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8/19/2019 Towards Universal Access: Connecting Communities via Mobile Communications
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/towards-universal-access-connecting-communities-via-mobile-communications 1/18
Copyright © 2006 Nokia.All rights reserved.Nokia and NokiaConnecting People are registered trademarks of NokiaCorporation.
Nokia Corporation
PO Box 300
Fi-00045 Nokia GroupFinland
Phone: +358 (0)7180 08000
www.nokia.com
TowU
About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader
mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with
easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media
and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations.
This brochure is printed on environmentally friendly paper.
8/19/2019 Towards Universal Access: Connecting Communities via Mobile Communications
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ConteMobile communications devices are used all over
the world by more than two and a half billion people,
a figure which increases by over a million new
subscribers every day.
As a market leader, our vision at Nokia is a world
where the remaining four billion people are also
connected. We believe that individuals, communities
and nations worldwide can and should have
affordable access to all the social and economicbenefits that mobile technology can confer.
Nokia is aboutconnecting people
This booklet is about thatvision and how, workingtogether, we can make it real.
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1. A sh“Our vision ianything. A wpotential anmore than a
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Universal access to ICTs can be defined as the ability
of every individual to connect to people, information
and services, regardless of their location or income.
This is a key element in the vision of a truly inclusive
information society. Using access devices such as
computers, mobile phones, telephones, televisions
and radios, connected people can create, accumulate
and disseminate knowledge. Their professional
and social contacts improve, they interact with
commercial and public-sector organizations more
easily, and they become more productive.
Yet universal access remains a goal rather t han
reality. Widely differing social and economic
conditions have given rise to the concept of a “digital
divide”, between those with access to ICTs and those
without it.
The “digital divide” is based on the idea that ICTs
are in principle affordable only to higher-income
groups of the population and have a significant
impact on productivity and thus income. The divide
arises because these technologies increase income
disparities by making the rich even richer, creating
two classes: the “haves” and the “have nots”.
The digital divide is continuously at the top of the
agenda of any organization concerned about socio-
economic development. A clear consensus has been
in place for some time that bridging the digital divide
will go a long way towards boosting development.
More recently, the discussion has moved to how tobuild that bridge. This booklet focuses on meeting
that challenge in rural areas of the developing world.
2. Towards universal accessExperience and recent studies clearly demonstrate that universal access toInformation and Communication Technologies (ICTs) boosts the economic andsocial development of nations. When people can obtain information affordablyand reliably for productive use, improved business development and socialwelfare soon follow.
“...in cooperation with the private sector,make available the benefits of new
technologies – especially information andcommunications technologies”
UN Millennium DevelopmentGoal 8, Target 18
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3. TheThe real chauniversal acchalf of the w
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Mobile phones pro
for the most effect
Communication Te
in developing coun
cost of ownership micro-credit schem
affordable than alt
Unlike PCs, mobile
require a reliable o
and can be used by
write. The converg
single mobile devi
a phone. It can also
calculator, and Mes
4. MoMobile techndeveloping cwires and fiboffers a high
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Mobility for a better world
As the rate of mobile-phone penetration continues
to grow around the world, it also contributes to the
socio-economic development of emerging markets,
sometimes in unexpected sectors.
Each country, each culture, uses mobile technology
in unique ways to improve the lives of its citizens;
but improved productivity at a national level is a
common factor. A study by the London BusinessSchool concluded that an increase of 10 mobile
phones per 100 people translates into an impressive
0.6-percentage-point growth in GDP. Moreover,
this represents only the direct impact. “Wireless
Unbound”, a white paper produced by McKinsey &
Company in cooperation with the GSM Association,
in 2006, found that the indirect impact is at least
three times as great.
The indirect impact (see Figure 2) includes hardware,
software, and handset vendors, as well as the surplus
enjoyed by consumers such as improved productivity.
Thus the total impact can potentially be as large
as eight percent of GDP. In developing countries,
where mobile phones often provide the main
communications networks, the growth dividend can
be twice as large as it is in developed countries.
Beneficial connections
At an individual level, there are numerous examples
of the income-generation potential of mobile
phones. These include being within reach, avoiding
travel, gaining access to information, using the
mobile phone itself as a business, and performing
financial transactions.
So for individuals, greater access to mobile
technology has life-changing potential. For societies,the impact of greater access has significant
implications for socio-economic development.
In the next chapter, real examples from four sectors
are presented: entrepreneurial activity, healthcare,
education, and financial transactions.
