Fade to Play

In Saturday’s Technology Review is a story by the AP about how mobile phones are benefiting businesses across the developing world.

In India, fishermen call ahead to ports to see where they will get the best deal on their catch. Kenyan farmers check crop prices on a service offered by local provider Safaricom.

In South Africa, cell phones serve as a virtual office for carpenters, painters and other laborers who post their numbers on handwritten signs advertising their skills.

In Bangladesh, a quarter of a million ”phone ladies” buy mobile phones on credit from Grameen Bank, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize along with its founder Muhammad Yunus, providing wireless communication for the community and themselves with a livelihood.

The Philippines has become a global leader in mobile commerce. Since 2000, Smart Communications Inc., the country’s largest carrier, has allowed subscribers in its Smart Money program to hold limited amounts of cash in electronic wallets linked to their mobile accounts.

Using their cell phones, members can withdraw cash from their bank accounts, pay for goods and services and transfer money and airtime credit. The phone records all transactions. Overseas Filipinos are even using this service to send money home. While the system is designed with work with financial institutions, subscribers don’t need a bank account.

Relevance: How are the uses of mobile phones qualitatively different from the developed world? Are uses more _social_ in order to help one’s group/community/village? Why am I not able to use my mobile phone to transfer funds in Canada?
found via iftf