Deadline: 17 October 2018
Applicants are invited to apply for the GSMA Connected Society Innovation Fund for Rural Connectivity that aims to support innovative mobile internet connectivity solutions for unconnected rural communities. Funded projects will test innovations that overcome the barriers currently preventing mobile network operators (MNOs) from deploying mobile internet coverage in rural areas.
The GSMA Connected Society programme works with the mobile industry and key stakeholders to increase access to and adoption of the mobile internet, focusing on under-served population groups in developing markets. The Fund will give preference to:
- Solutions that minimise the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) per person covered with mobile internet
- Solutions that provide new innovations suited for more remote and challenging rural environments (e.g.. low population density, difficult terrain, limited infrastructure)
- Solutions that support user-adoption and the uptake of mobile internet in the target sites
Grant Information
- The support of grant funding will be of up to £300,000.
- The total grant period will be 12 months, from April 2019 to end March 2020.
Focus Areas
The Fund aims to support commercially sustainable and scalable connectivity solutions that are innovative in at least one, and ideally as many as possible, of the following areas:
- Radio access network
- Utilize innovative and rural-proof base-station technologies to reduce CAPEX for radio access
- Power
- Decrease power consumption per site
- Minimize Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operating Expenditure (OPEX) using renewable energy sources
- Energy related complementary business models
- Backhaul network
- Optimise OPEX and CAPEX backhaul costs for remote and ultra-remote locations
- Optimise network design to reduce overall backhaul costs and improve performance
- Rural passive infrastructure
- Minimise total Operation & Maintenance (O&M) costs and complexity
- Minimise installation costs and delays and improve Time To Market (TTM) compared to traditional site builds
- Business model
- Innovative business models to increase the commercial viability of locations
- Demand-enhancing features
Geography
- The Fund is open to eligible global or national companies who can deploy solutions in Ghana or Uganda. The GSMA has worked with the selected partner MNOs in these countries to identify target coverage areas using advanced mapping and population identification technologies. More information about these areas will be provided to eligible applicants in the detailed proposal application stage.
- The target areas include different degrees of population density and remoteness. The GSMA is looking to use this Fund to create innovative solutions for some of the most challenging and hard to reach sites. As such, applications that can offer solutions for these sites will be favoured.
Eligibility Criteria
- The fund is anticipated that solutions will likely involve consortia of different providers, which may include: individual vendors, satellite operators, integrators, start-ups, academic institutions and others (to be clarified in application). In this case, one member of the consortium will be the lead or primary applicant who will sign the contract with the GSMA and the MNO partner(s).
- The primary applicant must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Be able to operate in country (-ies) targeted including deployment of personnel
- Be in satisfactory financial health and have adequate financial systems to report regularly to the Fund and, if required, undergo an external audit
- Be able to provide information about other partners in the consortium (if relevant) and evidence of an established collaboration or agreement by proposal stage
- Be compliant with fundamental human rights, the UK Modern Slavery Act and Gender Equality Act, Child Protection Policies (here) and international labour standards, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and report of the US FCC Cybersecurity
- Risk Management and Best Practices Working Group – and ensure that any partners in the consortium are compliant with the same
- Be compliant with the GSMA Supplier Partner Code and DFID’s Supply Partner Code – and ensure that any partners in the consortium can demonstrate the same
- Not be prohibited from working or contracting with any licensed MNO in Ghana or Uganda – and ensure that this is the case for all partners in the consortium, if relevant
- Be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to access MNO-specific Statement of Requirement (SOR)
- Be willing to enter into a contract with the partner MNO for the country of project implementation during the contracting phase.
- Be able to clearly articulate why the support from the GSMA is needed and what it would enable.
How to Apply
Applicants can apply online via given website.
For more information, please visit Connected Society Innovation Fund.