[Kictanet] Africa's a Mobile Phone Oasis, But You Can't Live on Water Alone

[Alex Gakuru]

How come Senegal's mobile networks DO NOT charge for ALL sms and they remain
profitable?

Anybody has the answer?

----- Original Message -----
From: <innovativelawyer at wananchi.com>
To: "kenya ICT Policy - kictanet" <kictanet at kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 9:03 AM
Subject: [Kictanet] Africa's a Mobile Phone Oasis,But You Can't Live on
Water Alone


> NYTimes.com has a cover story today about the rapid deployment of mobile
> phones in Africa.
>
> Africa's a Mobile Phone Oasis, But You Can't Live on Water Alone
>
> ...The Africa-as-mobile-phone-oasis story is hardly new, but it's
> important nonetheless. African countries generally have some of the
> lowest Internet penetration rates in the world, so mobile phone growth
> raises the likelihood that more and more mobile providers will begin
> providing data access. It's the classic leapfrog story: why try to dig
> up the entire continent to deploy Internet cables when you can get
> access through the airwaves?
>
> However, it's also worth noting that we shouldn't see mobile phones as a
> silver bullet for wiping out Africa's digital divide. Internet access
> via mobile phones is wonderful - I go crazy when my phone gets out of
> data service range - but it's not a replacement for affordable computers
> with cheap Internet access, as was argued by The Economist and the World
> Bank earlier this year. It would be very tempting for us to say, "No
> need to worry about Africa's digital divide - they've got cell phones,
> don't they?" but the fact of the matter is that none of us who take
> Internet access for granted would want to be relegated to using mobile
> phones as our sole source of access. Try going about your day-to-day
> business for a week with your computer shut off, using only your phone,
> and you'll quickly see what I mean....
>
> ...Different development challenges require different tools. No doubt,
> mobile phones will be near the top of the list -- but that list also
> includes $100 laptops, wind-up electricity generators, low-cost
> community radio transmitters, and the timeless ham radio....
>
>
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/international/africa/25africa.html?adxnnl=
1&adxnnlx=1125036063-JsTQJrfjCv/R17+KfHtR7w
>
>
>
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