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There is a shift to (low end) mobiles as the primary internet/data device in developing nations in Asia, Africa and South America. This is driven by two factors – more and more people are increasingly able to afford low end handsets; and governments in developing countries seem to be opting to build mobile/cell networks over more traditional cabled ones.
At least in the medium term, perhaps the next decade, there will be an increasing number of people in the world accessing the Internet over basic handsets and mobile networks.
So the opportunity lies in enabling these handsets.
It may not be glamorous work – but get it right and the rewards could be plentiful. There is great creativity in maximising the functionality of basic technologies, to push existing infrastructure beyond the original envisaged intent.
Key applications could be:
- Banking and money transfers.
- News reporting and consumption.
- Information services – weather reports, transport schedules, crop planting guides and other agri-business information like price indices, etc.
- Social interactions – Facebook via SMS anyone?
- Telemedicine – remote diagnoses and medical advice.
- e-Government – relevant transactions and processes including bill payments.
- Education – the future “School of the Air” delivered via SMS, MMS and WAP to remote communities.
Compared to the latest smartphones, we are looking at relatively severely hampered infrastructure. Only the companies with the right mix of engineers, process designers, “real” UI designers (those who actually think UI beyond the visual treatment); plus the political savvy to build and maintain relationships with telcos and governments can begin to address this opportunity seriously. And there is nothing stopping this from being a tiny company of say three persons either!
If you missed the hey-days of the early dot-com revolution, where you are trying to make a basic se to f technologies do really useful things, this could be the chance to get a taste of that all over again.
