To bank the unbanked you must first connect the unconnected.
Africa has seen significant development since the turn of the century. The myth that all Africans are poor has been debunked many times. Most people in Africa have access to land, jobs and other instruments for creating prosperity.
While many on the continent still lack access to financial services, this has begun to change with the introduction of mobile banking. We believe that providing people with better connectivity results in their further integration into the ever-growing world economy. This is World Mobile's mission.
People throughout Africa are striving for a better future, yet at the same time, you are more likely to find a smartphone in an area without data connectivity in Africa than anywhere else on the planet. In our view, this human drive for a more prosperous future and the combination of access to data and connectivity will revolutionise the unconnected communities in Africa and around the world.
Read more about how Internet connectivity is having a positive impact on life in Africa
Currently, most people in Africa have access to either a basic phone or smartphone and mobile adoption is growing throughout the continent. However, connectivity lags significantly behind. Our vision is to meet this demand by bringing affordable connectivity to the unconnected.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 SDGs which recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality and spur economic growth. The mobile industry increased its contribution to all 17 SDGs in 2020, and we aim to continue building the World Mobile network to deliver on these goals.
By using off-the-shelf equipment to make network nodes affordable and easy to build, business owners can buy AirNodes and set them up locally, creating a connection for themselves and others while sharing the rewards.
To help facilitate this entreprenurial network growth, instructions and maintenance material are created in local languages and distributed to node owners.
Once online, AirNode owners have access to all of the information they need to monitor and maintain their network. Additionally, we employ local ambassadors who travel to unconnected communitites to promote the sharing economy, educating people about the many benefits it brings.
Where there is not yet a network in place, World Mobile will allow community savings groups and businesses to buy AirNodes and earn rewards from people using their network.
Currently, there are more than 1,000 Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) across the world, and still almost 50% of the world's population is unconnected!
There have been efforts by big tech companies to connect the unconnected, but even Google shut down its Loon project when it failed to find a sustainable business model.
Our innovative approach is drastically different to those of big tech companies, and we have the vision, technology and experience to finally connect the unconnected.
The 1,000+ MNOs that make up the $2.7-trillion telecoms market still fail to deliver any service to a large percentage of the world's population. Facebook, Microsoft and Google represent the top tech companies attempting to connect the unconnected.
However, as shown by the failures of Google’s Loon project, they have been struggling to implement their solutions. We believe the reasons these companies fail are down to their inability to create a long-term sustainable business model.
Unlike these tech giants, we believe that a problem shared is a problem solved together. World Mobile is built around the sharing economy and incentivises sustainability by rewarding anyone who participates in the network.
World Mobile does not plan to compete with services like Starlink, as they are fundamentally different. Instead, we will be a potential customer for their backhaul service. You cannot just turn on Wi-Fi and connect to Starlink - there is still a need for infrastructure on the ground to support connectivity. This rules out any possibility that individuals would use the service in a remote area, as it would be very costly and impractical to set up for their own personal use.
By always being more than one step ahead of the competition, we will be able to realise our mission of sustainably connecting the unconnected.
Blockchain is part of our technology stack and is used for a number of key reasons:
Trust: Transactions validated “on-chain” cannot be changed later. This provides an elevated level of transparency and immutability.
Efficiency: Smart contracts enable the replacement of many bureaucratic and administrative layers, which makes the solution much more efficient.
Digital ID: Enables millions of users to obtain a digital identity, which alongside connectivity is vital to banking the unbanked and bridging the digital divide.
Sharing economy: Node owners and operators are rewarded automatically through the tokenomics of the blockchain, enabling rapid growth of the network.
Self-data governance: Gives users privacy and control over their own data.
Community: Enables distributed ownership of our infrastructure, allowing for scalability and decentralisaton.
Node operators are divided into AirNodes (those with devices providing connectivity in their local area) and EarthNodes (those with computers and an Internet connection that secure the network and process transactions on the blockchain).
The share of rewards is split across all node operators. World Mobile will also provide additional incentives for AirNode Operators to bring connectivity into new areas for the first time.
EarthNode Operators are issued WMTx in two ways: when validating and securing the network as per the tokenomics model, and by receiving transaction fees.
AirNode Operators earn WMTx when their network node gets used for calls, messages, transactions or data usage and earn up to 10% revenue as the network grows.
Anyone can use WMTx to pay for services through the World Mobile app. This can also be done with fiat currency at a local store in locations where crypto is not yet accepted. If the service is offered in a country that is open to crypto, then users will use WMT. If the service is offered in a country that does not allow crypto, then the service will be paid for in the local currency. World Mobile will convert the local currency to WMTx to pay for the network fees.
The cost of the service is a fixed amount in a local currency, as set out by the regulator in each country. Whether you pay for the service using fiat or WMTx, the cost of the service is the same. Your $30 recharge is always going to cost $30 in local currency. The transaction is time-stamped at the time of purchase and the amount of WMTx used for the recharge translates to the cost of the service in fiat.
This avoids any fluctuations in the cost of service regardless of the price of WMTx.
Customers will also be able to use WMTx to pay for services such as streaming, gaming and e-commerce through the World Mobile app.
Additionally, the token is used by nodes for staking to maintain consensus in a similar way to how Cardano works. This is done to keep the network secure and decentralised.
Blockchain is part of our technology stack and is used for a number of key reasons:
Trust: Transactions validated “on-chain” cannot be changed later. This provides an elevated level of transparency and immutability.
Efficiency: Smart contracts enable the replacement of many bureaucratic and administrative layers, which makes the solution much more efficient.
Digital ID: Enables millions of users to obtain a digital identity, which alongside connectivity is vital to banking the unbanked and bridging the digital divide.
Sharing economy: Node owners and operators are rewarded automatically through the tokenomics of the blockchain, enabling rapid growth of the network.
Self-data governance: Gives users privacy and control over their own data.
Community: Enables distributed ownership of our infrastructure, allowing for scalability and decentralisaton.
Sustainability is one of our core values, without it we would not be able to achieve our goals. Our approach that uses off-the-shelf equipment and renewable energy both reduces our carbon footprint and enables us to serve very remote areas.
World Mobile is dedicated to sustaining connectivity across Africa and the rest of the world for the long term. By working locally to understand the needs of each community, we can adapt our technology deployment to fit each specific site and area.
From observations during our proof of concept, we believe the power of peer-to-peer (P2P) learning is the most effective method to introduce new products, technologies and solutions anywhere in Africa and potentially the wider world.
In the long-term, World Mobile will create a structured system to inform communities and users of additional services and opportunities available to them via the World Mobile network. This will be community-driven and supported by our partners who offer value-added services on the network, providing a sustainable model.
We also look forward to implementing a referral programme where existing users are rewarded for bringing new customers onto the network.
Privacy should be treated as a necessity, not as a luxury.
The data, which can be any business or user information, cannot then be tampered with - this is achieved by using Earth Nodes. It is this technology that creates trust. The integration of blockchain creates a decentralised network run by the people and guarantees total privacy.
Check out how we are already changing the world.