LIRNEasia » Expanding Horizons http://lirneasia.net a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:38:15 +0000 en hourly 1 T@BOP3 findings published in Nokia’s Expanding Horizons http://lirneasia.net/2010/02/tbop3-findings-published-in-nokias-expanding-horizons-mag/ http://lirneasia.net/2010/02/tbop3-findings-published-in-nokias-expanding-horizons-mag/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:49:28 +0000 Nirmali Sivapragasam http://lirneasia.net/?p=6844 Findings from LIRNEasia’s Teleuse@BOP3 study have been cited in the latest issue of Nokia’s Expanding Horizons magazine. The article discusses the vast potential mobile phones have for providing those on the lower-incomes or the bottom of the pyramid, access to the internet for the first time. Read the full article here. Excerpt below:

According to ICT policy think tank LIRNEasia, the evidence shows that mobiles, not computers, have the best potential to deliver services to rural areas in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the world’s largest concentration of poor people. “This is the hardest case. What works here will work everywhere,” says Rohan Samarajiva, Chair and CEO, LIRNEasia. “Mobile networks will provide the key connectivity, especially as we see handsets becoming more advanced.”
]]> http://lirneasia.net/2010/02/tbop3-findings-published-in-nokias-expanding-horizons-mag/feed/ 1 Mobiles, the developing world path to the Internet? http://lirneasia.net/2009/05/mobiles-the-developing-world-path-to-the-internet/ http://lirneasia.net/2009/05/mobiles-the-developing-world-path-to-the-internet/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 07:29:29 +0000 Ayesha Zainudeen http://lirneasia.net/?p=4292 nokiahorizonsfeb09Teleuse@BOP3, LIRNEasia’s six country study has shown that between 2006 and 2008 there has been significant uptake of mobiles by the BOP in emerging Asia. Access to computers on the other hand (see here for numbers)  in these countries at the BOP is minimal.  Together with the increasing capabilities of mobiles to deliver an array [...]]]> Teleuse@BOP3, LIRNEasia’s six country study has shown that between 2006 and 2008 there has been significant uptake of mobiles by the BOP in emerging Asia. Access to computers on the other hand (see here for numbers)  in these countries at the BOP is minimal.  Together with the increasing capabilities of mobiles to deliver an array of services, which essentially boil down to what you can do on the Internet (information publication and retrieval, transactions, etc) this means that much of the BOP will have their first Internet experience through a mobile.

nokiahorizonsfeb09

The current issue of Nokia’s Expanding Horizons quarterly magazine highlights LIRNEasia’s Teleuse@BOP3 study findings from India, illustrating this point.

Mobiles are now the most common form of communication, pushing public phones into second place… The rapid evolution of the mobile into a multi-purpose communications and knowledge tool combined with its fast adoption by the BOP, means they and the majority of people in the developing world are likely to have their first Internet experience via a mobile.

Although use of “Mobile 2.0” services such as payments and  e-government services is low, these are the ‘doors’ through which people are likely to enter these services. Governments and industry in South Asia need to understand potential barriers to usage and to identify what will motivate use of ‘non-voice’ applications among the BOP.

Key results can be previewed here. The full article can be viewed here.

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