Ericsson, Zain (KSE ticker: ZAIN) and Earth Institute today announced the provision of telecommunications deliverables to the Millennium Villages of Dertu, Kenya, Ruhiira, Uganda and Mbola, Tanzania.

In September 2007, Ericsson, Zain and the Earth Institute at Columbia University announced a partnership to provide telecommunications connectivity to the Millennium Villages project. This partnership is designed to bring mobile communication and the Internet to approximately 400,000 people in 10 African countries where the project is working.

As the dominant telecom supplier in Africa, Ericsson tapped relationships with African operators, including Zain and its subsidiary Celtel, in order to develop a comprehensive end-to-end telecommunication strategy in the villages and to drive mobile phone connectivity and coverage build-out to selected areas.

In Kenya, Ericsson and Zain have installed a temporary mobile network, bringing mobile communication to the 5,000 people in Dertu for the first time ever. In this remote, pastoral and nomadic society, basic voice and data communication will be enabled over an EDGE network, and this will include the introduction of mobile phones for health services. New mobile phone applications for health care and for livestock management are being piloted, to help collect basic household health data, as well as to track livestock that have recently undergone a massive immunization program.

Ericsson will replace the temporary network with permanent solution by October 2008 that will be operated by Zain. The permanent solution will use Ericsson’s sustainable energy solutions, including solar and wind energies to power the site, as well as other techniques to minimize power requirements. The implemented solution will reduce operational expenditures by up to 80 percent compared to a traditional site run on diesel generator.

Sony Ericsson has also provided mobile phones to the Millennium Village health clinics and community health workers. Together with Ericsson, it has developed and will provide a new Solar Village Charger capable of recharging at least 30 mobile-phone batteries per day and eight phones simultaneously for each village cluster.

In Tanzania and Uganda, Zain and Ericsson have upgraded the existing GSM network to EDGE, thus improving the basic coverage in the area. In combination with its fixed wireless terminals, it will bring mobile internet to the schools and health centers. Ericsson has also committed plans for extending coverage, enabling mobile communication to all of 73,000 people living in both village clusters. Ericsson and Sony Ericsson are providing mobile phones to community health workers, and have piloted new health applications for mobile learning purposes as well as basic household data collection. Zain has provided SIM cards and established emergency numbers in order to improve access to health care and emergency services.

One initiative to improve health services is a new toll-free phone service that can be used in medical emergencies to connect patients with on-duty medical personnel. Other initiatives include a mobile learning tool to train community health workers and applications to collect and share basic household health information.

To support economic development, Ericsson will continue to focus on identifying and developing telecom services and applications customized to meet the needs of poor, rural communities.