However, Movirtu has been piloting the service in Madagascar, where the numbers are sold for $0.20 each, according to a source.

BCtA Acting Program Manager Amanda Gardiner said providing low-income communities with access to secure mobile accounts and identities will help bridge the divide between those who that have access to mobile phones and those that rely on community phones or paying a borrower's premium to a friend to meet their communication needs.

"Evidence shows that access to mobile communication is a way of improving lives and expanding the earning potential of one billion people living on US$1-2 a day," said Gardiner in a statement last week.

Movirtu plans to bring the phone technology to at least 12 countries in Africa and South Asia, giving at least 50 million people in both continents access to the technology, with a target of three million using the technology on a regular basis.

There has been mixed reaction to the project by communication experts in Africa.