Cell phones catapult rural Africa to 21st century

[kilps]

YANGUYE, South Africa--On this dry mountaintop, 36-year-old Bekowe Skhakhane does even the simplest tasks the hard way.

Fetching water from the river takes four hours a day. To cook, she gathers sticks and musters a fire. Light comes from candles.

But when Skhakhane wants to talk to her husband, who works in a steel factory 250 miles away in Johannesburg, she does what many in more developed regions do: she takes out her mobile phone.

http://news.com.com/Cell+phones+cat...+century/2100-1039_3-5842901.html?tag=nefd.ac

Seems a bit to nice - Africans are living in poverty but phone each other by cellphone

 

[Peter7]

Yeah, kind of like the Telkom adverts on TV.

Especially the one about the heart surgery to Tanzania over ISDN. Lol!
Also the one with people in mud huts being able to phone their friends/relatives.

 

[Perdition]

Actually this is something I can believe and just highlights what a crap job Telkom and the government are doing in terms of service delivery.

Practically the whole of SA has cell coverage and the cost of entry is very low i.e. a cheapass 2nd or 3rd hand cell phone and a ~R5 starter pack and you can receive calls for 3-6 months without spending another cent.

Unlike Telkom's ads this is reality. Even though cell providers could lower tarrifs they should be applauded for making the cost of entry practically about as low as it can get.

 

[bb_matt]

Why should they be applauded ?

It's all about the mighty dollar and has sweet F@ck all to do with helping the poor.

If it had anything to do with helping the poor, why are the pay-as-u-go rates so desperately high ?

The cost of entry is just the same as buying a razor handle with two free blades then finding your next 5 blades cost more than the initial package.

There's nothing to applaud, unless you want to congratulate them for making a quick buck from the poor.

 

[Darth Garth]

The other day I noticed cellphone prepaid vouchers of R10 and R12 and I wondered who on earth is going to buy such a thing.

"She spends the equivalent of $1.90 a month for five minutes of telephone time."

This line from the article seems to have answered my question.

 

[Perdition]

I wasn't applauding them for their high tarrifs, just the cost of entry. I also didn't say they were trying to help the poor but in creating a low cost of entry and covering the whole of SA they in effect are helping the poor. They're delivering service in places that Telkom and even government refuse to. The poor don't need to use cell phones but they are because to them it's much better than walking 10 km to use the nearest public phone. A cell phone is still considered a luxury (as I see no government in the world handing out cell phones to its citizens) so the cell providers are under no obligation to provide to the poor.

If you think about it Telkom charge you R92 per month just for a piece of copper. That same R90 would buy you over 30 minutes of talk time even on the most expensive PAYG package.

 

[bb_matt]

I wasn't applauding them for their high tarrifs, just the cost of entry. I also didn't say they were trying to help the poor but in creating a low cost of entry and covering the whole of SA they in effect are helping the poor. They're delivering service in places that Telkom and even government refuse to. The poor don't need to use cell phones but they are because to them it's much better than walking 10 km to use the nearest public phone. A cell phone is still considered a luxury (as I see no government in the world handing out cell phones to its citizens) so the cell providers are under no obligation to provide to the poor.

If you think about it Telkom charge you R92 per month just for a piece of copper. That same R90 would buy you over 30 minutes of talk time even on the most expensive PAYG package.

Ok - fair enough, I get your point, but if it's helping the poor, I don't think it was ever intentional - the idea of non-contract based pay-as-you-go obviously had the poor market in mind, but the tariffs show that the cell companies hardly gave much of a damn about social responsibility. Money before people as always.

What amuses me, however, is what the poor did before cellphones. The answer would be the good old tikkie-box, now in decline like never before.

We seem to forget that things worked fine before these new communications devices, but are constantly reminded that we couldn't do without them. It's a herd mentality. Eventually, even reluctant adopters are forced into line to follow suit, or face marginalisation. Now so many people have cell phones, it's a race to sell use the latest gadget laden PDA type device.

I've yet to see more than 5% of people actually using the majority of these features.

I make it sound like it's a bad thing, I know. Well, in an indirect way, it is.
Not only is it adding toward the pollution of the planet - all those batteries and heavy metals - but also toward noise pollution.

I suppose that by the time the poor have cellphones that can take photos and play mp3 songs - but they still don't have a house - the richer folk will move onto the next logical step, which is a discreet device worn on the ear. It's already happening, but the devices are still bulky.

There's something really funny about watching someone walking along, apparently talking to themselves. At least they don't walk around in circles, which tends to happen to people who are holding a phone up to their ear.

But yeah, in terms of a cellphone being a luxury item, if you make R1500 a month, you can get an old phone. My maid has a better phone than me.

 

[Moederloos]

Lets compare the two techologies quickly. I will use long distance rates, as the call distance in the referred ad is 250KM.

1) Telkom - Line installation + phone (R220 + R80). Monthly Rental R92. 5 minute LONG distance call, call more time = R2.22. So, cost of making ONE 5 minute call a week for 4 weeks is: R25.22 per call

2) Cell phone. Phone cost + sim card = ?? + 3.99 (vodacom super six at PnP. Phone cost is unknown, as there are second hand ones, but lets say R500. So upfront is a bit more expensive, but could be as low as R4. Cost of making one 5 minute call, per week R12. Total saving per month? R13. And, for an additional R8 per month, you can be in SMS contact daily.

And let us not forget that Telkom had social committments to uplift the poor(er) communities.

 

[Toby]

I think Telkom and the "broadband" providers have a lesson to learn here regarding "cost of entry" and the "extensive coverage".

I was on holiday recently, and used my mtnloaded e-mail facilities on my cell phone. @ R2 Meg, why bother with ADSL or even Dialup if you need basic e-mail only. - consider that a text e-mail could be approx 20k in size. This makes GPRS text e-mailing far cheaper than SMS's.

Now if GPRS covers the same "extensive areas" as cell phone voice, consider the implications regarding e-mail usage at R2 a Meg or whatever. Why even bother with ADSL when text e-mailing on GPRS is so cheap.

Should a cell phone now be considered a luxury, a case could be made for considering it to be a necessity, just like the opening up of the Submarine Fibre Cable.