Mobile Divides…How Bad is it Really?

Most people in the US seldom worry about getting a reliable signal, or even less likely, finding a place to charge their phone. These are a few problems that people in parts of Africa, the Middle East, India and South America face daily.

Mobile phones recharge at a generator-powered charging station in Cebu, Philippines. In emerging economies, people can struggle for access to electricity for their phones. (Jacob Maentz/Corbis via Getty Images)

 

Currently, there are still notable numbers of people in emerging economies who do not own a mobile phone, or who share one with others.” (Mobile Divides, 2019). In Venezuela, 15% of adults do not own or share a phone and 17% share a phone. That’s about every 1-in-3 people that don’t have continuous access to mobile phones. Imagine if you had to not only have limited access to your phone, but had to share it with another person! Most people can’t be separated from their phone for more than a few hours, yet a couple of days might prove to be anxiety inducing. In some countries where there is bad cases of digital divide, the median for getting a reliable mobile signal is 46%. That like saying about half of the time you will get a reliable connection. While we have outlets and charging stations all around campus, in some of these places where digital divide is most prevalent the median for having difficulties finding a place to charge their phone is 33%. Every 1-in-3 people would have trouble finding a place to charge up. In South Africa, 22% of people frequently and 15% occasionally have difficulties finding content in their preferred language. That’s 37% of people that have at least some difficulty finding information in their preferred language. Ponder having to copy and paste most things you look up on the internet to a translator. This would use more data, time and effort from your end to do simple tasks.

While these situations are unfortunate, the real question is how can we mitigate the divide? One potential solution could involve donating old phones and having AI locate where the least internet activity is coming from in each country to give a better idea of where to donate these old devices.

Source: “Mobile Divides in Emerging Economies” (2019) https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/20/mobile-divides-in-emerging-economies/

3 thoughts on “Mobile Divides…How Bad is it Really?

  1. This was a great topic to introduce.

    Smartphones are truly the greatest invention we didn’t know we needed. I am a big backpacker, backcountry hunter and I often spend a week at a time in areas of the western rockies and even the Appalachians and I always feel so handicapped because in those areas I have no cell phone reception. I believe if we could get large amounts of smartphones to developing nations along with the correct grid to allow them to work efficiently it would have a huge springboarding effect on their advancements politically and economically. Smartphones would give them the ability to communicate and learn at a rate they have never experienced before and that would only mean good things for the global economy.

  2. Your post about mobile divides globally reminds me a lot about the digital divide in China right now. As the largest developing country, China has a serve digital gab within its own regions and social classes, meaning that people in developed cities get access to the internet almost as much as Americans and Europeans, but people in remote countrysides struggle to catch the signals with their antiquated digital devices.

    Statistically, the Internet penetration rate for the urban areas of China has reached 50%, but for rural areas of China, this number only 18.5%. I personally experienced this difference. As one from a giant city in china, I own my smartphone when I was 12 and I never experienced any trouble finding a place to charge my devices or no signal. In Shenzhen, the signal is full even underground while I am waiting for a train. However, when I go to the countryside with my parents, all the problems regarding mobile devices came along, sometimes I have to go to a specific area to receive messages due to poor signal.

    The gap between educational level and income has worsened the mobile divides, especially when mobile pay is popular in China right now and people use their phone to shop grocery, pay electricity, and do much more, those people who have limited access to the internet might have trouble to live their life with this larger and larger gap.

    While mobile divided is a growing problem in china, I think the government and electronic giants should start to hands-on shorten this gap and have everyone enjoy the internet equally.

  3. I think the idea you mentioned at the end hits the nail on the head. Companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung will let you return your old phone so they can use the parts and materials to make other products, but these companies should consider donating a certain percentage of returned phones that are in working condition to countries with cell service that have a small population with phones. This would be great PR for companies that would choose to partake and it would give some people living in poverty throughout the world the ability to improve their lives in a multitude of ways. Having a phone could allow people in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and South America to find access to health care, find jobs that are posted online, get access to local and world news so they can stay informed, and so much more. Phones/smartphones increase the likelihood that someone in a developing country can get educated about the world around them, so companies donating old phones to developing countries could have a huge impact on poverty levels, world hunger, and access to health care and education.

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