Mobile Phones in Rural Africa Insights from A Village in Western Kenya

Cellular & Wireless, Kenya, c. 2005-6

Cellphone landscapes 2007

Cellphone landscapes 2007

Everyday technologies in a village 2007

Amaranth and other local plants Hand hoes, Pre WWII

~Technology change~around HIV/AIDS~Changing livelihoods

What and Where?

“Hybrid Technologies”

Mobile Phones, Kitchen Gardens & HIV/AIDS

Case study of social and technological change in a village

Village Case

Study

Household survey (census), in-depth interviews with owners, group discussions

Population of 5100 in 15 square kilometers (~890 households)

Who owns phones?

Findings (I) Village phone ownership 3/2007

Households with >=1 MP 15% “Ever used” MP 38%Year first phone acquired 1999

Owner is male head 78% Has high school educ or more 59% Male head is “working away” 21%

Brand New Moto F3 handset

What and how used, 2007

Ultra-low-cost handsets (ULCH) “<$30”

Prepaid Safaricom, Celtel/Zain

“Sharing” of phones = share and swap SIM card, battery, handset

“Sambaza” (send) airtime

No games, internet, email, alarms

Scratch card tally

Cheap prepaid scratch cards (Ksh 20 = 30 cents)

Spending (prepaid only): <$1 to $100/mo

Airtime use, all owners: $1,200/mo

6% of owners account for 20% of airtime spending

Phone uses

• Voice > SMS• “Greetings” =

Personal, family, and community– vs. “business”

• multi-residence family

• Existing networks– vs. new

Rural User #1. Farmer/Community Health Worker/ “Long-Distance Housewife”

“R” got a phone in 2003 (used Nokia 3310). Manages a small farm, raises 6 children (& grandchildren). Husband lives in Mombasa, sends airtime

HIV+ , active volunteer,

“Death & disease”, “knowing about people”

Text messaging: amazing, you just “write a message!” Expensive, but you “Can’t starve to communicate!”

Rural User #2: Grower/Trader

“E” (24) eldest son, still living at home, uses phone for trading

Voice better than texting: you talk “Ear to Ear”

Phone must be shared: “it is not mine alone”, but changing SIM cards is frustrating!

(In July 2008: his old line now “out of service”)

Findings (II)Significance to rural lives

freedom, privilege, and connections “Without phone, I was in total darkness!”

Convenient, replaces costly transport and telecom: foot, bus, landline…

“People of Posta have no market!” Save money, time and uncertainty

Communication (vs. information)

Problems for residents

“Lack of cash” #1 barrier

Access, quality, poor consumer support

Demands of sharing

“There was a time I wanted to call a friend… it just made a funny sound …there was etaa ye lichumuni (a lantern lamp) and writings saying “slow (low) battery”. I was told that it meant that kumulilo kwa welemo (the charge was finished)...”

(W, age 60+)

Most common

Charging those batteries

Cash, travel time & uncertainty

Batteries ruined through generic chargers

Locals with access to an electrical outlet: only 18% (teachers, etc.)

Solar ? Maybe!

R- testing Ksh 5000 ($70) portable charger. Repair? Ksh 650

Phone update 2008*

Follow-up difficultOnly 44% (35/84) reached by original phone number

24% “line out of service”

31% temporarily out (call diverted, out of signal, switched off)

*Phone survey over 5 consecutive days (Fri-Tues) in July 08

Findings (4)

• Poorest do not own or use mobiles: Expensive, no electricity

• SMS not that popular– technical, social reasons

• Privacy, targeted messages vs. sharing, turnover of “lines”

impacts on ~national GDP, ~fish trade, ~farming, ~small business, ~$ transactions

Contrast (1)mobile phones in developing countries

Source: Economist

Contrast (2)Pilot applications for health &

development in SSA

•Monitoring (emergencies, by NGOs)•Health information systems•Medical diagnoses •Village phone for income generation•Jobs through SMS•Exam grades (secondary education)•Interactive educational TV (Makutano Junction)

What next?

Mobile phones/ICT4D

Kiwanja.net (mobiles 4D)Tacticaltech.orgJanChipchase.comNokia Innovation ChallengeGSMA (gsmworld.com)