If Poutanet provides connectivity out-of-the-box in an Ikea style, Karugrid does the same for all the basics of modern life - that means connectivity, electricity and digital services - and you guessed it, Poutanet provides the connectivity. Putting it the other way around Poutanet now has a partner able to bring private LTE to places lacking electricity.
The Karugrid product offering consists of following modules:
A self-contained solar power system with battery capacity and logic for 24/7 operations for multiple users even under difficult conditions.
A Poutanet simple self-contained local mobile network enabling digital services for an area of several square kilometers.
The local digital services are what makes it all tick. An electricity market allows many users to share the system in a fair way. Mobile money can be used for trading not just electricity and internet access, but also other goods and services. The system can also host host additional services such as education and healthcare software based on local needs.
The zero-touch site is inbuilt in the design philosophy. Karugrid is delivered as a consumer product. No special skills are needed for setting up the system or running it.
Karugrid was founded to commercialize the excellent results of the BF financed Fusion Grid research project. The offering is based on the learning from the Oniipa reference system in Namibia. It now serves as a platform for trialing new software features as well as collecting valuable usage data.