Mobile Marvels

In the last decade, mobile phones penetrated even the world's poorest communities, as established Western companies and developing world upstarts filled demand for communication that could not be met in time through landlines and traditional mail delivery. Studies suggest that this telecommunications boom leads to substantial growth in GDP per capita. As a result, the developing world's market share in the industry has grown at a staggering rate: from 25 percent of the world’s mobile phone subscriptions in 2000, the developing world accounts for 75 percent today. But this revolution might have only just begun, as three major trends promise yet another boom. First, Chinese equipment makers have seen substantial product demand challenging the notion of unequaled quality of Western production. Second, new business models focus on low-income clients who have thus far been largely ignored, bringing mobile phone ownership within reach of many for the first time. Finally, expanding services such that the rural poor have access to the information economy could have profound effects on development and well-being. As the developing world dominates the growth of the mobile phone industry, it would seem the world's poor will become increasingly interconnected to the global economy. – YaleGlobal