Lake Victoria's mobile network to avert accidents

Celtel, a subsidiary of Zain, says it has started upgrading their existing infrastructure and building an additional 21 radio sites to provide mobile coverage up to 20km into the lake. The project will take about six months and ensure mobile coverage to over 90% of the fishing zones, where up to 5,000 die each year from accidents and piracy. It will ease communication for at least 200,000 fishermen in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Ericsson's Extended Range software package will more than double the effective range of radio-based stations and the company's Mobile Position System that enables emergency authorities to triangulate the mobile signal of fishermen in distress. Solar and hybrid power solutions will power base stations in the more remote island areas.

Dr Tom Okurut, Executive Secretary of the Lake Victoria Basin Commission said, “… It is the first major telecommunications infrastructure investment project that complements and aligns well with the planning and preparations coordinated by the EAC.”

Zain also plans to provide value-added services, such as up-to-the-minute market prices, which will have a significant impact on local people's livelihoods. Academic research in India recently found that using mobile phones can significantly boost fishermen's earnings by enabling them to find the best prices for their catch The availability of mobile services is also expected to benefit the tourism, transportation and fish export industries and could be key to attracting further business development in the region.