“Encouraging the spread of mobile phonesis the most sensible and effective responseto the digital divide”
The Economist, March 12, 2005
Figure 2: Economi
in three A
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The fisherman’s friend
Mohammed Koya is a fishing-boatcaptain in India with two boatsand canoes. His mobile phone is apowerful business tool. “There’smore to fishing than landing yourcatch,” he explains. “You have tosell it at the best price. That meansbeing in the right place at the righttime. Even when I’m 25 kilometersout at sea, I just pick up the phone,check out the going rates and fixthe deal. I even ask the agent toget the catch from the boat so I cancontinue fishing.”
The Village Phcommunicatio
Nokia and Gramee
local micro-finance
up the Village Phosmall businesses a
villages. The Villag
pioneering work o
Grameen Bank and
of Bangladesh.
Village Phone oper
communications s
in rural villages. A m
Village Phone oper
This comprises a N
with prepaid airtim
external antenna s
a coupler and a cab
Staying within reach
For small-business owners in developing countries,
better access to customers, suppliers, skills and
finance is a huge benefit. Even those who do not
have an office or storefront can put up a simple signby the side of the road, announcing their services
and contact numbers.
Similarly, mobile communications make workers
more accessible. Those who take informal
employment (often seasonal jobs) and have a
phone are easy to reach when work is available.
Their numbers are saved in employers’ contact lists,
bringing continuing value to both parties.
New business initiatives
The spread of mobile technology has inspired an
entrepreneurial spirit in developing countries, leading
to the creation of new types of businesses.
Illiterate people can pay a small fee to phone ownerswho key-in and send text messages on their behalf.
”Airtime brokers” transfer their customers’ credit to
distant locations. And new business initiatives can be
found beyond the realm of mobile services, such as
the business of recharging handsets in areas without
a reliable electricity supply.
As businesses in rural areas flourish and incomes
increase, tax revenues rise in turn. Thus economic
growth in developing countries can be driven by
the private sector rather than financial aid.
The benefits of mobility:Entrepreneurial activity
Often the first sector to be spurred into action by mobile technology is nativeindustry, with thousands of individuals becoming self-employed as soon asthey own a mobile phone. Mobility not only inspires creative, profitable newbusiness ideas, it also provides new opportunities for existing businesses.
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The benefi
A good progn
At a fundamental l
healthcare worker
services more effic
Connecting patientprofessionals such
pharmacists, prese
in public healthcar
The healthy ina text messag
In South Africa, tex
effective way to re
illnesses such as tu
their medication a
patients stick to th
saves valuable hou
spend their time m
individuals can let
any side effects cau
Patients can be sen
text message, a sim
to a significant red
appointments at h
benefits patients dimprovements in h
in terms of moneta
to be spent on pati
The spread odifference toaccess healtwhere and wparticipate i
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The benefits of mobility: Education
Mobile technology opens up amazing new opportunities in teachingand learning. It offers learning opportunities unrestricted by locationor time, enabling people to learn anywhere, whenever they choose.For students and teachers alike in the developing world,the implications are enormous.
Learning goes mobile
Constantly evolving technologies present education
professionals with exciting possibilities to utilize
mobile phones in their work. When mobile phones
are perceived as multimedia computers rather than just communication devices, new perspectives open
up for the design and development of how they could
be used in formal and informal learning. Support for
informal learning means that knowledge sharing can
become embedded in everyday life, and everyone has
the potential to become a content creator.
Rather than delivering learning content in a
linear fashion, educators can work with pieces of
multimedia content. For example, RoadForum, an
audio-based application, enables mobile-phone
users to share news, tips and technical hints
with colleagues. Previously, this sort of internal
communication would have been delivered more
formally, via media such as handbooks or an
organization’s intranet.
Bringing excitement to ruralclassrooms
Bridgeit is an innovative, award-winning education
initiative that delivers interactive, multimedia
learning materials and enhanced teaching skillsinto the classrooms in remote areas. K nown as
“text2teach” in the Philippines, the program runs
in more than 200 schools, enabling some 120,000
students to improve their learning opp ortunities.
Bridgeit combines existing mobile products and
satellite technologies to deliver digital, multimedia
materials to teachers and students who otherwise
would not have access to them. Teachers use mobile
phones to access a library of educational videos,
which are then downloaded via satellite to a digital
video recorder connected to a classroom television.
Teachers can play the video, introduce activities and
lead discussions.
Bridgeit provides te
focusing on space,
anatomy, all of wh
Philippines’ forma
This makes a big d
for themselves. An
National Institute f
Education Develop
Bridgeit model rais
improved test scor
generating more p
and technology, th
competence in usi
of their teaching.
