Alternative Power

VNL today announced the launch of VNL’s WorldGSM, claiming that it’s the first solar-powered GSM system that will reduce power requirement which will make it suitable for a rural environment where electricity is scarce or unavailable.

 

Company officials said that their solar-powered GSM system will “change the telecoms market in rural areas across the world.”

 

VNL’s WorldGSM system is equipped with base stations that require between 50W and 120W of power to operate, while in comparison, a traditional GSM base station requires 3000 W.

 

Officials pointed out that a WorldGSM base station is entirely powered by solar energy with a 72 hour battery back-up in place, which is also charged by solar power.

 

Moreover, this latest offering includes a rural-optimized Mobile Switching Centre (MSC (News - Alert)), and compact Base Station Controller (BSC). Officials said that these two features make WorldGSM a “complete, end-to-end GSM network.”

 

VNL’s WorldGSM base stations are also interoperable with equipment from most major equipment manufacturers and are compatible with all standard handsets.

 

By using solar power, WorldGSM is expected to reduce the operating expenses for mobile operators, along with contributing to a lower environmental impact.

 

Mobile networks in India alone require 2 billion liters of diesel every year to power back-up diesel generators, according to an estimate by VNL.

 

Anil Raj, CEO at VNL, stated that Telecoms operators and equipment manufacturers have traditionally failed to deliver GSM to rural areas for the simple reason that it’s just too difficult and ultimately not sustainable.

 

He said that there is no power, no engineers, no infrastructure, a difficult terrain, low density, and most importantly, low subscriber revenues. “VNL’s equipment has overcome these challenges and provides operators with a truly viable way to connect the next billion mobile users.”

 

In the near future, India-based infrastructure provider Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd. said that it’s all set to test WorldGSM in rural areas of India. Following the successful completion of the trial, QTIL plans to roll out a complete commercial network that will be fully integrated with the networks of existing operators.