Mobile Unified Communications Featured Article

If it seems to you like pretty much everyone in the world has a mobile phone, you’re probably right. A report by the World Bank and infoDev, its technology entrepreneurship and innovation program, has found that the number of mobile phone subscriptions in the world is set to exceed the number of people soon.

The report, Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximizing Mobile, found that more than 30 billion mobile apps were downloaded in 2011. The number of mobile subscriptions in use worldwide, both pre-paid and post-paid, has grown from less than one billion in 2000 to more than six billion now, of which nearly five billion are in developing countries. 

According to the report, “The mobile communications story is moving to a new level, which is not so much about the phone but how it is used.”

infoDev is a global partnership program within the World Bank Group which works at the intersection of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship to create opportunities for inclusive growth, job creation and poverty reduction. infoDev assists governments and technology-focused small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to grow jobs, improve capacity and skills, increase access to finance and markets, ensure the appropriate enabling policy and regulatory environment for business to flourish, and test out innovative solutions in developing country markets. 

The report adds, “Ownership of multiple subscriptions is becoming increasingly common, suggesting that their number will soon exceed that of the human population.”

In developing countries, people are increasingly using mobile phones to create new livelihoods and enhance their lifestyles, while governments are using them to improve service delivery and citizen feedback mechanisms.

“Mobile communications offer major opportunities to advance human and economic development - from providing basic access to health information to making cash payments, spurring job creation and stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes,” said Rachel Kyte, World Bank vice president for sustainable development. “The challenge now is to enable people, businesses, and governments in developing countries to develop their own locally-relevant mobile applications so they can take full advantage of these opportunities.”

The report explores the consequences for development of the emerging “app economy,” especially in agriculture, health, financial services and government, and how it is changing approaches to entrepreneurship and employment.

“The mobile revolution is right at the start of its growth curve: mobile devices are becoming cheaper and more powerful while networks are doubling in bandwidth roughly every 18 months and expanding into rural areas,” said Tim Kelly, lead ICT policy specialist at the World Bank and one of the authors of the report.

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