Despite lack of infrastructure for the Internet, mobile phones are extremely popular in Africa
The use of mobile phones has greatly
assisted residents in emerging markets that don't have the
infrastructure to support the internet.
For example, the
fastest growing mobile phone market in the world is Africa, where
some phone manufacturers are now flocking. Most people, who
don't have access to PCs and the internet, are now using mobile
phones to check e-mail, make bank transfers, buy and sell products,
and check sports scores.
Mobile phone adoption is much
higher than internet use, especially in rural locations, though
broadband is on the way. Until then, the use of phones will
remain a popular tool for communication, especially with many homes
in rural African nations lacking electricity to continually power a
PC.
Until several undersea cables are successfully connected
and installed to offer support to nations in Africa, phone-based
communication is expected to remain high throughout the massive
continent.
"I don't think the development being done now
for
mobile phones is going to stop," said Jon Gossier, president
of Appfrica, a technology company operating in Uganda. "But
I think we'll see a whole new generation of applications coming out
of Africa, including mobile applications that utilize the Web."
Free
and open source software, such as Java, continues to be extremely
popular in Africa, with the number of paid app downloads also slowly
increasing. Companies that hope to work in Africa, however,
routinely must provide their own infrastructure -- a fact that has
led some companies away from Uganda, Congo, and other countries where
it could possibly cash in.
"We shipped it on Saturday. Then on Sunday, we rested." -- Steve Jobs on the iPad launch
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