7 July 2004
Rural Telephones: Africa's Challenge
6 July 2004
Africa is experiencing a boom in mobile phones, with the world's fastest annual growth rate (65 per cent) for new users, reports Panos. More than 13 million new users across the continent signed up for mobile phones in 2003 alone. With many governments unable to afford the costs of installing fixed lines, mobile phones are being touted by some as the technological solution for communications in rural areas.
However, the statistics don't tell the whole story, says Panos. Most of the growth in new mobile phone users tends to concentrate in urban markets where profit margins are better. In Uganda, service providers say the lack of infrastructure, political insecurity and low demand are preventing them from providing services to most rural areas.
In short, most of rural Africa - where there is only one fixed-line telephone for every 1,000 people - risks being left behind in the "digital revolution."
Panos has published a report analysing the state of rural telephone infrastructure in Africa, using case studies in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia.
"Information is critical to development, and telecommunications as a means of connecting people (accessing and exchanging information) is a vital link in the development process. If policy-makers do not pay attention to the challenge of providing telephones to rural people, the benefits of the information revolution will bypass many of the world's poorest people," says Panos.
Read the report here: http://www.panos.org.uk/resources/reportdetails.asp?id=1069&null=1002&
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