United Villages

Download and watch the new United Villages India video! (107MB, Windows Media Video)

"The villagers wanted to know if they could buy products or order a railway ticket... That's when we decided to introduce e-shopping," says Amir Alexander Hasson. Launched a month back, the e-shop has received a good response... Hasson plans to extend the service to 90,000 villages across the country in five years. "DakNet is not just about providing raw Net access to remote villages; it is about providing villagers with access to the same kinds of products and services that are available in cities. Essentially, we enable villagers to have freedom from distance," says Hasson.

"Rural India plugs into wi-fi", Meenakshi Kumar, July 8, 2007.

People in isolated villages can buy prepaid cards with a phone number and e-mail address assigned to them to write e-mails or record phone messages and then save this information at computer kiosks installed in schools and community halls. A wireless network called DakNet, which uses buses, motorcycles and trucks with short-range Wi-Fi antennas as mobile access points automatically picks up and delivers the stored messages and data to cities all over India with Internet connectivity, Hasson said.

"Cutting-edge technologies create opportunities for entrepreneurs", Linda Rosencrance, June 15, 2007.

The company recruits and trains entrepreneurs to operate kiosks installed with WiFi antennas along the vehicle's route where villagers can go to send and receive emails, SMS, voicemails, web searches, and take advantage of other locally-relevant products and services. When the vehicle with the MAP drives by each kiosk, it automatically picks up all of the kiosk's outgoing data and drops off all incoming data at wireless broadband speeds such that approximately 50MB can be transferred in the 3 minutes (on average) that the vehicle is in range... DakNet is already benefiting thousands of villagers in India, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Paraguay... "We believe that the most compelling evidence and reliable metric for our technology's positive impact is the amount of prepaid cards that we sell to our customers, which represents the vilage of the efficiencies created by the services that we offer," says Hasson.

"Internet Postman", Stuti Das, June 15, 2007.

United Villages works through its franchisees in the villages — called ‘DakNet Service providers' (DSPs), they run kiosks with wireless-enabled pcs. The DSP is also meant to help people who don't know how to use a computer. In fact, since most of the web is in English, villagers often rely on him for translations. As a result, the DSPs have become important men in their villages. “I am more computer-savvy than any of the others in my village, and they all respect me for this,” says Debiprasad Mishra, DSP of Pathrachakada village in Nayagarh district.

An e-commerce service was also launched a few weeks ago. A catalogue was drawn up after a survey on what kinds of products, not available locally, would interest the villagers — goods range from books to cosmetics, medicine and seeds. Customers order online and the products are generally delivered to the village kiosk. United Villages charges the mrp, its sole source of profit being the margin it negotiates with distributors.

"Web on Wheels", Marianne Alazard, June 2, 2007.

The system also made it easier for villagers to buy essential products such as fertilisers, pesticides, books and medicines, Mr Hasson added. "What we've done is created a catalogue of those products that they can order at the kiosk and get them delivered the next day via the bus," he said.

"We're bringing e-commerce to rural India."

Because many people in rural communities cannot read, and because the majority of the web is in English, villagers often rely on the person who operates the local computer to help them. Raj Kishor Swain, who runs the computer in the village of Satasankha, said he is now a popular man.

"Right now, more and more people are asking me about what can be done on the PC and internet," he said. "My objective is to show to the village youth that having a PC with connectivity is a viable business so that more and more unemployed youth can take up this as a self-employment opportunity."

"WiFi Buses drive rural Web use", Jason Margolis, BBC News, March 29, 2007. Also featured on BBC's and NPR's Radio Show, "The World", March 30, 2007.

Our new strategy has just been to look for the right partners within each of these countries. Typically it's a cellular company, or an ISP... We give our software away for free; sell our mobile access points at cost and they get the Wi-Fi equipment and the PCs locally. The trick is that it doesn't work without our prepaid cards. We want to enable these companies to start up these networks at a very low cost, but we want to take a piece of the service, the transaction revenue. So we'll sell prepaid cards to all these different operators in different countries, and take a percentage of their face value. Keeping the upfront costs as low as possible is really the key to unlocking this market.

