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Shared mobile phone use in emerging markets 2 Mar 2007
"Much of the growth in the telecommunications industry is coming from emerging markets - places like India and Africa and for many new consumers their first mobile phone experience is a shared one...Mobile phone sharing is not just limited to personal use - from the streets of Cairo to Kampala kiosks are springing up with little more than a mobile phone and a sign advertising call rates. What happens when people share an object that is inherently designed for personal use?"
Here are some interesting excerpts:
"Sente is the informal practices of sending and receiving money that leverages public phone kiosks and trusted networks...Sente is particularly relevant in a country where there is limited access to formal banking infrastructure and is largely driven by necessity and convenience. The receiver doesn't need a bank account, merely access to a friendly phone kiosk, and the risk of theft is reduced because there is no need to carry cash."
"Phone kiosk owners often use a large notepad to document phone numbers used by their customers and over time it represents a form of address book and call log for the local community. But why?... Customers often turn up with phone numbers on scraps of paper and the act of transcribing from one form to another allows the kiosk owner to reconfirm its accuracy before the number is dialed, thereby reducing the risk of errors. There is also the perception amongst kiosk operators that it encourages repeat business and whilst it might encourage loyalty, with so many kiosks offering a similar service and the sometimes haphazard method of logging numbers there is limited hard evidence that this is the case."
"Step Messaging is the process of delivering either a text or verbal messages via shared mobile phone or kiosk where the message is delivered the last mile on foot. It is largely driven by necessity and cost and takes advantage of both social ties and an available pool of people to deliver the message. In many instances the message is simply foreplay to the main event: 'please come to the phone, I will call back in 10 minutes'."
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3 comments so far
Mobile Phones 30 May 2007 12:26 PM
Hmmm... that's pretty interesting. I think it's good as well, and probably cheaper than using land-line telephone booths (or at least, more convenient.) I bet, though, that the taking down of numbers called will be very helpful in finding terrorist activities... or, having kiosks like this might be making their job easier. I wonder about that.
I think this idea is helpful for foreigners to the country – you can make a phone call without needing to have international roaming. And you don't have to use a land line telephone booth. More exactly, you could send a cheap SMS so it will cost you a lot less to get in contact with friends or family overseas... particularly if all you need is a quick answer on something. If you don't have email, this is probably the next best thing. Clever business from those involved too, I must say.
Mobile Phones 14 Jun 2007 08:35 PM
The study actually asks some interesting questions I didn't see the first time – such as, should the devices be redesigned to cater for shared experiences? I think that this is a good question, and one that mobile phone manufacturers should take into consideration. Maybe you could have seperate 'profiles' for separate users, such as in windows and the like. Perhaps a simple profile over a complicated one, depending on what the user needs the mobile for. Families in Africa share phones as well, and I'm sure having separate profiles would allow for SMS messages to remain private etc. and also allow for each person to see how much money they have spent on phone calls etc. and the bills can be appropriately divided. Photo's could be stored in a separate profile as well, and even your high score for games! Many interesting thoughts here.
Portrait artist 7 Aug 2007 04:20 AM
I’ll be speaking in behalf of the people from the Texting Capital of the World. Here in our place, electronic loads are preferred by many over cell cards. When a phone kiosk transfers a load to the consumer’s phone, the owner or the store staff presents a notepad where customers write their number prior to the transfer of load. Eventually this notepad becomes beef up with a bunch of numbers. Eventually two or three of these numbers become entwined and they become textmates. Interesting isn’t it? Not only do these kiosks share load, they also share friendship and new acquaintances.