Problems With Mobile Web In Developing Countries
Spotted this interesting article at LIRNEAsia.net. Nathan Eagle, who is developing a voice interface for the mobile internet, writes about the challenges of making mobile web useful for developing countries.
The Mobile Web is NOT helping the Developing World… and what we can do about it.
By Nathan Eagle | MobileActive.org
The phones that are designed and marketed for the ‘developing world’ today aren’t data enabled, they have no browser or any ability to function as a traditional data device. We’re dumping hundreds of millions of devices into these regions that are essentially crippled - and their legacy (the average life span of a phone in Africa is many times that of it’s Western counterpart) will affect mobile internet usage in these regions throughout the next decade. Furthermore, in the small Kenyan village where I live it’s significantly less than 1 in 10 phones that can support the traditional ‘mobile Web’ experience, and it’s probably closer to 1 in 1000 phones that have ever successfully connected to the web. Most of the phones I see in the village were originally manufactured well before 2003. (The most popular selling phone in my village is an old Ericsson that stopped being made back in 2001.) The local mobile operators should take some blame as well - many simply don’t have the equipment or expertise to role out a data network on top of their rapidly expanding GSM net. It took me over 10 days of phone calls with my local Kenyan operator to get my phone activated for their new EDGE network. Most people I know give up after the first couple of hours of configuration. And that’s assuming they actually have the right phone…
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