LIRNEasia » internet experience 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 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.

]]> http://lirneasia.net/2009/05/mobiles-the-developing-world-path-to-the-internet/feed/ 0 Realistic vision of mobile 2.0 at the BOP http://lirneasia.net/2007/12/realistic-vision-of-mobile-20-at-the-bop/ http://lirneasia.net/2007/12/realistic-vision-of-mobile-20-at-the-bop/#comments Sat, 08 Dec 2007 05:58:09 +0000 Rohan Samarajiva http://www.lirneasia.net/2007/12/realistic-vision-of-mobile-20-at-the-bop/ A thoughtful contribution by someone who is developing a voice interface for the mobile internet.

The Mobile Web is NOT helping the Developing World… and what we can do about it. By Nathan Eagle | MobileActive.org

This is not to say that these billions of mobile phones do not have the potential to access content from the web – rather, the traditional browser-based paradigm of internet usage does not cater to them. The idea that the mobile web consists exclusively of mobile devices running web-browsers identical to the web experience we are used to with IE/Firefox is simply wrong. Throwing more and more resources towards creating devices for the developing world that can emulate the PC browsing experience is misguided. The 2 billion phones being used in the developing world are really great at making and receiving voice calls and text messages: Why not shape the internet experience to meet the specs of every phone’s inherent functionality (voice!) rather than requiring devices to have specs that quite frankly aren’t going to be realistic for many years to come?

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