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Bringing Wireless Connection to Amazonia

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.

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:

Leap in capacity will allow cheap internet access and knowledge at speed of light

M-PESA is a new Safaricom service enabling money transfer using a mobile phone. Kenya is the first country in the world to use this service, which is offered in partnership between Safaricom and Vodafone.

India is the fastest-growing mobile communications market in the world. The rural poor are rapidly adopting phones, so the technology could become a platform for providing banking services. Sanjay Swamy, CEO of the mobile-payment platform mChek, talks about the potential.

One pioneering scheme in Bangladesh has become famous for its "telephone ladies".