An estimated 500 million cell phone users in the developing world are poised to become the foundation of a new and so-far untapped market in the developing world. Due to the impracticality of telephone landlines in many countries, the arrival of affordable cell phones meant a delayed, but much appreciated communication revolution, with the only remaining issue being a lack of available sources for recharging the batteries of such devices.

Now, talks are underway to plan and organize the implementation of an unnamed number of off-grid, battery-charging stations that will run on solar power technology. Servicing this neglected market could yield $2,300,000,000 return for investors, according to the professional assessment of the Green Power for Mobile programme, which seeks to extend service throughout the developing world by boosting revenues for providers through the promotion of ‘smart power’ strategies.

David Taverner, manager of the programme, said that they are very enthusiastic about the plan, because operators will be able to provide people in remote locations with alternatives to power their cellular phones. He also believe that this will significantly improve their access to news and information, and will also act as an opportunity to give economic growth a “leg up”. The numbers that were used to determine the market size of off-grid mobile phone charging options were on the conservative side, so the real monetary return to the operators of the stations will likely be much higher than the $2,000,000,000 that they have currently estimated.

But, even though there are doubts about the possibility of instant return on investment, others aren’t so sure. Following the examples of market leader like Digicel and Safaricom who have demonstrated that the only barrier remaining in the way of bringing a wide range of cellular services and growing markets to countless global markets in the difficulty that people there have just in keeping a phone charged. There is no question that by using the sun as a clean and renewable resource, the consumer, as well as the service provider and the environment can all benefit from off-grid mobile charging technologies.