THE GSMA / IFC GPM PROGRAM – WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO THE WORLD?

Last Wednesday (November 18), the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) and the IFC (International Finance Corporation) announced their partnership in a program called “Green Power for Mobile” (in short, GPM). The objective of this program is to support investments on research and development of clean power sources for base stations and mobile phones.

But before we get to that, it is better that I try to explain who are the protagonists of this little episode, so you may grasp why this cooperation deal is so important.

The GSMA represents the industry of mobile communications worldwide. Today, there are more than 800 associated mobile operators being represented internationally by GSMA. In fact, this is one of the most powerful trade associations in the world, lobbying governments of many countries on subjects that go from tax policy to pricing strategy.

On the other side of the negotiation table, there is the good old IFC. IFC is a branch of the World Bank founded in 1956, with the objective of promoting “sustainable private sector investment in developing countries as a way to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives”. In other words, it lends money to private companies of the third world, because, if these companies grow, it will help their respective countries to grow too.

Now that we have been properly introduced, let’s get back to the original subject: the GPM. This program was started by the GSMA quite some time ago, but things never really took off. The logic of the program, in fact, is very simple. Very few GSM operators have base stations with independent power supplies, and the ones that do have, do not use clean power sources. It means that when a big blackout happens (like the one that recently left half of the Brazilian territory in the dark), cellphones also stop working, because they need those base stations to relay their signal.

This program is such a bold initiative, and like all bold initiatives in the corporate industry, it will take rivers of money to be properly implemented. And that is when the IFC comes into play. It is not only going to put some extra (did I say “some”? I meant “lots of”!) bucks in this project, but will also help with marketing researches, knowledge databases and technical support. If you look closely at the deal, IFC will practically run the whole thing.

Mohsen Khalil, Director of IFC’s Global Department of Information Technology, stated that IFC is satisfied in collaborate with GSMA to improve the viability of expanding mobile cover to remote regions of the World, promoting global digital inclusion, while always sticking to the highest standards of sustainable development.

The final objective of GPM is to establish a mobile communications structure totally independent of the electric lines, fully powered by clean power sources, like solar energy or eolic generators. The GSMA estimates that 118,000 “green” base stations will be in operation by the year 2012. The implementation of a voice and data network in those standards would allow GSM operators to save millions of dollars. The GSMA estimates the operators spend, today, about US$ 14.6 billions only in diesel. If you take in consideration that most of the base stations of the world do not have their own generators, it becomes clear that diesel-powered generators are not a viable option to keep the phones online.

In the initial stages of the project, IFC will act independently, as the main investor, offering financial and logistic instruments to help identify viable commercial models that may improve not only the power efficiency of the operators, but also its profits in a long-term basis. The first step in the program will be the identification of innovative technological projects of power generation with potential to supply entire networks, in less developed countries. The IFC will also identify the locations that will take priority in the implementation of these new technologies.

The GPM also predicts the creation of training programs and technology transfer protocols that will allow all operators in the world to run on clean energy sources. The project already has a dynamic database that closely follows the progress of the GSM industry, and includes information on equipment usage, investments, challenges faced and successes achieved. This report is open to the general public and can be viewed at http://www.wirelessintelligence.com/green-power.

The GSMA also intends to publish a detailed report about the program, twice a year, containing project status, interviews, supplier opinions, case studies, technological analysis and tutorials. The first edition is already available online for download. If you want to take a look at this material, it is in  www.gsmworld.com/documents/gpfm_report_09_annual_review.pdf .

The GPM program may have a great impact on the mobile industry, and in world economy. The money injected in the mobile operators, especially those based in undeveloped countries, will certainly help these companies to spread their operations considerably. It will mean a significative increase in the number of jobs and in tax collection. And mobile communications may finally be able to reach all parts of the globe, even the most remote places. A mobile base station in the middle of Sahara would allow a man lost in the desert to determine his position via GPS or simply call for help. The “no signal” message will become a thing of the past, if the GPM program succeeds.

But the real impact of the program is not going to be economic or technological: it is going to be ecological! Clean power sources, as their name suggests, do not damage the environment. They do not pollute the air, do not cut trees for firewood and do not change the courses of rivers in order to generate energy. Looking at how hot was the day today, I can’t think of a better reason to cheer for GPM’s success.

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