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2. Mobile communications for all
There are still many barriers to the continued roll-out of mobile communications in an efficient and sustainable way. They include:
- cost of access for consumers
- cost of ownership for service providers
- complex issues of government subsidies to other services
- regulation
- taxation
The development of affordable handsets, more efficient network equipment, new business models, and more
open-minded government approaches are gradually improving the prospects of providing mobile communication
access for all. Therefore, the future looks exciting. While many developed regions are still relying on the 100-year
old fixed-line telecommunications network to deliver broadband Internet services, emerging markets are set to
leapfrog these ‘legacy’ networks with a raft of new IMT based technologies.
The current IMT-2000 family of standards provides a clear, cost-efficient roadmap from basic voice and data services to true mobile broadband services based on WCDMA, HSPA and LTE technologies, and also towardsthe future IMT-Advanced family.
Nancy: a mother living in a small village in Kenya
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Nancy has recently been able to save enough money to buy her own mobile phone; making an immediate
difference to the quality of her family’s life.
Nancy can use the mobile phone to communicate directly with the nearest health centre. When her children are
sick, she can call the health centre in advance to check if the doctor is there, and to make an appointment.
For Nancy, this is a big improvement. Before she owned the mobile phone, the family had to travel 8km to the
public health centre, and hope that the doctor was there, or – if they could afford it – pay to see the doctor at
a much more expensive private clinic in a town even further away.
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