"Connectivity for the World: Our Interview With Amir Alexander Hasson of United Villages", Jackie Fenn, Jan. 30, 2007

United Villages, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, developed technology to wirelessly connect isolated villages to the Internet, using Wi-Fi in an unusual way. Using pre-paid cards, locals in remote villages write emails or record phone messages and save their words at computer kiosks installed in schools and community halls—and this is where United Villages comes in. Using what United Villages calls DakNet, buses fitted out with short-range Wi-Fi antennas pass through villages, automatically picking up stored emails and voice messages as they go. Once a bus reaches a city with Internet connectivity, it relays the emails and messages to their appointed destinations via the web.

“We're becoming the glue that sticks together those areas that have mobile connectivity and those that don't,” Mr. Hasson explains... In the digital age, doing good needn't rule out making money.

"Tech Tots: 25 Young Rebels Who Will Rock Tech", Dec. 18, 2006. Print Issue.

Real time communication is not the first concern of villagers that have neither electricity nor computers. But they too wish to take advantage of Internet services... The “Internet Postmen” of their Indian company, DakNet (www.unitedvillages.com) make their rounds by bike, truck, bus or boat with a short-range Wi-Fi antenna and a hard disk on board. In the villages that are served, a solar-powered computer and a Wi-Fi antenna sit enthroned in an “Internet kiosk”. For a few rupees, the villagers come everyday to drop off their emails, their files to be transmitted, their Google search requests, and even pre-recorded telephone messages... The highly economical service of prerecorded telephone messages sent using Internet telephony has proven to be a great success, to such an extent that in certain villages of Orissa (Central-Eastern India), the Internet postman passes by three times a day. In Cambodia, 150 schools also utilize this service, which is infinitely cheaper than a satellite connection. Rural areas of Costa Rica, Rwanda, and Paraguay are also served.

From "The Net at the End of the World", Nov. 18, 2006, Le Monde, Paris, France (English Translation)

“We have two options for accessing the internet for sending emails. Either we go to Khurda which is 35 kms from here and which has some cyber cafes offering broadband connectivity @ Rs. 20 per hour. Second option is to access dial-up internet from one cyber café in Kalapathar, but the charges here are very high @ Rs. 40 per hour and composing and sending one email can take as much as 10 to 15 minutes, because of the slow speeds, costing us Rs, 15 to 20. Therefore, we feel that the DakNet email @ Rs. 1 per email and Rs. 3 per email with attachment which is now being offered in Kalapathar is a very good alternative.”
- Student in Kalapathar Village, Orissa, India commenting on United Villages DakNet Prepaid Services, Sept 19, 2006

Since the last time we checked in with FirstMile a year and a half ago, the team has made great advances in improving their technology and making it more widely available. FMS has added phone services to its internet package, allowing customers to pay per minute of talking time or per message just as they had previously paid per email sent... With the inclusion of phone services, FirstMile is increasingly moving toward a self-sustaining model with digital refillable identity cards serving as the backbone of the system. With this feature, the company is working to increase its customer base rapidly...

"'We'll Do the Dirty Work': How First Mile Solutions Will Serve 220,000 Villages in India'", August 11, 2006

"You have drive-by McDonald's, and we have drive-by Wi-Fi," says Mr. Hasson...

United Villages, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company formed by Amir Alexander Hasson, a graduate of MIT's Sloan School of Management, is working... to network 50 villages in Orissa's Cuttack district, where bus-powered Wi-Fi service begins this month... UV will sell pre-paid cards, with phone number and email address assigned to them, in different denominations (up to 100 rupees, roughly $2.20). "One line gets shared by several thousand people," Mr. Hasson says, adding that a few transactions by individuals a month would make the service profitable for UV's Indian subsidiary.... "Drishtee pays UV as their ISP, and the kiosk operator pays UV 95 cents per card sold. We plan to network 220,000 villages. That adds up to a lot of money."

From "Drive-By Wi-Fi in India", March 13, 2006 Print Edition.

