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Last year, important internet cables connecting Europe to Asia were mysteriously severed, resulting in days of outages for millions of internet users. It was a stark reminder that, no matter how instantaneously our information seems to travel, it is, in fact, moving through cables on the bottom of the ocean. And, while the internet might seem like the cutting edge of technology, it's interesting to note that information has been traveling this way since the first telegraph cables were laid across the Atlantic ocean in the 19th century.

Mobile phone use has exploded in the last seven years, according to a U.N report. The number of global subscriptions quadrupled from around 1billion in 2002 to 4.1billion at the end of last year.

The idea of using renewable energy to power cell phone base stations in rural areas is nothing new. The latest variation on this comes from Ericsson and Orange Guinea Conakry which plan to deploy more than 100 solar-powered base stations: