What is the 20 cent "cloud phone"?
The 20 cent "cloud phone" is a mobile phone service that allows users to have a private phone number without owning a mobile phone handset or a traditional SIM card. The service is promoted by Movirtu Limited, whose CEO, Nigel Waller, arrived at the idea of the "cloud phone" as the single current possibility for offering people access to private phone accounts at a cost of less than one $1.
The story
Nigel Waller wanted to offer an affordable phone for people living below the poverty line, sometimes on less than $1 a day. He first tried to make a cheaper phone handset, but he soon realized that current technology does not allow him to reduce the cost below $20. And that was still too much for people that can afford to pay at most $2 for phone services. Thus, Waller searched for a different approach, and he started building on something already existing in poor countries: phone sharing. In an interview for CNN, Waller says that there are over a billion people in the world who use mobile phone services, but do not own a mobile phone handset. Thus, he decided to provide the "cloud phone" as a service based on sharing of phone handsets, but offering privacy and all the benefits of individual phone numbers to its subscribers, at a maximum cost of 20 cents.
How does it work?
A user first subscribes to the "cloud phone" service and receives a private phone number with an account and a PIN code. Users can then access their phone account from any mobile phone handset, simply by entering their PIN code. Once the PIN code is entered, users can place or answer calls, check their voice or text messages, see their current balance and top-up options, or track their missed calls. When users are not accessing their phone accounts from any handset, the system will simply log any calls or messages, similar to what happens when a standard mobile phone is turned off.
To provide the "cloud phone" service, a mobile operator needs to install at the core of its network the platform MXShare from Movirtu Limited. This platform provides the management of "cloud phone" accounts and all the functionality needed by its users.
The costs
The cost of subscribing to the service is between 10 and 20 cents. The costs of calls are those of existing prepaid networks in the area. As an incentive for sharing the existing phone handsets, the owner of a shared phone receives credit in return, either as a percentage of the calls or transactions, or as a fixed amount. For this reason, the "cloud phone" is sometimes called Sharepaid, as an alternative to the traditional existing options of prepaid or postpaid phone services.
Advantages
The main advantages of the "cloud phone" over a traditional SIM card are lower costs (half the price of a SIM card), practicality (virtual SIM cards cannot be damaged or lost) and privacy. Inserting a real SIM card into a shared phone means that all the messages, phone numbers and logs will be stored on that phone. On the other hand, entering the PIN code of a "cloud phone" is easier to do, and it also preserves privacy because the service does not store any information on the phone handset that is used at any given time.
Potential drawbacks
Unlike a traditional phone, the "cloud phone" is by default turned off and it gets turned on only sporadically and for relatively short time frames. Consequently, the "cloud phone" could easily turn into something that is more similar to a voice version of e-mail than to a classical phone. Thus, reaching an individual for a direct conversation through his or her "cloud phone" might be nearly impossible without prior agreement on the date and time.
Conclusions
Being reachable by phone can enable poor people to have access to better job opportunities, local information and even health services. The existing practice of simple phone sharing has the big disadvantages of lack of privacy and lack of availability. The 20 cent "cloud phone" brings phone sharing to another level, by offering virtual SIM cards and increased privacy at a price affordable to people living below the poverty line.
