Village Connection wins an award in India — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{2nd TEMA National Telecom Awards} Village Connection wins an award in India

18 May 2008 at 08:12 GMT Timo Poropudas

Nokia Siemens Networks today announced that its Village Connection solution to provide voice and data access in rural areas, has won the Excellence in Innovation award at the 2nd annual National Telecom Awards ceremony held by the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA) on May 16, 2008. TEMA is the official mouthpiece of Indian telecom manufacturing industry

NSN’s Village Connection is a unique GSM and IP-based solution designed to extend mobile voice and data coverage to rural areas, where it is often economically unviable for telecom service providers to provide access.

Village Connection combines technology with business model innovation to create a solution that is easy to implement, and benefits everyone involved. It is a software based solution that comprises GSM Access Points providing village wide coverage. A GSM Access Point forms a complete mini network where local calls are connected directly within the village. These access points can also be linked to regional Access Centers that carry the traffic to and from other mobile or fixed networks. A local entrepreneur hosts the GSM Access Point and interacts with village subscribers on operator’s behalf.

"The key challenge for the rural connectivity is affordability. Typically consumers in rural areas can only spend very little on mobile services. Nokia Siemens Networks has designed the Village Connection solution to address these challenges by combining technology with business model innovation," said Prashant Agnihotri, Head of GSM/EDGE product management, Nokia Siemens Networks.

NSN’s Village Connection Solution is operational in 4 states across India.