Sending Airtime to India with Aryty

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2009-08-03 17:03:00 UTC
Topics:

The benefits of mobile phones to local economies and local communities have been written about extensively, on this blog and elsewhere. More connectivity means a better ability to coordinate markets, keep track of loved ones, and support health systems.

But airtime is expensive, and most of the developing world continues to buy mobile network access in small chunks week to week. Many people stick to texting because voice service is just too expensive.

Written up on TechCrunch, Aryty creates a new opportunity for members of the global disapora to automatically buy and transfer airtime to their loved ones and contacts back home. The service doesn't have any fees, making it much cheaper than wiring money, which can cost an exorbitant amount. The company makes money because it signs bulk deals with carriers that lowers the price they buy minutes for. When they charge the commercial rate to customers, they make a profit.

This is an extremely high value service. Mobile connectivity is incredibly important, and as the application ecosystem begins to thrive, mobiles become gateways to more and better types of information. Remittances in general are a huge part of the global economy, and an essential element of many developing economies. 2006 estimates for total global remittances ranged from $250 billion to $400 billion dollars.

The company has successfully formed deals with major carriers in the Philippines and estimates that 98% of Indian mobile users will be covered by the end of the year.

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Americorps, Alumni, and Action Communities
NEXT STORY:
Facing Forward: The End of the Social Entrepreneurship Blog on Change.org

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.