MTN launches cellphone solar charging offer

Cape Town – MTN on Saturday launched a cellphone charging bundle in the Eastern Cape designed to give people access to reliable energy.

The operator launched World Panel’s SunStream at the Mthatha Plaza.

“The reason we launched in Umtata [Mthatha] was all around the people in poorer areas who don’t have access to reliable energy,” Hennie Botha, World Panel’s managing director for South Africa told Fin24.

“This is an LSM (living standard measurement) where people switch their phones off because they don’t have power. This gives them the opportunity to have access to reliable energy,” he added.

MTN retailed the World Panel solar charger for R219.

READ: This R199 solar charger powers up your phone

SunStream chargers are built to be durable and can last for 25 years. Botha said that the solar technology was not suited to integration with phones or tablets.

“The moment you put a battery or circuit board inside it, you degrade the product.”

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