[UgaBYTES] Understanding the scale of mobile cellular connectivity - from ITU

[FELICIAN NCHEYE]

Dear Meddie,
 
This is very encouraging message. The focus for developing countries should now be on effective uses of the broadband technologies. To make more use on the availability of mobile phones in the communities for more tailored spheres like, e-agriculture, e-fisheries etc for example.
 
We believe it  would be much useful if these clusters through mobile phones will be able to access more local information from strategic points within their localities. Sengerema telecentre is working with some institutions and experts to explore this possibility. Current reports are promising.
 
 Ncheye

Manager
Sengerema Multipurpose Community Telecentre
P.O.BOX.399 Sengerema-Mwanza Tanzania
E-mail:ncheyefb at yahoo.com
Cell:+255 784 799630
Tel: +255 28 2590146
Web: www.Sengerema.or.tz

--- On Thu, 10/2/08, Meddie Mayanja <mmayanja at idrc.ca> wrote:

From: Meddie Mayanja <mmayanja at idrc.ca>
Subject: [UgaBYTES] Understanding the scale of mobile cellular connectivity - from ITU
To: "ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org" <ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org>, "Telecentre.Europe networking telecentres in Europe" <telecentre-europe at dgroups.idrc.ca>
Cc: "tc-mena at dgroups.idrc.ca" <tc-mena at dgroups.idrc.ca>, "AsianTelecentreLeaders at yahoogroups.com" <AsianTelecentreLeaders at yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thursday, October 2, 2008, 10:48 AM

Colleagues,

This might interest you...


Geneva, 25 September 2008 - ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré announced in
New York that worldwide mobile cellular subscribers are likely to reach the 4
billion mark before the end of this year.

"The fact that 4 billion subscribers have been registered worldwide
indicates that it is technically feasible to connect the world to the benefits
of ICT and that it is a viable business opportunity," said Dr Touré.
"Clearly, ICTs have the potential to act as catalysts to achieve the 2015
targets of the MDGs."

Dr Touré was speaking at the high-level events on the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) in New York, where he also participated in UN Private Sector Forums
addressing the global food crisis and the role of technological innovation in
meeting the MDGs.

The MDGs were adopted following the United Nations Millennium Declaration by UN
Member states in 2000, representing an international commitment to eradicate
extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender
equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat epidemics such
as HIV/AIDS and malaria, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a
global partnership for development that would include making available the
benefits of information and communication technologies. ICTs have been
recognized as an important tool to achieve the MDGs.

Since the turn of the century, the growth of mobile cellular subscribers has
been impressive, with year-on-year growth averaging 24 per cent between 2000 and
2008. While in 2000, mobile penetration stood at only 12 per cent, it surpassed
the 50 per cent mark by early 2008. It is estimated to reach about
61 per cent by the end of 2008.

While the data shows impressive growth, ITU stresses that the figures need to
be carefully interpreted. Although in theory a 61 per cent penetration rate
suggests that at least every second person could be using a mobile phone, this
is not necessarily the case. In fact, the statistics reflect the number of
subscriptions, not persons.

Double counting takes place when people have multiple subscriptions. Also,
operators' methods for counting active prepaid subscribers vary and often
inflate the actual number of people that use a mobile phone.

On the other hand, some subscribers, particularly in developing countries,
share their mobile phone with others. This has often been cited as the success
story of Grameen Phone in rural Bangladesh, for instance.

ITU further highlights that despite high growth rates in the mobile sector,
major differences in mobile penetration rates remain between regions and within
countries.

The impressive growth in the number of mobile cellular subscribers is mainly
due to developments in some of the world's largest markets. The BRIC
economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China are expected to have an
increasingly important impact in terms of population, resources and global GDP
share. These economies alone are expected to account for over 1.3 billion mobile
subscribers by the end of 2008.

China surpassed the 600 million mark by mid-2008, representing by far the
world's largest mobile market. India had some 296 million mobile subscribers
by end July 2008 but with a relatively low penetration rate of about 20 per
cent, India offers great potential for growth. Market liberalization has played
a key role in spreading mobile telephony by driving competition and bringing
down prices. India's mobile operators increasingly compete for low-income
customers and Average-Revenue-Per-User in India has reached around USD 7, one of
the lowest in the world.

ITU recently published two regional reports for
<http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2008/10.html> Africa and
<http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2008/25.html> Asia, which
indicate how mobile telephony is changing peoples' lives. Apart from
providing communication services to previously unconnected areas, mobile
applications have opened the doors to innovations such as m-commerce to access
pricing information for rural farmers and the use of mobile phones to pay for
goods and services. While mobile broadband subscribers remain concentrated in
the developed world, a number of developing countries, including Indonesia, the
Maldives, the Philippines and Sri Lanka in Asia-Pacific have launched 3G
networks.

Broadband uptake enables a range of socially desirable and valuable online
services, specifically targeting the MDGs in areas such as e-government,
e-education and e-health. The use of broadband technologies can help overcome
many of the basic development challenges faced by developing countries.
------

Meddie

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