Off-Grid 101

The provision of off-grid charging services such as solar mobile phones or external solar chargers could bring mobile operators a market opportunity of USD 2.3 billion in emerging markets, according to research commissioned by the GSMA’s Green Power for Mobile (GPM) programme. The market opportunity was calculated by taking the 485 million mobile users without access to the electricity grid, at an average ARPU of USD 4 (GSMA estimate, based on Wireless Intelligence data) and an increase of 10 percent, on an annual basis. The report identifies a range of charging choices available that, if implemented effectively, are expected to extend service availability and could boost average revenues per user by 10-14 percent. The research has found that there is significant interest in off-grid services. About 60 percent of interviewed mobile operators already have or are exploring off-grid charging initiativesThe provision of off-grid charging services such as solar mobile phones or external solar chargers could bring mobile operators a market opportunity of USD 2.3 billion in emerging markets, according to research commissioned by the GSMA’s Green Power for Mobile (GPM) programme.