Conveyor Belt
10-04-2006, 11:07 AM
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=inDepthNews&storyID=2006-10-04T125004Z_01_L27452566_RTRUKOC_0_US-TELECOMS-AFRICA-RURAL.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1
KGAUTSWANE, South Africa (Reuters) - Lucy Mhlapo had noticed people in the nearby town chattering into tiny metal boxes pressed to their ears, but she never dreamed she'd use one of the devices herself.
Then, in August last year, a 45-meter (148-ft) tower of red and white steel appeared on the hill behind Mhlapo's dusty village in South Africa's north-east. The neighbors said it would make cell phones work here in Kgautswane.
Mhlapo's daughter scraped together enough cash for a second-hand cell phone and some airtime, and in January this year, at the age of 60, Mhlapo made her first call.
"I was so happy, I called my brother in Johannesburg and asked him to bring some mealie pap," she laughed, referring to the staple starch food popular in southern Africa.
Mobile operators are scrambling to gain a foothold in Africa, where cell phone penetration hovers at just 15 percent and growth is ripe for those with a stomach for risk.
A decade after mobile technology took off on the continent, most affluent city dwellers have phones, making poor rural areas like Kgautswane the new battleground for operators seeking growth.
In an area like rural africa, this has many future implications. Information will move much faster and from multiple sources. Imagine someone inventing the cellphone and putting it in rural america circa 1850.
Really a facinating article.
BTW, Heke nini ni, I'm sure not spelled correctly, is swahllii for 'what is it', which is basically the only phrase I know, besides introducing myself. I can point and say, heke nini ni and then learn a new word.
KGAUTSWANE, South Africa (Reuters) - Lucy Mhlapo had noticed people in the nearby town chattering into tiny metal boxes pressed to their ears, but she never dreamed she'd use one of the devices herself.
Then, in August last year, a 45-meter (148-ft) tower of red and white steel appeared on the hill behind Mhlapo's dusty village in South Africa's north-east. The neighbors said it would make cell phones work here in Kgautswane.
Mhlapo's daughter scraped together enough cash for a second-hand cell phone and some airtime, and in January this year, at the age of 60, Mhlapo made her first call.
"I was so happy, I called my brother in Johannesburg and asked him to bring some mealie pap," she laughed, referring to the staple starch food popular in southern Africa.
Mobile operators are scrambling to gain a foothold in Africa, where cell phone penetration hovers at just 15 percent and growth is ripe for those with a stomach for risk.
A decade after mobile technology took off on the continent, most affluent city dwellers have phones, making poor rural areas like Kgautswane the new battleground for operators seeking growth.
In an area like rural africa, this has many future implications. Information will move much faster and from multiple sources. Imagine someone inventing the cellphone and putting it in rural america circa 1850.
Really a facinating article.
BTW, Heke nini ni, I'm sure not spelled correctly, is swahllii for 'what is it', which is basically the only phrase I know, besides introducing myself. I can point and say, heke nini ni and then learn a new word.