This is linked from Boing Boing (one of the highest trafficked blogs online) about the future of mobile phones in Kenya. In a way, it holds relevance for India too.

Nathan Eagle writes :

A large part of this boost comes from the innovative use of mobile phone technology by local entrepreneurs. In contrast to their use in the developed world, mobile phones in Africa are used for a wide variety of tasks, from sending money to family members to buying a fish from the market. Kenyan business men, farmers, and laborers are finding new uses for a tool thought of as simply a voice communication device in the West, and are coming up with original methods for solving their own problems. For example, contract laborers can now provide their phone numbers to potential employers and move on, instead of having to wait for hours at a workplace in case a job arises.

Access to market information through mobile phones also provides rural communities with invaluable information about centers of business; many African fishermen check the local fish market prices on their phones to determine where to bring the day’s catch. The Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (Kace), now provides crop growers with up-to-date commodity information via text message (sms). This allows farmers to access daily fruit and vegetable prices from a dozen markets, and many have quadrupled their earnings because they have access to information about potential buyers and prices before making the often arduous journey into urban centers to sell their produce.

The community payphone, another innovation unique to the developing world, has helped bring mobile phone usage to the poorest areas of Africa. These payphones are owned and operated by entrepreneurs who buy airtime from the network and subsequently sell it to local people who don’t own phones themselves.

The last concept of “payphone” is interesting. It could solve the problem of availability of phones in the rural areas and is worth a try. The fish example is in vogue in Kerela where it has helped the fishermen to realise higher returns for their efforts. We are still to see a viable model of payment exchange systems in India though; we are talking of the insurmoutable hurdles of payment gateways.

My earlier write on Mobile commerce.

Let’s hope for the viable solution for India.

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