The company said at least three million people living in poverty in Africa and South Asia will get access to low-cost mobile phone numbers by early 2013 through the project, launched in line the United National Business call to Action (BCtA). BCtA is a global initiative supported by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), which aims to encourage private sector efforts to fight poverty.
Users of the Movirtu phone numbers will be able to use any mobile phone to log in with their own unique number to make and receive individual calls and access critical information and services such as banking or agricultural information.
A unique personal mobile identity will allow users to access network applications that provide information about employment opportunities, promote access to mobile payment system or banking services, and keep users up-to-date on a variety of health and market topics, Movirty said.
Neither U.N. nor Movirtu officials are not disclosing whether there will be a fee attached to the unique numbers.
Movirtu for the moment points out that the initiative is a social responsibility project by Movirtu backed by U.N., the U.K. Australian and U.S. government, as well as many other organizations.
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.
"Due to high competition in Africa's mobile market, costs of mobile handsets have reduced significantly while in some instances service providers give customized handsets almost for free as they compete for customers," noted Edith Mwale, telecom analyst from Africa center for ICT Development.
However, Gail Smith, of Communication Initiative South Africa, an organization promoting communication said in an e-mail exchange that "I do believe that it will have positive impact on African people's lives."
"It is true that people are still unable to afford mobile phones and airtime," Smith said. "It's also not just the handsets. It's about whether or not their networks allow in-coming communication if they don't have airtime."
A Gartner research produced last year said Africa's mobile penetration will hit 56 percent by 2014 while Asia, excluding Japan, will see a 68 percent mobile penetration.
But Ramona Liberoff, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Strategy and Planning at Movirtu said not everyone can afford their own mobile phone. Liberoff claimed the goal of Movirtu is to increase the earning potential of those living on $1.00 or $2.00 a day by saving money and allowing them to access the economic benefits of a full mobile identity.
The Movirtu investment is expected to benefit mainly women in rural communities in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Low-income women in these regions are up to 21 percent less likely to have mobile phone access than men, according to the 2010 estimates from the global mobile operator association GSMA.
On average, Movirtu expects phone customers to save an estimated $60 a year on phone charges incurred from shared phones.