The program is an
sector collaboratio
benefits. This uniq
the Ayala Foundati
Department of Edu
TV), SEAMEO Innote
Youth Foundation
Development Prog
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The benefits of mobility: Financial transactions
In developing countries, mobile commerce extends financial services to peoplewithout easy access to a bank. These markets, which have no complicatedbanking legacy, are setting the pace in m-commerce. If any type of transactioncan be conducted by a mobile phone, it will be.
Airtime: A new currency
In many developing countries where mobile-
phone networks have been established, airtime
has emerged as a new type of currency. Operatorservices that allow Over-the-Air (OTA) transfers
of airtime enable users to send and receive
a common “currency”.
In sub-Saharan Africa, basic financial transactions
involving airtime constitute a major part of mobile
phone usage. Subscribers can send airtime credit to
family and friends in faraway locations. Many stores
will accept airtime as a form of payment, or provide
customers with the equivalent in cash.
For people who previously had no bank account
or live far from a bank, this radical innovation
represents a convenient new way to conduct financial
transactions. Many people once considered to be
“unbankable” now have access to banking services
that are secure, trustworthy and easy to use.
As well as being a convenient payment method,
this also increases security. Companies no longer
need to transport large amounts of cash to and from
remote areas, where they could expose themselves to
different risks.
Small denomitransactions
The most popular m
Philippines, wherefinancial transactio
services include th
credit between use
0.04 US dollars. In
airtime in bulk to d
distributors for re-
of less than 0.50 U
This ability to cond
transactions is imp
are used to “sache
bought in small qu
In developing coun
a low-margin busi
of transactions.
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Handsets
• Ease of use For
countries, their firs
phone of any kind,
essential. As part o
optimized user exp
technology, Nokia
entry-level handse
user interface and
To tackle illiteracy
features such as a
enables users to se
to represent differand a speaking clo
in the local langua
• Quality The ide
accept lower qualit
a misconception. A
case. For these con
could mean spend
or even getting int
buy a replacement
malfunctions, so re
• Attractiveness
intrinsic utility, the
aspirational produ
so it is important t
makes them feel sa
design, personaliza
icons and ringtone
like a flashlight, pla
6. Affordableconnectivity
Access to appropriate technologybrings significant socio-economicbenefits, and mobile technology isthe most effective way to cater forlower-income segments in rural areas.There are now therefore two keyquestions to be asked: What do ruralconsumers need? And how can it bemade affordable?
Connectivity: Deliveringthe right solutions
From lower-income consumers’ perspective,
connectivity means access to a handset and a
service. Each must possess three key attributes.
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Affordability: Offeringthe right price
Affordability has two dimensions: Cost – how much
you pay; and cash – how the payments are made over
time. It is important to treat the issues separately,
because the solutions to tackle each one are different.
Total cost of ownership
From a consumer point of view, cost has only one
meaning: How much of their income they will need
to spend to be connected. Market research shows that
lower-income consumers are prepared to spend five
to ten percent of their disposable income on mobility.
So the total cost of ownership (TCO), which comprises
service fees, taxes and handset prices (see Figure 3),
must be within those b oundaries.
TCO is the ultimate driver of mobile-phonepenetration. Its true extent and influence are
examined and analyzed in “Tax and the Digital
Divide”, an independent report commissioned in
2005 by the GSM Association (GSMA). According to the
economic models prepared for this study, the lower
the TCO, the higher the penetration. The same relation
is valid for the service price, as it represents on
average over 70 percent of TCO: the lower the service
price, the higher the penetration.
However, this significance does not apply to the
handset price, which represents on average less than
15 percent of TCO. Although lower handset prices do
help to reduce the amount of black-market sales,
they do not necessarily increase penetration rates,
which are strongly influenced by the service price
and taxation.
For operators to offer an affordable service to
consumers, they need to embrace the right business
models for the low-ARPU market. The whole cost
structure, including all the operators’ costs, from
building further network coverage to marketing andacquiring new customers, needs to be considered.
Operators can only offer long-term, affordable services
to customers when their businesses are profitable.
Operators can do much to reduce their cost of
network ownership and operation. There are several
technologies that make building coverage more
affordable, such as shelterless base-station sites
that require no air conditioning, and the Nokia
Smart Radio Concept that uses 50 percent fewer
base-station sites to provide coverage. Furthermore,
industry standard technologies such as Adaptive
Multirate Codec (AMR) and Single Antenna Interference
Cancellation (SAIC) reduce the investment needed in
network infrastructure by increasing individual base-
station cell size by about 30 percent as well as adding
capacity and quality benefits.
As an example of innovative business models, the
Nokia Connect Market Expansion Toolkit allows
operators to develop diverse service offerings at
different prices, meeting the needs of lower-spending
customers in a profitable way.
