned as an incentive for low-income individuals to finally buy a mobile phone. Mobinil's CEO notes “...this has had a very significant market impact for us. We saw large subscriber growth following the introduction of this offer...” Vodafone soon launched a lifetime validity program of its own and in its July 2007 Interim Management Statement, it noted that "Organic customer net additions were 1.0 million, with a positive reaction to the introduction of lifetime validity for prepaid customers."

Whether they are forced, as in the case of Brazil, or pushed for, as is the case of Mobinil in Egypt, business model innovations will put mobile phones and service at the reach of individuals lower and lower down in the economic pyramid - likely to the benefit of both consumers and corporations.

WiMAX - Cream Skimming or Bridging the Digital Divide

by Karen Coppock
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For all of the talk about WiMAX being the silver bullet for rural connectivity and bridging the digital divide, I have seen many announcements about WiMAX deployments in major urban areas.

This week MTN Uganda will start a national deployment of WiMAX across Uganda. According to a press release by Alvarion, MTN Uganda's WiMAX technology partner, WiMAX will first be deployed "in the capital and largest urban settlement of Uganda – Kampala, [and] is planned to be followed by additional network deployments in 30 other cities across the country."

A few months ago Saudi Arabia went live with a WiMAX deployment on Tahlia Street in downtown Riyadh as a part of its "SmartCity" program. Mohammed Saquer, CEO ITC states that, "this service will further our effort to enliven downtown and continue Riyadh's aim of being a city at the cutting edge of technology innovations." Intel is an active partner in this initiative to revitalize cities.

Even in the United States, WiMAX will be deployed in urban areas. SprintNextel selected ZTE to supply their WiMAX solution, which they plan to use to "cover 85 percent of the households in the top 100 U.S. markets."

Perhaps Ericsson's statement about the lack of a solid business case for WiMAX was referring to WiMAX in rural areas?

Remittances to fund mobile phones and minutes - why not PCs?

Posted by Karen Coppock
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NPR had a story on electronic money transfer service, Mukuru, this afternoon. Mukuru allows the immigrant community to send money - in the form of gas vouchers and mobile phone minutes - to their relatives back home in Zimbabwe.

The Mukuru business model is not new. Several firms, including MamaMikes of Kenya and Thamel.com of Nepal, enable immigrants to direct their money transfers to specific purchases or purposes. This phenomena is commonly referred to as the "productive use of remittances," which is somewhat of a misnomer as the companies offer gifts such as roses, candy and televisions as options.

In all three cases - Mukuru, MamaMikes and Thamel.com - the company accepts the money transfer request online, hence taking advantage of the technically savvy immigrant population. The family member back home then receives a text message notifying them that they have a gift or voucher waiting for pick-up. Thamel.com adds an extra touch of delivering the gift and then sending the immigrant a picture, or video, of the family member with their new gift or voucher in hand.

Mobile phone minutes are gift options on all three services, which is logical given that mobile phone minutes are an alternative currency in many poor countries. Thamel.com and MamaMikes also offer many brand-name mobile handsets as gift choices. None of the three firms have brand-name PCs as gift options - perhaps a missed opportunity for computer companies interested in reaching the next billion consumers in emerging markets.

Anecdotes on Mobile Trends in Africa

posted by Karen Coppock
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Had the opportunity to have coffee with Ken Banks of Kiwanja yesterday – always enlightening.

He mentioned some interesting anecdotes from the Mobile Advocacy Toolkit Working Meeting he participated in in Nairobi earlier this month.

Uganda - Training on SMS inbox cleaning. An entrepreneur created a business teaching mobile phone users how to clean their SMS inboxes. He charges $1 for a one hour class, a steep rate in a country in which many people earn less than $1 per day. Shows how we take for granted how “easy” mobile phones are to use.

Congo and Rural Uganda – Women prevented from using mobile phones. Appears that women are discouraged, or outright forbidden, to use mobile phones in some parts of the Congo and rural Uganda. Jealous husbands are not keen on their wives having access to communications devices even if they could be the gateway to financial, health and educational services.

Kenya – Mobile phones cobbled together with spare parts. In Kenya, some entrepreneurs apparently build mobile phones from a variety of spare parts and homemade materials. For some $15-20 a customer can pick a model and the entrepreneur will weld together a mobile phone for them…it may not be pretty, but it works – at least for a while.

Kenya – Mobile phones used to connect cyber cafes to the Internet. A leading carrier offered a flat rate (a few dollars per month) GRPS service in Kenya. Entrepreneurs seized the opportunity to create cyber cafes using mobile phones as modems for PC Internet connectivity. Pakistanis also tend to use mobile phones/GRPS to connect their computers to the Internet – a new twist on fixed mobile.

Thanks for the interesting stories, Ken.