Billions of potential broadband users have waited years for connectivity. Service providers can finally reach out to these rural and remote communities and gain valuable new customers. That’s because unique, easy-to-use tools can reduce the network deployment and maintenance costs that have long been the obstacles to serving these areas. The key to these savings lies in community involvement.

Opening the door to new markets

Today, remote communities are the lowest ARPU (Average Revenue per User) segment, and they struggle with two challenges. They have little or no way to pay for expensive network infrastructure, and they lack an internet connection which could broaden their earning opportunities. However, these communities are eager to get involved in bringing a network to their region, when they can see the benefits from the Internet connection. They recognize the value of keeping up with vital news, getting more options for entertainment and social media, and being able to take advantage of other personal services that improve the quality of their knowledge, health, and daily lives. In particular, they see the potential of market information that can enable new earnings or offer a competitive edge, such as up-to-the-minute pricing for the goods they are selling.

In other words, mobile connectivity opens a door to broader markets for these communities. So to support today’s latest initiatives, Nokia community hosted networks can now collect IoT data and integrate it with the Streamr Data Marketplace. This capability allows users to publish their data and sell it — either as individual users or as participants in IoT Data Community Projects. They gain totally new earning opportunities through these community projects with pooled data.

How villages get involved

With Nokia community hosted networks, remote towns and villages can host, set up and monitor their new mobile broadband service themselves. That means your new customers can set up a small, zero-touch base station, then establish service within 15 minutes. As a result, you no longer pay the cost of base station installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance — or backhaul expenses. Instead, you start earning new revenues from the services you provide.

Using Nokia community hosted networks, you have a cost-effective way to expand your customer base and earnings. Simultaneously, your new customers in remote and rural communities gain the social and economic advantages of joining the global digital economy.

See you at Consensus 2018!

Learn more about these opportunities at Consensus 2018! Come see us at the Streamr pavilion in New York.

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