Telecommunication is not a cheap enterprise especially in Africa.
- First you need to shell out $200,000 http://tinyurl.com/myrwcs minimun to build a tall enough cell tower ( enough to buy 4,000 balloons - 6,000 with mass production. enough balloons for 11yrs daily launch of a single balloon)
- Secondly - Electricity infrastracture is very poor so cell towers need their own $5,000 power generators, that needs to be fueled and maintained. I will not go into the environmental impact of burning fossil fuel. Compare this with our rechargable batteries system.
- Thirdly - security personnel need to be posted to each cell tower to protect the generators. if the generators are stolen, so goes the service.