Any knowledge of Mobile Phones in Africa?

[Tom Machinchick]

I am currently working on a market research project which will delve into mobile phone use in Africa and wanted to ask people on this email list if they have any experience or knowledge of the mobile phone market there.

Africa is in a very unique position in that for most people there, their first computing device is a phone...and not a smart phone but a basic feature phone.  Smart phone adoption is on the rise, but for many, their mobile experience right now is limited to feature phones and SMS based apps.  This may sound archaic to us here, but these SMS based apps are really transforming and helping Africa in many ways.  There are apps for educational purposes, locating refugees, providing employment opportunities (responding to surveys etc.), payments for goods and services, farm instruction and market prices, medical help, music, social apps, political activism, women's rights, and on and on. More people there have access to mobile phones than to electricity, clean water, or bank accounts. 74% of mobile users are in emerging markets (worldwide).    

I would appreciate learning of any experiences that you may have had in Africa, or more peripherally with any of these types of applications (building them, using them, etc.).  

If you have experience with developing apps for phones, it would be interesting to understand to difficulties of developing for feature phones and apps based on SMS.  Would you consider looking at the African mobile market as a business opportunity?  What do you see as the hurdles to doing so?  As a developer (or other interested individual) what info would you find useful in this type of report?

Here is a list of interesting apps, FYI.  There are quite a few more than this.

Mpesa - mobile money transfers

Mfarm - market prices for farmers etc.

olalashe - emergency app for when someone is in trouble.

refugees unties - find displaced family or friends 

nikohapa - sms based loyalty app

mpepea - emergency micro loans

worldreader - ebooks and learning apps

binu - makes feature phones work like smart phones

I can go on.

Thanks to anyone who responds.

Tom       

[Owen Densmore]

I lived with a "feature phone" several years ago .. the first Moto Razor.

I was *amazed* how feature rich they could be made.  Opera browser worked great.  Ditto email.  Games.  I forget the whole set but I certainly was surprised just how capable the device could be.

There is a problem now that may not have existed then: data plans.  Back then, there was a built in, but low grade, protocol, WAP, the Wireless Application Protocol.  It was mainly to let the carrier be a hub for the user.  

The apps proxied over WAP to give internet access.  And there were proxy services in the day that turned web pages into text-only, very small pages.  One was called "smallsites".

TMo had "TZones", a bit better but dirt cheap plan.  Today there would have to be some sort of bridge, and it looks like you've found several.

The point is that a feature phone can be pretty damn smart!

   -- Owen

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[Owen Densmore]

Oh, forgot: the feature phones often are "clam shell" designs thus *far* more robust.

[Tom Machinchick]

Thanks for your insights, Owen.  I too had a Moto Razr a few years back and recently tried to get it unlocked from VZ to use it again...potentially as a pre-paid type phone for a family member.  They said this couldn't be done with a VZ phone (CDMA vs. GSM), but I really liked its compact size, quality, and usefulness.  

Anyway, thanks for sharing.

Tom

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From: Owen Densmore <ow...@backspaces.net>
To: dis...@sfcomplex.org
Cc: sf complex <dis...@lists.sfcomplex.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 6:31 AM
Subject: Re: [sfx: Discuss] Any knowledge of Mobile Phones in Africa?

[Owen Densmore]

Sure .. and you bring up an interesting point: I use only GSM capable phones (i.e. GSM or World phones with both CDMA/GSM) and assume Africa is a GSM-only area.  

But that could easily be wrong.  Is Africa cellular GSM?  Or is it like the US, mixed?

[Tom Machinchick]

Here is a list I found of CDMA operators by country...a few of which are in Africa.  I don't know how current this list is though.

http://phone-solutions.pavemyway.com/Cdma-Operators/Cdma-Operators-List.php

I believe I saw a stat that said GSM has a global market share of about 82%...but CDMA is more prevalent in the USA. 

Tom

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From: Owen Densmore <ow...@backspaces.net>
To: dis...@sfcomplex.org
Cc: sf complex <dis...@lists.sfcomplex.org>

Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 7:09 AM