This new, more affordable service offering encourageslower-spending customers to make their calls outside
peak hours, resulting in a more efficient use of
resources. Lower-spending users can now afford to
use mobile services, possibly for the first time.
Opting for manage
partner companies
implementation, o
management, is an
reduce costs, and t
extending their net
The cash barr
Lower-income con
structured cash flo
counterparts, who
predicable cash infl
the month when th
cash in hand (see F
consumers spend a
might be willing an
month in getting c
this amount of cas
There are innovati
income consumers
For example, micro
entrepreneurial in
phone into a profit
Source:Tax and theDigital Divide, GSMA, 2005
Figure 3: Total cost of ownership over the life of the
phone and subscription
Figure 4: Lower-in
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The public sec
By addressing four
create an enabling
access to mobile tefour issues are: A f
which stimulates f
global technology
phones and service
phones and netwo
Addressing these is
to deliver more aff
Policymakers need
of mobile commun
regulations can en
than hinder it. Gov
access to mobile te
populations by act
environment. Redu
governance would
would ultimately b
form of a lower tot
Government policy
specific mobile-gro
high custom duties
taxation and ineffiwhich add to the T
open rules governi
in place to ensure
National telecom policy in India aims to bridge the digital divide
To help bridge the digital divide between urban and rural India, national telecompolicy is being refocused away from a statutory “Universal Service Obligation”toward a more market-driven “Universal Service Opportunity” for industry players.
The goal is to repeat the successful growth model of mobile communicationsoverseen by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in urban centers,which was largely driven by opening up private-sector participation.
From 1994, competition was encouraged as the government adopted a seriesof pro-growth incentives, including changing the high entry fees assessed tooperators to a revenue-sharing scheme, introducing a calling-party-pays regime,and allowing operators to create innovative schemes to offer mobile handsets
to subscribers.
The results were impressive. Between 1999 and 2005, charges per minute fellfrom 14 rupees (then 0.32 US dollars) to 0.40 rupees for local calls (0.01 US dollars)and to 1.50 rupees (approx 0.03 US dollars) for calls across Indian operators.With mobile tariffs equal to fixed-line tariffs, the number of mobile subscribersclimbed from fewer than five million to approximately 60 million. The Indiangovernment also reduced handset import duties significantly, giving another boostto the rate of mobile penetration.
To increase mobile-penetration rates in rural India, TRAI aims to create a similarlyfavorable business case that will be attractive to operators. This envisagesproviding an initial subsidy to help establish the necessary mobile infrastructure toserve rural areas. Other proposals include offering financial incentives to backboneproviders; ensuring adequate power supplies to help reduce the need for expensiveback-up systems; and lowering duties, levies and taxes that increase service costs.
India already has one of the fastest-growing mobile-phone markets in the world.At the end of August 2006, the nation had some 111 million mobile subscribers,with a net addition of approximately three million new subscribers every month.TRAI’s policy initiatives to increase mobile-penetration rates in rural areas promiseto drive those figures even higher.
Public se
Figure 6: The role
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Whereas it took traditional fixed-line telephone
networks more than a century to reach one billion
users, mobile communications services achieved the
same in only a tenth of that time. The exponential
growth of mobile communications means that the
number of mobile-phone users increases by more
than one million every day. Some 80 percent of this
growth comes from developing countries.
The mutual efforts of stakeholders in the mobility
industry can enrich the lives of billions of people in
developing countries. These people will know more,
interact more and achieve more than ever before.
Pervasive and affordable access, delivered via mobile
devices and networks, can help improve people’s
education, economic wellbeing and health. It also
enables businesses to be more agile and responsive,
contributes to the creation of new small enterprises,
and builds stronger communities.
Working together deliversbenefits for all
Nokia offers a broad base of skills and services,
which allows us to provide optimal value in every
type of market across the globe. Our work addresses
the full scope of mobility, from the underlying
network technologies to the ways in which end-users
experience mobile life, to the methods operators
use to market and support mobile services.
We believe that mobile technology can enrich
the lives of millions of people living and working
in rural areas of developing countries.
No single individual, company or organization can
do this alone. But together, we can extend the reach
of mobile communications in rural areas and move
towards making universal access a reality.
8. Embracing the benefitsof universal access
Universal access is a natural aim for a company that is all aboutconnecting people. As a global citizen, Nokia recognizes and embracesthe socio-economic benefits offered by mobile access to Information andCommunication Technologies. As a commercial enterprise, we welcome thechallenges and opportunities presented by competition, provided there is alevel playing field and a sense of fair play.
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