Appropriate Technology: Cell Phones?

Many rural communities are so far isolated from the nearest cities that they do not have access to telephone lines. That means communication is difficult if not impossible, and during storms or natural disasters the ability to call for help can mean the difference between life and death.

Cell phones have gone a long way toward helping people living in isolated conditions, and they go even further toward increasing the profit margins of small business owners. A 2005 study (http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0712-rhett_butler.html) by mobile phone company Vodaphone estimated that 28 million Africans subscribed either to Vodacom or MTN for cellular service.

Eighty-five percent of small business owners in Tanzania and 79 percent in South Africa said they rely upon a cell phone as their sole means of telephone communication. Likewise, 62 percent of entrepreneurs in South Africa said that their cellular phones had had a direct positive impact on their profits, allowing them to make more sales at greater distances.

The largest hurdle in the way of people in developing countries acquiring cell phones remains the cost of handsets. In response, a group of African mobile technology companies pooled their efforts in 2004 and invited international handset producers to bid on a project to provide 6 million cell phones at less than $40 apiece to rural Africans. Motorola won the auction and began distribution in 2005.

In a real testimony to cell phones’ growing importance, National Public Radio’s The World (http://www.theworld.org/) reports that pre-paid cell phones have become even more popular than beer and cigarettes for many Africans. More important than beer? Ask me again when the iPhone comes out later this year.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007