BuffaloGrid brings power as a service to off grid communities enabling all those mobile phones which the UN identified as the biggest contributors to economic growth in these regions. Now power is just a text message away.

Daniel Beccerra is Managing Director of Buffalo Grid, we caught up with him ahead of his appearance at RE.WORK Cities Summit London:

What does your work have to offer for progress on social development and human rights issues in developing-world cities?

Our mission at BuffaloGrid is to bring power and connectivity to the rural world.

Mobile phones are a global success. Out of the world's estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones (GSMA Greenpower). More people have access to mobile phones than toilets (UN). The photo attached is from a remote village in Uganda, showing the response when we asked who had a mobile phone. When we asked who had power for charging their phone, everyone put their hand down.

Mobile phones are much more widespread than power to charge them. For example, more than 80% of Ugandans have a mobile phone, but less than 5% have access to power. Worldwide, more than half a billion people have mobile phones but no way to charge them (GSMA). Off-grid people solve this problem by walking many miles to a local charge shop, paying a quarter of a day's wages, and leaving their phone for a half day. They do this twice a week.

Mobile phones for the developing world are a vast and valuable market. The UN considers mobile phones to be the biggest contributor to economic growth for the emerging economies of Sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia. The benefit of mobile phones is so huge that despite costing a day per week to charge, and another day's wages to buy airtime, they are still the biggest contributor to growth! (UN)

Mobile phones are valuable because they give people access to opportunities. For example, subsistence farming adds very little value to an economy. In Sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture adds only 3% to the nations GDP (service industries add 71%), but most people are employed in agriculture. In Uganda more than 80% of the workforce is employed in agriculture. Before mobile phones, it was hard to sell export crops or find any other work opportunity. Mobile phones make it possible for people who had no possibilities beyond feeding their family, to engage in commerce with people outside of their local community and on the other side of the world - how do we know this? Because at BuffaloGrid we are engaging in business with Ugandans this way right now. And if mobile phones can have this effect, think about the opportunities that low-cost smartphones present.

Smartphones are how the bottom billion will know the internet, but new smartphones are too expensive. There is a glut of second-hand smartphones that are presently unused - in developed countries most people are on to their second or third smartphone. The older generation of smartphones are sitting in drawers, gathering dust. Most are serviceable for web browsing, but their batteries are near end of life, and last only a day or less.

Developing countries are unable to use these second-hand phones as they did with second-hand feature phones. Their power demands are too high for off-grid communities and data networks are not available. The 2G networks in most developing world locations have too little bandwidth for large scale internet use. 3G networks have a too short a range. 4G networks will not roll out for many years, and most existing smartphones are not 4G compatible.

A charging system that has onboard WiFi could bridge the gap. An Internet-enabled charging could provide everything that off-grid people need, to get online using second-hand smartphones. Power comes from the charging system's solar cells. Internet comes via satellite link or 4G LTE, and is transmitted locally over WiFi, enabling last generation smartphones to access the internet.

Internet-enabled charging systems could act as sentinels, providing networks with the information needed to roll out data networks. The charging systems could collect data on the power and internet they provide, which can be remotely monitored. Once enough demand has been demonstrated, networks can quickly calculate where a data enabled base-station is feasible.

The more connected the world is the better it will become. Connectivity brings development, growth and peace and at BuffaloGrid we are working hard to make the world a better place.

Daniel Beccerra will be speaking at RE.WORK Cities Summit in London on 4-5 December. For more info & to register visit re-work.co/cities - Use the discount code CITIES20 to receive 20% off ticket prices.

Join the conversation on Twitter with @BuffaloGrid & @teamrework using #REWORKcities