Last week the island Sun newspaper reported that Internet subscribers had reached 464,000 with the numbers expected to increase in the coming years.
Mobile phone penetration rating is currently at 18.7 percent but that is expected to double following the recent improvement of network systems from 2G to 3G and 4G in parts of Choiseul and Isabel provinces.
Internet is a space where both negative and positive information can be accessed and that it is important to be managed.
I want to focus today on the positive impact of internet access, particularly by mobile phone users, and how they might in the future benefit from a host of personal services aided by the government and commercial providers.
I turned to an article written by Chandra Steele who, in an interesting piece, she said Government and non-government organizations are now using phones to substitute for physical infrastructure in developing nations.
Using her article as the basis for how I see internet access my mobile phones in particular changing how things are likely to be done for the better in the Solomon Islands, I will quote some of her points.
The breadth of services phones can substitute and supplement should in no way be judged by their size. Health initiatives, agricultural solutions, banking networks, and education are being conducted over mobile networks every day. What's more, they're mostly using SMS, the most elementary of mobile phone communication technologies but one that's handled by even basic or out-of-date phones.
Mobile phones alone are not an answer to the problems of the developing world, but read on to see how they're doing their part to alleviate some of the pressures.
Mobile phones, though, can cut across that distance. Even in places that lack electricity, they are often plentiful. "The penetration of mobile phone networks in many low- and middle-income countries surpasses other infrastructure such as paved roads and electricity, and dwarfs fixed Internet deployment," says the World Health Organization in the report "mHealth: New horizons for health through mobile technologies."
Increasingly, governmental and non-governmental organizations are using phones in place of physical infrastructure. In developing nations, 79 percent of the population has a mobile phone, according to a report from the International Telecommunications Union.
The breadth of services phones can substitute and supplement should in no way be judged by their size. Health initiatives, agricultural solutions, banking networks, and education are being conducted over mobile networks every day. What's more, they're mostly using SMS, the most elementary of mobile phone communication technologies but one that's handled by even basic or out-of-date phones.
Mobile phones alone are not an answer to the problems of the developing world, but read on to see how they're doing their part to alleviate some of the pressures.
Cell phones might be little use after they've fallen into mud, but their chargers might get something out of it. Microbial fuel cell-based chargers thrive on electrons generated by bacteria in soil. Researcher Aviva Presser Aiden of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and her team are field testing chargers in sub-Saharan Africa, in part on a grant of $100,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Fifty-seven percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa has cell phones but only 30 percent has power. To charge their phones, many have to walk miles to charging stations that can cost them as much as a dollar, in a region where the average annual income is $1,610. A bonus is that microbial fuel cell-based chargers can be built from basic materials by the average person for very little cost.
In some nations a countrywide effort is being done to bring education, health, transportation, benefits, wages, and more to mobile phones. Governments are now in the process of expanding mobile services into a full-fledged app store. Singapore has made much of its high smartphone penetration rate (more than 100 percent, with many owning more than one phone) by making government news, alerts, tax filing, benefits, health information, and basic services available on mobile phones. Since 2009, Bahrain has had in place a mobile phone initiative that lets its citizens pay bills and traffic tickets, find embassy contacts, get health information, and read government-sponsored blogs on their phones.
Banks are scarce in many parts of the world, hampering economic growth since the dearth makes it difficult for people to obtain credit or otherwise run businesses. Britain's Department for International Development saw mobile phones as a non-brick-and-mortar solution and created M-Pesa, a mobile banking service. (It gets its "m" from "mobile" and "pesa" from the Swahili word for "money.") M-Pesa works on software from Microsoft and has been touted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Its users can pick up their phones or visit local agents to deposit and withdraw funds, transfer money to others, pay bills, and purchase airtime for phones. M-Pesa agents can be sprinkled throughout a community, as operators of businesses such as gas stations, beauty salons, or mobile phone stores. Though M-Pesa functions as a bank, it is not legally classifiable as one because it's operated by mobile phone network Vodafone and affiliates. The service is used in Kenya, Tanzania, Afghanistan, South Africa, India, Fiji, Qatar, and Egypt.
The eTransform program is an initiative of the World Bank intended to assist developing countries through the use of technology. The education aspect of eTransform aims to improve education through technology, predominantly mobile phones, and a study of the program's success recently wrapped up in Africa. Mobile phones are the most affordable and available devices for teachers and students, whereas the use of other technologies in Africa generally relies on subsidies. The program is proven effective in the implementation of short lessons, quizzes, interactive literacy exercises, question-and-answer activities, support for students, access to learning materials, and as a messaging system between schools and families.
In 2009, just 28.5 percent of Palestinian households had access to the Internet. Unemployment nearly matches that, at 21.7 percent. JobMatch is intended to bridge the gap between the two by providing job listings via SMS and allowing job seekers to post mini-resumes. The idea is a promising one since 81 percent of Palestinians have a mobile phone. JobMatch highlights its successes with not just those looking for work, but in those who are hiring, such as a non-profit organization in the West Bank that was able to hire IT support staff using the service.
Where health resources can be scarce, mobile phones can be plentiful. The World Health Organization defines mHealth, or mobile health, as medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices. With mHealth, those who lack local health services can contact health call centers; receive vital health information on broad and personalized health issues; access their health records; get appointment reminders; participate in remote, real-time monitoring of health conditions; and benefit from telemedicine. A report from the WHO says "almost 90% of the world's population could benefit from the opportunities mobile technologies represent, and at relatively low cost."
Farm fields might seem far removed from anything having to do with a mobile phone, but the technology is an indispensable tool for some. In India, the Nano Ganesh saves farmers a trek to turn water pumps on and off by managing irrigation through codes punched in on a phone call. In Kenya, coffee farmers will soon be notified of weather and other conditions that will affect their crops, as well as the latest market prices, via an SMS system set up by the International Institute for Communication and Development. In Uganda, the Women of Uganda Network overcomes gender barriers by using mobile phones to deliver to women.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
