Cotonou, Benin. Photo: jbdodane (Flickr)

[Via Satellite 10-15-2015] Ericsson, with customer MTN, has reached its first Managed Rural Coverage deal to bring mobile coverage as a service to parts of central and northern Benin where there was none previously. Managed Rural Coverage is a cost-competitive solution whereby Ericsson enables operators to provide mobile coverage for a set period according to service level agreements and defined key performance indicators. In this case, Ericsson and MTN Benin have signed an agreement for five years.

Under the terms of this contract, customers will gain access through Ericsson’s low-power consumption radio base stations running on solar energy to avoid the high costs and emissions associated with diesel generators. Satellite will enable transmissions to avoid the high costs and civil works associated with building a microwave backhaul network in remote villages. According to Ericsson, this makes it possible to create a business model to provide mobile coverage to parts of Benin where people have to survive on less than two dollars a day.