Monday, April 30, 2012

No Landline, No Problem; Africa's Cell Phone Market

No landline, No problem; if you live in Africa. MTN, Glo Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Vodcaom are among the companies presently in Africa. Regulations have relaxed, making way for the poor to have access to technology to help educate the people including those who have cell phones. 96 percent of the mobile phone services are pre-paid. Pre-paid cell phone use, is similar to that of what Americans might come by with scratch off cards that you can purchase to add minutes to your cell phone, are a service and benefit to lower income cell phone users. Africa is now the second largest market in the world with over 600 million subscribers, quickly rising up in the ranks, thanks to the poor. 

This new craze has taken Africa to a whole new level, moving from fewer than four million in 1998 to four hundred million- over half the population of the continent. This was not even the most interesting facts that I found; was the people of Africa can charge their cell phones.  I found that that was very innovative and just like in our mall here in Waterloo, Iowa; you have a low battery at U.S. cellular you can go in and swap it out. In Africa, you drop off you cell phone at a shop, you get a ticket in return, and with the power of a generator you can come back later to pick up your full powered cell phone. Without landlines, Cell phone proves to be an amazing tool for the people to use in all aspects to keep up with the rest of the world.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Nicole,

    I've explored your awesome coverage of interesting developments and situations in Africa. I couldn't find a way to email you, so I thought I would share this with you on here. I recently finished an infographic that explores the cultural, economic, and human rights development in Africa from a visual perspective. Hopefully you might be able to make some use out of it.Here's the link: http://www.master-of-finance.org/africa-economy/

    Best Wishes,
    Jack

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