Rural India, where wireless communication and Internet access are almost unheard of, might soon go WiFi. And that too for an annual cost as low as Rs 50 per person... United Villages, a US-based low-cost Internet service provider... has the potential to reach out to about 30 crore people living in villages.

From "Rural India to get Wi-Fi connection", Sept 5, 2005, New Delhi, Print Edition.

United Villages develops software and hardware bringing phone, e-mail and other electronic communication to poor villages in India, Cambodia and other foreign nations.

From "Google Foundation may invest in for-profit firms", May 27, 2005.

It is a digital pony express: five Motomen ride their routes five days a week, downloading and uploading e-mail. The system uses a receiver box powered by the motorcycle's battery. The driver need only roll slowly past the school to download all the village's outgoing e-mail and deliver incoming e-mail. The school's computer system and antenna are powered by solar panels. Newly collected data is stored for the day in a computer strapped to the back of the motorcycle. At dusk, the motorcycles converge on the provincial capital, Ban Lung, where an advanced school is equipped with a satellite dish, allowing a bulk e-mail exchange with the outside world.

From "Rural Cambodia, Though Far Off the Grid, Is Finding Its Way Online" featured in NY Times print edition, Jan 26, 2004.

In the hills of northeastern Cambodia, five men on motorcycles are connecting rural villages to one another, their government, medical specialists and the Internet... the Village Area Networking Kit is expected to be priced at $500 to $600 when released, a fraction of the cost of the electricity and communications infrastructure that would otherwise be necessary to deliver e-mail to the villages.

From "It Takes an Internet Village" (subscription required) from the WSJ Europe and Asia print editions, Jan. 21, 2004.

...but perhaps the cleverest plan to put the internet on wheels comes from a cunning scheme to provide e-mail access in rural India using buses. Given the reach of the bus network, it is estimated that this approach could provide national e-mail coverage for a paltry $15m. E-mail by bus—why not?

From print edition, "The Internet, On Wheels".

DakNet provides extraordinarily low-cost digital communication, letting remote villages leapfrog past the expense of traditional connectivity solutions and begin development of a full-coverage broadband wireless infrastructure.

From IEEE Computer Outlook magazine, Cover Story, "DakNet: Rethinking Connectivity in Developing Nations".

Wireless broadband can have the biggest impact in rural areas where there is the least infrastructure... where a little bit of wireless can go a long way. DakNet provides an affordable, low-risk wireless infrastructure to bridge the digital divide and jumpstart the rural communications market... DakNet also builds human-resource development capacity by training local teams about wireless networking, empowering them to maintain, expand, and upgrade the network themselves.

From book, "The Wireless Internet Opportunity for Developing Countries".

DakNet puts Mobile Internet Access Points on vehicles to bridge the digital divide... this combination of high-tech and low-tech is called "appropriate technology".

From radio show "The World".

"The pilot projects have proved their ability to wirelessly and automatically collect, transport and deliver data at high speeds to and from kiosk-based computers with Wi-Fi cards", according to the department of industrial policy and promotion secretary Rajeeva Ratna Shah... According to Amir Alexander Hasson, who helped initiate the two DakNet Wi-Fi pilot projects in Tikawali, "The benefits of using this low-cost wireless network which is easy to set up and maintain are already emerging."

From article "DakNet Wi-Fi All Set To Connect Rural India Soon", India.

DakNet uses a unique combination of physical and wireless transport to offer data connectivity to regions lacking communication infrastructure. The hybrid network architecture (patent pending) enables high-bandwidth intranet and Internet connectivity among kiosks and between kiosks and hubs.

From report, "CONNECTING REMOTE COMMUNITIES".

For developing countries, a wireless-enabled bus may be responsible for bringing connectivity to their locale... DakNet is an exportable solution for the 'first mile' with a low-cost wireless network that is easy to set up and maintain.

From "WiFi Delivers For Developing Countries".

A dot-com dream with a do-good twist: DakNet aims to bring the Net to Third World Villages.

DakNet is communication technology for rural areas… allowing individuals and businesses in remote areas to send data: email, photos, video etc., anywhere in the world, using inexpensive technology and existing transportation channels.