In 2015, A Namibian Teen Created A Chipless Phone That Made Calls Via Radio — But 10 Years Later, What Happened To Him Is Surprising

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 17/06/2025 at 12:05

Updated on 17/06/2025 at 19:34

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Simon Petrus Became Famous for Creating a Mobile Phone That Makes Calls Without a SIM Card or Credit, But Nearly a Decade Later, He Still Seeks Support to Innovate.

In 2015, a teenager from Namibia began to build something that would change his life. His name is Simon Petrus. At just 17 years old, he started working on an ambitious project: to build a mobile phone that would work without a SIM card, without credit, and without relying on any carrier.

All of this using repurposed parts from old televisions, radios, and broken cell phones.

His Story

For two years, Petrus worked alone on the project, without technical or financial support. His parents, even unemployed, helped as much as they could.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

The Outcome of the Phone

Even with the media coverage, the project did not become a product. Petrus was unable to secure investment or support from the government or companies to move the idea forward.

He continued living with his parents and trying to develop new inventions, now with visibility but without resources.

In 2019, at 21 years old, Simon was still at home, unemployed, and looking for opportunities. In interviews, he stated that the biggest challenge was finding financial support to continue innovating. Nevertheless, he did not give up.

In 2020, he enrolled in the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre, a technical institution in the capital of Namibia. There, he studied Electronic Engineering for three years. Finally, in September 2023, he officially graduated. Another victory in his journey.

Even with the diploma, Simon Petrus continues to face obstacles. By 2025, nearly a decade after his first invention gained prominence, he remains unemployed, trying to make his projects viable independently.

Chronological Summary

September 8, 2023: Simon completed his Electronic Engineering course.
Since 2019: still looking for a job to support and develop his projects.
2025: various social media updates confirm that he continues without a fixed job.

His story has become a symbol of creativity and persistence, but also of how talent can be ignored when support is lacking.

Simon’s SIM-less phone is still a prototype, but his idea continues to inspire young Africans to believe in their own potential.

In 2015, A Namibian Teen Created A Chipless Phone That Made Calls Via Radio — But 10 Years Later, What Happened To Him Is Surprising

Simon Petrus Became Famous for Creating a Mobile Phone That Makes Calls Without a SIM Card or Credit, But Nearly a Decade Later, He Still Seeks Support to Innovate.

His Story

The Outcome of the Phone

Chronological Summary

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In 2015, A Namibian Teen Created A Chipless Phone That Made Calls Via Radio — But 10 Years Later, What Happened To Him Is Surprising

Simon Petrus Became Famous for Creating a Mobile Phone That Makes Calls Without a SIM Card or Credit, But Nearly a Decade Later, He Still Seeks Support to Innovate.

His Story

The Outcome of the Phone

Chronological Summary

While an average building in London or New York takes three years to be completed, in China a 26-story tower went up in five days with about 100 workers, and the global modular construction market already moves US$ 95 billion per year.

A Chinese factory in Guangdong is assembling a humanoid robot every 30 minutes while Tesla, Figure, and Boston Dynamics still struggle to deliver 10 thousand per year.

Australia installs giant concrete structures on the seabed 800 meters from the shore to create an ocean intake for desalination that will draw in saltwater and produce 30 million liters of drinking water per day.

Secret chamber sealed 4,500 years ago found in the Pyramid of Khufu, and Hawass announces its opening to the world in 2026

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

Germany installed vertical solar panels on a lake in Bavaria, and the result broke conventional logic: instead of producing energy at midday peak, the plant generates more early in the morning and in the evening, exactly when families turn on appliances and factories are in full swing.

While communities suffer from water scarcity and the advancing desert, women in Morocco use nets high up in the mountains to trap fog droplets, fill reservoirs, and transport drinking water through more than 10 km of piping.

A perfect 6 km ring in the far east of Russia intrigues NASA satellites as it appears to be a meteor crater or an extinct volcano, but the agency has already confirmed that it is neither and harbors a much stranger origin beneath the Earth.

From a simple approach at the gate to more than R$ 45,000 in donations, the story of a gardener offering volunteer work shows how a well-tended garden can pave the way for food, hope, and an almost finished home for a Brazilian family.

3.09-carat white diamond found by woman in a United States park after losing her father and son, and the rare stone valued at up to R$ 240,000 becomes a symbol of unexpected joy during a period of mourning

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A perfect 6 km ring in the far east of Russia intrigues NASA satellites as it appears to be a meteor crater or an extinct volcano, but the agency has already confirmed that it is neither and harbors a much stranger origin beneath the Earth.

Australia positions a barge with 78-meter legs at sea to install ocean sockets connected to tunnels under the seabed to supply a desalination plant that will produce 150 million liters of water per day in Alkimos until 2028.

From a simple approach at the gate to more than R$ 45,000 in donations, the story of a gardener offering volunteer work shows how a well-tended garden can pave the way for food, hope, and an almost finished home for a Brazilian family.

Couple buys 380 seedlings online to create an 80-meter hedge on their property, tests drip irrigation, and begins transforming open area into a green wall at the refuge they are building in Santa Catarina.

3.09-carat white diamond found by woman in a United States park after losing her father and son, and the rare stone valued at up to R$ 240,000 becomes a symbol of unexpected joy during a period of mourning