Mobile phone access reaches three quarter of world population

ACCESS to mobile phone ownership and usage has reached three quarters of the world's populations, according to new World Bank report.The report, which was released on Monday, noted that around three-quarters of the world's inhabitants now have access to a mobile phone, stressing that the mobile communications story was moving to a new level.World Bank noted in the report, which was co-authored by infoDev, its technology entrepreneurship and innovation programme that the number of mobile subscriptions in use worldwide, both pre-paid and post-paid, has grown from no fewer than one billion in 2000 to over six billion today, of which nearly five billion in developing countries.According to the report, ownership of multiple subscriptions is becoming increasingly common, suggesting that their number will soon exceed that of the human population.Besides, the report noted that in the Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximising Mobile survey, which it recently conducted, more than 30 billion mobile applications, or 'apps,' were downloaded in 2011 - software that extends the capabilities of phones, for instance to become mobile wallets, navigational aids or price comparison tools.World Bank stressed that in developing countries, citizens are increasingly using mobile phones to create new livelihoods and enhance their lifestyles, while governments are using them to improve service delivery and citizen feedback mechanisms.According to World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development, Rachael Kyte, 'mobile communications offer major opportunities to advance human and economic development - from providing basic access to health information to making cash payments, spurring job creation, and stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes.'The challenge now is to enable people, businesses, and governments in developing countries to develop their own locally-relevant mobile applications so they can take full advantage of these opportunities.'According to her, this new report, the third in the World Bank's series on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Development, analyses the growth and evolution of mobile telephony, and the rise of databased services, including apps, delivered to handheld devices, adding that it explores the consequences for development of the emerging 'app economy,' especially in agriculture, health, financial services and government, and how it is changing approaches to entrepreneurship and employment.
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