Presentation by Catherine Flouvat – CSR Orange AMEA Session: ICT Infrastructure Provision and Agricultural Development on 6 Nov 2013 ICT4Ag, Kigali, Rwanda

1. Orange vision on rural areas
coverage in African countries
Catherine Flouvat – CSR Orange AMEA
ICT4Ag - November, 2013
Stream 3 - Enabling Environments for the Agricultural Sector to
Maximise the Benefits from ICTs

2. people the most underserved by ICT are in majority
located in rural areas & depend directly or indirectly on
agriculture for their livelihoods
despite barriers and challenges to provide ICT accessibility
(economical and geographical), Orange believe that :
60% of the untapped market is located in rural areas
(Orange 2010)
2

3. challenges are very different from one country to the
other, then 1 solution cannot fit all…

Niger’s situation with a national mobile penetration rate inferior to
40%, despite Orange 76% population coverage (2G) and 12%
3G population coverage is not presenting the same barriers than

Mali’s situation with a national mobile penetration rate of 98%,
and an Orange 82% population coverage (2G) and 18% 3G
population coverage !
only 6 points gap in Orange population coverage…the barrier is more
ICT education and economical accessibility!
3
Source: Rural Coverage Segmentation – REACH project, H1 2012

4. Orange rural coverage
business cases in Africa

5. rural coverage : introduction to business cases
Equipment’s type put on antennas :
Macro
Macro-Cell : average costs (capex only): 80150K€ / signal emission up to 35km/ transmit
data & voice
SC
Small-Cell : average costs: 50K€ / signal
emission up to 5km/ transmit data & voice
Different business models :
CP
5
Community Phone : average costs for the
entrepreneur: 35 to 183€ / signal emission
up to 35km from the macro-cell/ transmit
voice & SMS
CI
Community Internet: average costs for the
entrepreneur: 150 to 580$ / extension of 3G
coverage/ transmit: data / voice
data mainly, voice …
technology can
evolve from
Community Phone to
Small Cell up to
Macro-Cell if
needed, as the
population’s
education and usage
is growing…

6. community phone – a low-cost rural coverage extension
1/2
the model concept

the Community Phone project allows isolated
villages which are not covered by the mobile
network to be connected to this network
thanks to an antenna extending the coverage, a
handset allowing people to call from this land
using a local tariff plan fixed by the entrepreneur
and a solar charger
the Community Phone project has

been launched in
more than 3000 community phones
deployed

coverage extension & equipment needed

by adding the antenna within a 15 to 35km radius
from the base station

equipment : handset + software, 1 SIM card,
solar charger, an antenna
6 countries
the solution is considered as smart
cost design as there is no CAPEX for
Orange:

the micro entrepreneur contracts a micro
loan in order to buy the kit: the price of the
kit ranges from €35 to €180 depends on
grants
-
6
-
the solution generates a positive revenue for
Orange and the entrepreneur
rewarded with the 2010 AfricaCom award
for « best rural solution »

7. community phone – a low-cost rural coverage extension
2/2
benefits of the solution



financially profitable solution for MNOs
energy sustainable thanks to a solar charger device
the solution allows job creation in rural areas
potential risks


7
competitors could deploy a macro site near a community phone
2 impacts :
 lost of market share
 job destruction (micro entrepreneur) like Malitel in Mali using
the Orange Community Phones as a geo-marketing
information!

8. the deployment of low-cost sites in far remote areas in
Niger 1/3
Orange Niger has partnered with Altobridge in 2011 to complete a first phase of mobile
connectivity deployments in remote regions of Niger
traditional solution
8
large tower structure, airconditioner, diesel powered,
expensive
15 km coverage
Altobridge solution
small, rapidly deployable, passively cooled,
solar powered, low-cost, voice & data (GPRS,
EDGE)
5 km coverage

9. the deployment of low-cost sites in far remote areas in
Niger 2/3
Orange Niger network evolution

37 low-cost sites had been deployed in remote
areas in Niger

an average of 1200 first-time subscribers at each
location have connected to the new service

2011
Altobridge sites allowed Orange Niger to
increase its geographical 2G coverage
2010

installed in one day, the Altobridge site CAPEX is
20-25% of Macro sites (80k€-150k€) with a
fraction of OPEX
Macro sites deployed in 2011
the choice of AltoBridge technology was motivated by the search for a
“low cost” solution to seize the opportunity to be the first operator to
cover small remote and inaccessible areas thanks to low investment,
until these areas become more profitable
9
Macro sites
Altobridge sites

10. the deployment of low-cost sites in far remote areas in
Niger 3/3
1 quality of service should not be underestimated
threat of the competition
2
3 ROI* can be difficult in some areas
4
10
the redeployment of the sites is difficult
*return on investment

11. new business models under study
1
outsource to constructors
11
many constructors have developed low-cost solutions (e.g. Ericsson, IPX)

the constructor is in charge of buying the base station and managing it

it is up to the constructor to decide whether or not upgrade/replace a small cell by a larger
capacity cell if traffic increases

2
3

this solution enforces revenue & risk sharing between MNOs and constructors
new business model based on an “info-preneur”

outsource to a local agent rather than an equipment vendor

the operator keeps the control of the network while lowering the CAPEX
provide partial coverage

switching on/off the base station rather than providing 24h availability

contribute to reduce costs related to energy consumption

12. Orange vision and recommendations
sharing infrastructure : a new ongoing
momentum


the “infrastructure sharing” is a new trend
aiming at reducing the network cost of
ownership by sharing passive infrastructures;
sharing active infra or the rest of their
installation (energy, air conditioning, etc.) is
under study.
development of new partnerships, of
which Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)

expanding network and connectivity to
rural areas often required new kinds of
partnerships with local stakeholders and
communities to make sure ICT adoption
will happen

an active and transparent dialogue is
needed between international development aid
the sharing arrangement lets operators
reduce their costs by over 30%

many MNOs have decided to adopt an
“infrastructure sharing” model to profitably
extend their networks to rural areas
agencies (whose role is to provide the funds
needed while setting up development and
financial criteria), governments (who define local
strategy and policy) and private companies (who
bring the technical & commercial expertise)

12
MNOs involvement in the agricultural sector and
other “life services for rural people” can boost this
kind of partnerships. By developing PPP, the
MNO doesn’t support all the costs by itself

13. thank you