PowerOasis News: March 2010, Enterprise UK FutureStory features PowerOasis
There are 4 billion mobile phone subscribers in the world today, and that’s expected to increase by 50% over the next 5 years. That increase is going to require 1 to 2 million new base stations and – because almost all of the new subscribers are going to be in the emerging markets – more than half of the base stations needed will be in areas which don’t have access to a reliable electricity grid.
Ivan Harris, Chief Marketing Officer at PowerOasis, explains how it works, “For companies which run mobile networks all over the world, providing power is one of their top three operational costs. But in developing countries in Africa, it can represent almost 50% of their costs: the No.1 item on the list. The base stations which serve those communities have been using diesel generators – which are very expensive to keep going, with diesel having to be transported to the site, sometimes even by helicopter.
So for our customers – who are the big mobile network companies – our technology allows them to supplement, or even replace, diesel fuel with renewable energy, which has almost zero operational costs. So we can both reduce their costs and reduce their carbon footprint.”
Plus the benefit to the environment could be significant. The average base station today emits about 40 tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent of two homes in the US or running 6 family sized cars for a year. Ivan estimates that, if they manage to get half of the new off-grid base stations powered by renewable energy, the carbon emissions saved would be the size of Sydney’s footprint over a year.
That’s why they’re convinced that their innovative power solutions will benefit everyone: the mobile companies, the consumers and the environment – and, indeed, PowerOasis’ own prospects.
Even though they only started in 2007 and have a team of 15 full time people, PowerOasis serves a truly global market. “One hundred percent of our business is done overseas,” says Ivan. “Our customers are in places like Sri Lanka to Qatar, or even the beautiful island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific.”
Their opportunities lie in places around the world where the infrastructure is poor and the demand for modern communications is high. The worldwide ‘green telecoms’ equipment market will be worth around $300 billion by 2013 and almost half of that will be in areas where PowerOasis systems can be used.
So the opportunity ahead of them is huge. Peter Bishop, Chief Technology Officer at PowerOasis, credits the Bath Ventures Innovation Centre and SETsquared in Bristol as being instrumental in identifying that opportunity. “They supported us through the incubation period with both advice and funding; helping develop the business plan and introducing us to the right venture capitalists.”
This is the second business Ivan has been involved with which has attracted funding from local investors. “We’ve got great universities and colleges around here, and that means there’s a lot talent that can be pooled too” he says. “Now that there’s a critical mass of cutting-edge technology businesses in the South West, there are more and more reasons for people to gravitate to the area.”
“The worldwide ‘green telecoms’ equipment market will be worth around $300 billion by 2013.”
Ivan Harris, Chief Marketing Officer, PowerOasis
“Now that there’s a critical mass of cutting-edge technology businesses in the South West, there are more and more reasons for people to gravitate to the area.”
