Vodafone IoT enables Mobisol to provide clean energy to customers in emerging nations with its solar home systems.
Case Studies | June 2018
Mobisol supplies clean, affordable solar power to homes and businesses in emerging nations, with Vodafone IoT.
Business Need
Mobisol combines solar power generation with innovative technology, mobile communication and affordable microfinancing solutions for customers. The company’s solar home systems comprise elements such as solar cells, power inverters and a battery system. It also offers a range of low power consumption electrical devices adapted to the output that the solar system can produce, such as LED lights, televisions and charging stations for mobile phones.
A key aspect of Mobisol’s business model is ensuring that the agreed instalments are paid on time. Therefore, the solar home systems needed to be fitted with SIM cards that cannot be removed without destroying the devices. If payments are not made the system can be switched off remotely. Mobisol was looking for a mobile partner that was able to provide SIMs and mobile coverage in the across the east African countries in which it operates.
Solution
Mobisol now uses the Vodafone Managed IoT Connectivity Platform to manage all of its IoT SIMs via a single, central platform. It can use this to switch off the systems of non-payers, which it tries to avoid wherever possible, but also to run applications for monitoring and managing devices. The Vodafone Managed IoT Connectivity Platform makes the jobs of Mobisol staff easier, and helps to significantly reduce the process costs associated with the Mobisol business model.
With Vodafone, Mobisol has a single, central point of contact for all the east African nations it operates in. The company also has everything in place to help the Mobisol business model expand into more regions. Vodafone has already supplied more than 2,000 IoT SIMs to Mobisol, with many thousands more planned.
Business Benefits
Powerful and flexible IoT platform and international availability with global IoT SIMs
Simple administration via the Vodafone Managed IoT Connectivity Platform
Reliable network coverage in east African countries
One central point of contact, comprehensive service and support
“We were looking for a solution where we wouldn’t have to work with a different national carrier in each country. It was much more important for us to find a single, central solution that could cover all the countries we work in. With its global IoT SIM and management platform, Vodafone offered us exactly what we needed.”