Society

The Millennium Villages project

In October 2007, Sony Ericsson joined Columbia University’s Earth Institute and Ericsson in the Millennium Villages project. The project is designed to bring mobile communications and the internet to approximately 400,000 people in various developing countries.

As part of the project, Sony Ericsson will supply phones to 12 village clusters in 10 African countries; Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. Calls to the emergency services will be toll-free and used by the community health workers in the villages. Mobile phones are essential to facilitate knowledge sharing, health education and monitoring, the collection of statistics and the delivery of care in isolated, rural communities without fixed-line telecommunication infrastructure.

In the first phase of the Millennium Villages project, Sony Ericsson, together with Ericsson and the pan-African operator MTN, supply a number of mobile phones and chargers to the communities. The effort strives to bring the benefits of connectivity into areas such as agriculture, health, education and infrastructure.

Co-development of solar chargers

In early 2007, Sony Ericsson and Ericsson began developing a solar charger for mobile phones. The charger is intended for use in rural areas as part of both companies' contribution to the Columbia University's Earth Institute and Millennium Villages project. Mobile phones contribute to economic progress in the developing world but, getting a phone charged can be problematic as electricity supply can be inconsistent, far away or simply not there.

The Village solar charger is built with standard components and can be used for all types of mobile devices. It connects a 0.7 m² solar panel to a rack, where eight mobiles can be charged at the same time. Due to the inclusion of a 12-volt lead-acid battery, charging is also possible at night. The charger is intended for villages without electricity and can be used almost anywhere in the world.

The solar conditions in Africa and India were used when dimensioning the charger, which is capable of charging at least 30 mobile phone batteries a day, all year round. The charger can also be used to power other electrical devices, such as computers, lights or TV sets.