Free Emergency Services Calls for rural mobile phone users

The service was officially launched last week in Kenya and will provide mobile phones AND connectivity to health workers and villagers in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. The service is jointly funded by Ericson and a Kuwaiti wireless carrier, Zain.

So far, Zain and Ericsson have deployed a temporary mobile network providing service to 5,000 people in Dertu, Kenya, for the first time. Health clinics and medical workers will use the wireless network to monitor basic health problems as well as provide emergency care to places where sick villagers rarely have access to doctors.

Launched in Nairobi on Wednesday, the initiative will eventually encompass a solar-powered wireless network designed to reach 400,000 people in 10 countries.