Mobile technology will change lives forever
A connectivity revolution is set to blur India’s digital divide in the coming decade, according to a study conducted by global consultancy firm KPMG. The spread of 3G mobile telephony, says the report, will herald the change as the value added services market will witness tremendous growth and lead to affordable handsets, attracting users in both rural and urban areas. Healthy competition among phone manufacturers and service providers, resulting in dramatic drop in prices of handsets and call charges, has already led to deep penetration. User-friendly and affordable technology has come as a boon for micro-enterprises, people living in interiors, and urban and rural poor: It is enabling them to improve their income by providing access to market information and direct contact with customers. For instance, the fishermen of Kerala, who till a couple of years ago were at the mercy of buyers, have successfully increased their profits by eight per cent through better access to information. It would not be wrong to say that m-commerce and m-advertising will gather momentum in the coming decade given the fast pace of diffusion. Digital convergence in the banking, retail, manufacturing and service sectors is almost a certainty with operators planning to focus on adoption of new applications and value-added services. With feature-rich smart phones that can support multi-tasking and run different kinds of applications like mobile office and mobile Internet becoming cheaper by the day, cell phones are set to become tools of empowerment for many.
Keeping the development agenda in sight, it is time that policy-makers become pro-active and take advantage of the possibilities that mobile access to IT services can open up. India can utilise mobile telephony to provide increasing access to healthcare. With junior doctors functioning in healthcare centres much on the lines of a call centre, mobile phones can bring healthcare services and treatment to the doorsteps of people in interior areas who often find it difficult to travel to primary healthcare centres, district hospitals or places where diagnostic facilities are available. Further, in an age when corruption has become the order of the day, it can be the new interface between the Government and citizens, helping authorities to listen, inform, act and deliver services in a transparent way, while strengthening people’s participation in governance. But a good starting point could be allowing the banking sector to create a successful mobile banking platform because a mobile wallet service will reduce transaction time and costs and allow customers access to financial services like making payments and transferring money. The Reserve Bank of India has taken the first step by relaxing mobile banking policies and increasing the mobile payment limit to Rs 50,000 to ease financial transactions in areas with low ATM penetration. The next step can be converging the unique identification project with mobile services.
A connectivity revolution is set to blur India’s digital divide in the coming decade, according to a study conducted by global consultancy firm KPMG. The spread of 3G mobile telephony, says the report, will herald the change as the value added services market will witness tremendous growth and lead to affordable handsets, attracting users in both rural and urban areas. Healthy competition among phone manufacturers and service providers, resulting in dramatic drop in prices of handsets and call charges, has already led to deep penetration. User-friendly and affordable technology has come as a boon for micro-enterprises, people living in interiors, and urban and rural poor: It is enabling them to improve their income by providing access to market information and direct contact with customers. For instance, the fishermen of Kerala, who till a couple of years ago were at the mercy of buyers, have successfully increased their profits by eight per cent through better access to information. It would not be wrong to say that m-commerce and m-advertising will gather momentum in the coming decade given the fast pace of diffusion. Digital convergence in the banking, retail, manufacturing and service sectors is almost a certainty with operators planning to focus on adoption of new applications and value-added services. With feature-rich smart phones that can support multi-tasking and run different kinds of applications like mobile office and mobile Internet becoming cheaper by the day, cell phones are set to become tools of empowerment for many.
Keeping the development agenda in sight, it is time that policy-makers become pro-active and take advantage of the possibilities that mobile access to IT services can open up. India can utilise mobile telephony to provide increasing access to healthcare. With junior doctors functioning in healthcare centres much on the lines of a call centre, mobile phones can bring healthcare services and treatment to the doorsteps of people in interior areas who often find it difficult to travel to primary healthcare centres, district hospitals or places where diagnostic facilities are available. Further, in an age when corruption has become the order of the day, it can be the new interface between the Government and citizens, helping authorities to listen, inform, act and deliver services in a transparent way, while strengthening people’s participation in governance. But a good starting point could be allowing the banking sector to create a successful mobile banking platform because a mobile wallet service will reduce transaction time and costs and allow customers access to financial services like making payments and transferring money. The Reserve Bank of India has taken the first step by relaxing mobile banking policies and increasing the mobile payment limit to Rs 50,000 to ease financial transactions in areas with low ATM penetration. The next step can be converging the unique identification project with mobile services.
