african utility week - comparing innovation with pre-paid meters vs post-paid smartphone approaches
TRANSCRIPT
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David Schaub-JonesDirectorSeeSawSouth Africa
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The pros and cons of prepaid versus mobile enabled postpaid approaches for African water utilities –
David Schaub-Jones, SeeSaw
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Software
Advice
Training
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Prepaid Metering
vs
Postpaid Mobile Approaches
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Source: Hisupplier.com
Prepaid metering
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Source: Rabble.ca (Prepaid meter in Lesotho, 2008)
Prepaid metering
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Institutional Water kiosks
Household meters
Source: Heymans, Eales & Franceys, WSP 2014
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Source: Heymans, Eales & Franceys, WSP 2014
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Prepaid household meters
Advantages for utilities
Challenges for utilities
Upfront collection
Less admin around billing
No reconnection charges
High initial cost for prepaid meters Additional cost of
repairs/maintenance/spare parts Need adequate pressure in network to
supply Strong customer service required Technology has shown unreliable
performance Large investment to adopt new technology
(hardware, organisational change, training, etc)
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Mobile – enabled Postpaid Approaches
???
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1) Enter meter number2) Enter meter reading3) Take a photo of meter
(automatically records the date, time, and GPS co-ordinates)
Mobile-enabled postpaid approach
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4) After meter reading, print bill and deliver5) Send bill by SMS6) Optional: take payment and print receipt
Mobile-enabled postpaid approach
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Exi
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g b
illin
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& C
RM
sys
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Source: Heymans, Eales & Franceys WSP 2014 (underlying diagram only)
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Post-paid mobile innovation (vs prepaid)
Advantages for utilities (compared to prepaid)
Challenges for utilities (compared to prepaid)
Capital costs much lower (opex too when full costs are taken into account)
More easily integrated with current practices
No need to maintain two billing systems and create a separate vending system
Manageable training and organizational change
Room for future evolution (with prepaid you are stuck with the tech you bought, ICT allows for evolution according to feedback)
Meter readers can perform other functions (customer engagement, fault reporting)
In-person disconnection still necessary
Culture change of meter readers may be required
Does not address institutional customers to same degree
Does not offer some of the (often missing) advantages of prepaid water kiosks (eg longer hours, no vendor markup)
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Our Philosophy …
excerpts from SeeSaw ‘s website
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Q & A