Mobile Phones in Rural Africa Insights from A Village in Western Kenya.
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Transcript of Mobile Phones in Rural Africa Insights from A Village in Western Kenya.
Mobile Phones in Rural Africa Insights from A Village in Western Kenya
Cellular & Wireless, Kenya, c. 2005-6
Cellphone landscapes 2007
Cellphone landscapes 2007
Everyday technologies in a village 2007
Amaranth and other local plants Hand hoes, Pre WWII
~Technology change~around HIV/AIDS~Changing livelihoods
What and Where?
“Hybrid Technologies”
Mobile Phones, Kitchen Gardens & HIV/AIDS
Case study of social and technological change in a village
Village Case
Study
Household survey (census), in-depth interviews with owners, group discussions
Population of 5100 in 15 square kilometers (~890 households)
Who owns phones?
Findings (I) Village phone ownership 3/2007
Households with >=1 MP 15% “Ever used” MP 38%Year first phone acquired 1999
Owner is male head 78% Has high school educ or more 59% Male head is “working away” 21%
Brand New Moto F3 handset
What and how used, 2007
Ultra-low-cost handsets (ULCH) “<$30”
Prepaid Safaricom, Celtel/Zain
“Sharing” of phones = share and swap SIM card, battery, handset
“Sambaza” (send) airtime
No games, internet, email, alarms
Scratch card tally
Cheap prepaid scratch cards (Ksh 20 = 30 cents)
Spending (prepaid only): <$1 to $100/mo
Airtime use, all owners: $1,200/mo
6% of owners account for 20% of airtime spending
Phone uses
• Voice > SMS• “Greetings” =
Personal, family, and community– vs. “business”
• multi-residence family
• Existing networks– vs. new
Rural User #1. Farmer/Community Health Worker/ “Long-Distance Housewife”
“R” got a phone in 2003 (used Nokia 3310). Manages a small farm, raises 6 children (& grandchildren). Husband lives in Mombasa, sends airtime
HIV+ , active volunteer,
“Death & disease”, “knowing about people”
Text messaging: amazing, you just “write a message!” Expensive, but you “Can’t starve to communicate!”
Rural User #2: Grower/Trader
“E” (24) eldest son, still living at home, uses phone for trading
Voice better than texting: you talk “Ear to Ear”
Phone must be shared: “it is not mine alone”, but changing SIM cards is frustrating!
(In July 2008: his old line now “out of service”)
Findings (II)Significance to rural lives
freedom, privilege, and connections “Without phone, I was in total darkness!”
Convenient, replaces costly transport and telecom: foot, bus, landline…
“People of Posta have no market!” Save money, time and uncertainty
Communication (vs. information)
Problems for residents
“Lack of cash” #1 barrier
Access, quality, poor consumer support
Demands of sharing
“There was a time I wanted to call a friend… it just made a funny sound …there was etaa ye lichumuni (a lantern lamp) and writings saying “slow (low) battery”. I was told that it meant that kumulilo kwa welemo (the charge was finished)...”
(W, age 60+)
Most common
Charging those batteries
Cash, travel time & uncertainty
Batteries ruined through generic chargers
Locals with access to an electrical outlet: only 18% (teachers, etc.)
Solar ? Maybe!
R- testing Ksh 5000 ($70) portable charger. Repair? Ksh 650
Phone update 2008*
Follow-up difficultOnly 44% (35/84) reached by original phone number
24% “line out of service”
31% temporarily out (call diverted, out of signal, switched off)
*Phone survey over 5 consecutive days (Fri-Tues) in July 08
Findings (4)
• Poorest do not own or use mobiles: Expensive, no electricity
• SMS not that popular– technical, social reasons
• Privacy, targeted messages vs. sharing, turnover of “lines”
impacts on ~national GDP, ~fish trade, ~farming, ~small business, ~$ transactions
Contrast (1)mobile phones in developing countries
Source: Economist
Contrast (2)Pilot applications for health &
development in SSA
•Monitoring (emergencies, by NGOs)•Health information systems•Medical diagnoses •Village phone for income generation•Jobs through SMS•Exam grades (secondary education)•Interactive educational TV (Makutano Junction)
What next?
Mobile phones/ICT4D
Kiwanja.net (mobiles 4D)Tacticaltech.orgJanChipchase.comNokia Innovation ChallengeGSMA (gsmworld.com)