Analysis, Mobile, Emerging Markets, Regulation, Global: The GSMA (GSM Association) is the trade association for the mobile phone industry. With a membership comprising over 700 operators and 200 vendors and service providers is a powerful force in the communications industry. It also organises arguably the most important event in the international wireless industry calendar every year - the Mobile World Congress. This takes place in Barcelona every February and attracts a global attendance of over 60,000 delegates. These include celebrities such as Robert Redford who came to speak about mobile content as well as most of the Chief Executives of the leading vendors, service providers and operators. 

Less high profile but equally valuable is the increasing work the GSMA is doing in emerging markets. Developing Telecoms publisher Alec Barton recently met with Dawn Haig-Thomas, Director of the GSMA Development Fund to talk about the association's work in this area and to lean about current projects. 

AB: How important are emerging markets to the GSMA? 

D H-T: Hugely important - increasingly important on a daily basis.  Our activities reflect the needs and wishes of all members. With so many of these being from emerging and developing countries it is inevitable that emerging markets are a greatly increasing focus area for the association. 

How does the GSMA interact with emerging markets? 

The GSMA has four main public departments, all of which address emerging markets issues on a daily basis. The Public Policy team deals with issues such as taxation, regulation and roaming on a global basis. The Strategy team covers new technologies and services and looks at ways these can be developed into practical use by our members. Many of these have major relevance to emerging markets, for example mobile money transfer. The GSMA will be running a seminar in Cairo later this year, during the ITU Telecom Africa event, to look at issues in this area for operators, service providers and users. Another area the strategy team is currently working on of major relevance in emerging markets is mobile messaging. The Project Management team is the largest area of the GSMA and deals with technical issues such as spectrum allocation and new handsets. 

And what about the Development Fund... 

The Development Fund was set up two and a half years ago when it emerged as a separate entity from the strategy and policy teams. The development fund grew out of the low cost handset program featured at Mobile World Congress (3GSM) in Barcelona in 2006. The Policy team undertook research in 2005 to establish definitively what the main barriers to uptake were. To no one's surprise it confirmed that total cost of ownership was the key issue. This covers the entire spectrum of costs, from handsets and SIM cards, through to base stations to network infrastructure. It also confirmed that mobiles are the most important technology which can extend and enable overall ICT usage in developing and emerging markets. 

How did the Low Cost Handset Program come about? 

Armed with the research findings the GSMA teamed up with Motorola to develop the first handset specifically designed for and targeted towards emerging markets. This was a success and showed the potential for products targeted specifically towards operators and users in emerging markets. At this year's MWC there were a large number of launches of new handsets and other products and services focussed on emerging markets. 

Did this lead directly to the Development Fund being set up? 

Having funded the initial program, Motorola also agreed to provide a share of profits from low cost handsets to fund further work. The GSMA also approached other funders such as the World bank, the IFC and the UK's DIFID for support.  

What are the Development Fund's objectives? 

The Development Fund aims to highlight how mobile technology can work strategically to foster the growth of ICTs in developing and emerging countries. On a day to day basis, the fund undertakes research to identify key technologies and to take these out to operators, end users and vendors to be implemented in test bed projects in the market.  

How does this work? 

Typically a Development Fund project will have a vendor, an operator and a NGO as its key partners along with the GSMA itself. The involvement of a NGO is important as they act as a channel to market. 

Is there a role for the public or NGO sector in extending mobile services? 

Commercial operators and service providers have been very successful in extending mobile coverage in developing markets. However, services are still mainly concentrated in the most densely populated, high ARPU areas, where the growth has been the fastest. The Development Fund focuses on projects which can extend mobile coverage into less accessible areas such as remote rural places. In these places we have found that many communities are still not fully aware of the benefits that increased use of communications and information technology can bring to them in terms of improved trading opportunities and other socio-economic benefits. NGOs are very effective at encouraging remote communities to get involved as they often enjoy significantly higher levels of trust than commercial operators. In that sense the NGO role is principally educational. 

Do you have any examples of this in action? 

Yes. In the Haryana area of India Vodafone (formerly Hutchison) Essar have successfully extended coverage in a number of remote areas by working together with NGOs to involve local companies to improve access. In these areas, long standing local companies are often more trusted than relatively unknown international brands. 

What are the Development Fund's key area for 2008? 

The fund is concentrating on three areas for 2008. These are Improving Access by the sustainable creation of locally owned entrepreneurs which can act as channels to market within remote communities.  

Next we are addressing Energy needs for off grid locations. This is one of the greatest barriers to increased mobile usage. We will be working with suppliers both in and outside the traditional telecom sector including suppliers of batteries, solar panels and  fuel cells and also looking at power optimisation technology. We are also looking at financing for alternative energy systems with the aim of reducing the typical 3 to 5 year breakeven to make off-grid applications viable. 

Finally we are continuing to look at specific emerging market applications for areas such as agribusiness, microfinance and job search tools. Overall the Development fund will run 12 projects in 2008. 

What projects is the Fund is working on now? 

One of the most exciting projects at present is the Lake Victoria project. Following a feasibility study into the social, economic and life saving benefits (over 5,000 people loose their lives every year on Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake), 21 new base stations will be installed over the next six months to extend mobile coverage to the main fishing areas. [Developing Telecoms has already covered this story - see link.] The GSMA is providing a project manager and funding for an emergency (911/999) number. 

Northern Uganda refugee Project. 

Another ground breaking project involves providing wireless internet café and voice services in a large refugee camp in Northern Uganda in cooperation with the UNHCR. Traditionally governments have been reluctant to permit developments within refugee camps as this could be seen to encourage camps to become permanent. 

Despite most refugees living on less than US$1.00 per day, Development Fund research found that it still paid groups of refugees to pool their extremely limited resources to fund the US$14.00 round trip by bus to Kampala to gain access to the internet and mobile phones. This enabled refugees to contact friends or families and helped them become more economically independent and find ways out of the camp, whether by returning to their home country or making a permanent new life elsewhere. 

Providing mobile voice and data access in the camp will eliminate a major cost burden for some of the world's poorest and most disadvantaged people. It will also help with the emergence of a sustainable local economy and create employment opportunities which will reduce the burden on the host country. If successful it is hoped this can become a template for refugee camps world-wide. 

Which areas do you see the GSMA Development Fund moving into in future? 

At present the Fund is very active on projects in Asia and Africa, the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. We are planning to extend activities into Latin America very soon. 

To learn more visit the GSMA web site: http://www.gsmworld.com/