Mobile can increase prosperity: Study

TT Correspondent | | 14 Jun 2011

In India, fishermen use mobile phones to find the best markets for their catch while in Sri Lanka and Uganda, mobile services let farmers check market prices and text in offers. Villagers in Cambodia receive and make payments through their mobile phones and Bangladeshis learn English through mobile service. In Ghana and Nigeria, a mobile service protects people from fake medicine.

Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent’s (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) research arm on Monday released a white paper which describes the impact of widespread access to mobile communications on economic and social growth in developing economies.

The paper was developed with support of the World Economic Forum’s Telecommunications Industry Global Agenda Council entitled “Putting Broadband in the Palms of People’s Hands: A Model to Drive Faster Economic and Social Growth.”

Teams of experts from Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs and the World Economic Forum’s Telecommunications Industry Global Agenda Council conducted in-depth studies of the mobile landscape in emerging markets, in particular Bangladesh, Kenya and Venezuela to create this study.

Previous research by the World Bank has highlighted that each 10 percent increase in mobile penetration leads to a 1 percent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in low- and middle-income economies, which industry experts have acknowledged for some time. But further research by Bell Labs has revealed that the potential exists to grow the benefits even more quickly both in GDP and HDI (Human Development Index – a measure of quality of life based on life expectancy, education and standard of living). According to a model developed by Bell Labs, the right combination of actions and investment can accelerate the economic impact of broad access to mobile communications services by as much as 36 percent, measured in GDP.

For example, modeling shows that with the right mix of applications and affordable applications, increasing mobile penetration in Kenya could lead to a 2.7 percent increase in GDP and 1 percent HDI improvement, which translates, in real terms, to 443,000 more children being educated and increasing life expectancy by 15 months.

Currently about 59 percent of the world’s population use mobile phones, but nearly 3 billion people are still excluded from the social and economic benefits of mobile communication. The number of mobile devices in use globally has grown to 5 billion, and the number capable of accessing the Internet is expected to reach 1.82 billion by 2013.

“Mobility is about so much more than mobile phones. It gives people access to services, information and markets that were previously unavailable to them. In short, it’s about inclusion and giving people the ability to do more,” said Rajeev Singh-Molares, President, Asia Pacific, Alcatel-Lucent, and Vice-Chairman of the WEF GAC working group that conducted the study. “Today we have a huge opportunity to create a framework for sustainable and reliable socioeconomic growth that will improve the people’s lives, no matter where they live.”

The report outlines three key issues that have the greatest potential impact for socio-economic growth-Rethinking infrastructure, scaling relevantapplications and delivering affordable solutions