Bharti Airtel, SoftBank Mobile develop low-cost for Africa

In its bid to provide cost-efficient 3G mobile phone services in difficult terrain in Africa, Bharti Airtel and SoftBank Mobile Corp. have harnessed a communications satellite as a transmitter following a field trial, a company statement said here Thursday.

The trials took place in Kenya.

The statement said for areas where it is difficult to build facilities for fixed-line telecommunications and mobile communications, the development of networks using satellite transmission had been considered but expensive usage fees have been the primary barrier.

With this trial, Bharti Airtel and SoftBank Mobile have validated technologies and methods for providing communications services using a communications satellite in rural areas at a low cost, it added.

"This will enable 3G mobile phone services in remote locations where transmission lines cannot usually reach while achieving drastic reductions in transmission line costs," the statement said.

"This technology is critically important to the development of mobile phone networks in rural areas in Africa and other areas where commercialization of such operations is challenging. I would like to extend my appreciation to those companies who supported us in this trial, and SoftBank, who provided us with this technology," Bayan Monadjem, chief technical officer of Bharti Airtel Africa, said.