Uganda: solar phone to bridge digital divide

A recent article indicates that previous efforts to put up large solar systems in remote areas such as Kalangala (Uganda) aimed at helping customers there charge their phones. But it did not solve the problem. Putting the solar on your phone to save you time and money. The launch of the Kasana phone will not only increase its customers’ savings, but also boost government’s efforts in mobile telephony penetration.

According to Uganda Communication Commission, mobile telephone penetration for Uganda, whose population is estimated at 30 million people, is only 30%. Of the total population, more than 80% of the people live in the rural areas.

Most of these people do not have electricity. This means that people with no access to electrical power have to walk long distances to charge their phones at any available power outlets, usually in trading centres miles away.

According to Mona Lisa Brookshire, UTL’s Chief Marketing Officer, ‘the lack of power [is] a major barrier to bridging the gap of entry to the digital age largely because the technology then required all mobile phones to be charged using grid power.”