A low-power cellular base station that weighs just five kilograms and consumes 50 watts is being rolled out in Zambia.

The device dubbed the ‘CompactRAN’ connects up to 1,000 people, says its maker US headquartered firm Vanu. Features of the CompactRAN include a GSM or EDGE network operating in the 850, 900, 1,800 or 1,900 MHz frequency band.

Vanu further describes the ‘CompactRAN’ as “the smallest, lightest, lowest power consumption outdoor base station on the market today.”

And according to the MIT Technology Review, one location where the device is being used is Chaimiaka, a village that is 115 kilometers from the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

MIT Technology Review says the units require backhaul equipment to handle the connection to the main network. In Chaimiaka, this is reportedly done with a microwave transmitter that links village communications with a base station 17 kilometers away.

In other settings, a satellite connection or fibre backhaul may be used, says the MIT Technology Review.

Photovoltaics, batteries, generators and even a grid connection can also power the device.

The gadget is planned to target rural areas in countries such as Zambia.

Zambia’s ICT sector has about one million internet users and about seven million phone users, out of as population of 13.2 million, according to a report on ITWeb Africa earlier this year.

The country’s internet connectivity is concentrated mainly in urban areas, as traditional internet service providers view rural areas as economically unviable to recoup their investments.