– Balloons, drones –
It’s not just about the price, though.
In areas where home computers are scarce, “a smartphone is often the only way to get on the Internet,” said Annette Zimmermann, a telecom specialist at Gartner.
Smartphone users in such markets typically demand common messaging and social applications such as Facebook and WhatsApp, online radio, a torch light, text messaging and a reliable battery, she said.
Consumers in developing markets also often want a phone with two or three SIM network cards so they can switch between different telecom operators to get the cheapest rates, or share the phone with other users.
Network coverage infrastructure still puts limits on what smartphones can do, however.
Many districts, particularly rural ones, only have the 2G coverage standard, which offers relatively low capacity to transfer data. It can handle emails and basic versions of apps, but not much more.
Some 60 percent of users in African are restricted to 2G, according to the GSMA world phone sector consortium.
It expects the number of smartphone users in the world to swell to more than three billion by 2020, compared with 2.2 billion in 2013.
To improve coverage in remote parts of the world, Google has also proposed deploying hot-air balloons or drones equipped with network cells to areas where telephone lines and towers do not reach.
The giant US-based social media network Facebook has also partnered with several telecom companies to expand Internet coverage for customers in developing rural areas.
“We’re trying to help people connect with other people and share with each other,” Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg told an audience at the congress on Monday.
