The mobile phone is the computer for Africa

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by Karen Coppock

During a break-out session in the MobileActive08 conference in Johannesburg last week, a participant from Uganda asserted that the mobile phone is the computer for Africa. This proposition was heavily debated amongst the group, with some voting in favor of the computer (argument: have you ever tried to work on a spreadsheet or edit a Word document on a mobile phone? The screen is simply too small to be one’s only computing device) and others voting in favor of the mobile phone (argument: affordability, ubiquity, ease of usage, etc.).

One concern with computers was the requirement for literacy. Yet someone in the group mentioned that literacy is also an issue for mobile phones as SMS messages are so much more affordable than voice calls and many of the MobileActive08 projects revolved around SMS text messages. A very sharp participant from Zambia mentioned that there is an old tradition of letter writers – people who used to write letters for people who were not literate. She said that there is evidence that this trend could be translated to the mobile phone environment with the emergence of SMS writers or people that will send/read a text message for someone if they are not literate (either reading/writing literate or technically literate).

Regardless of its shortcomings, the general agreement in the small group was that the mobile phone may very well be the only computing device that millions of Africans ever experience first-hand. There is an opportunity, therefore, to develop tools that enable the mobile phone to become easier to use as a computer (i.e., docking stations for mobile phones with connections to a monitor, keyboard, external speakers and/or a mouse) …thus far the CellC and Vodacom mobile phone booths across South Africa have not exploited this opportunity, but perhaps that is the next step in the technology’s evolution in Africa.

Recycled phones - Good for the environment, Good for revenues?

by Karen Coppock
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Handset manufacturers have multiple incentives to remove used handsets from the marketplace - keep environmentalists happy while decreasing a formidable threat to first-time handset purchases (used phones)

Environmentalists vocally encourage the reuse and responsible recycling of mobile phones. In the summer of 2006, Greenpeace began rating the environmental policies of mobile phone and personal computer manufacturers. The Greenpeace ratings are based on the amount of hazardous substances used in the product and the company’s take back and recycling program. None of the top five handset manufacturers – Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung – analyzed by Greenpeace received the highest “green rating,” and many were penalized in their rating due to the lack of disclosure or progress on voluntary take back and recycling programs.

Mobile handset manufacturers may want to consider implementing more aggressive take back programs in emerging markets as an environmentally friendly mechanism for decreasing the amount of used handsets in circulation in these high-growth countries. By decreasing the availability of used handsets in these markets, manufacturers could minimize a significant competitor to the low-end models they are increasingly launching in these markets. Mobile handset manufacturers may even want to evaluate the feasibility of offering "certified used handsets" that they have cleaned, tested and updated potentially capitalizing on the used handset phenomena themselves while being good, and clean, corporate citizens.