Recently, The Economist published an article, entitled “The next billion geeks” regarding the rising use of technology, particularly with mobile phones in developing countries. Highlighting India, the article states that only 81 million Indians (7% of the population) use the internet on a regular basis. However, there are over 507 million mobile phones in the country. In fact, the counties known as BRICI (Brazil, Russia, India, China and Indonesia) hold a combined population of over 3 billion people, but can only boast 440 million PCs. Why? With mobile phones costing as little as $0.0006 per minute, it is an expense that even the developing world can afford. And many are choosing to purchase a phone over a computer.
In addition to affordability, the social issue surrounding literacy also comes into play. Besides texting, owning a mobile phone does not require the owner to be literate (unlike a PC would). But purchasing a mobile phone may still bring the same technological appeal as a PC. With 40% of Indians still illiterate, owning a mobile phone allows the average Indian man or woman to hold and use a little piece of modernism. This appeal, along with the inexpensive costs allows mobile phones to be bought by those at the bottom of the pyramid. The rise of mobile phone use runs are parallel with the rise of economic development—a 2009 World Bank study shows that every 10% increase in mobile-phone use leads to an extra 81 percentage points of annual economic wealth. The more mobile phones there are, the more likely the economic development of such region is prospering and the more Indians are socially connected to each other and the world.
http://www.economist.com/node/16944020?story_id=16944020
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