CC Sumaiya Ahmed, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank
It has taken many decades for Western countries to develop, build-out and perfect telephony’s switched networks. For generations, U.S. and European nations had instant, cheap and completely reliable phones. In the former Soviet Union, in parts of Africa, Asia and India connections were spotty, expensive and could take hours to secure a connection. It might be noted that the slow development of mobile technology has allowed the repayment of the huge research and infrastructure costs behind reliable phones.
Now for the sea change, and in the least expected of places.
Developing nations in Africa and Asia have jumped the line for advanced technology. Because they have constructed so little of the infrastructure that dominates the West, wireless telecommunications is the premium platform and many countries have channeled major resources into building out advanced wireless networks.
With those networks comes advanced technologists. You are aware, we suspect, that entire buildings in Southern India, Czechoslovakia, and South Africa are now centers for IT (Information Technology) help desks that serve callers from the U.S. and Europe. China and India are turning out more than a thousand times the number of engineers being trained in the U.S. and Europe.
The Village Phone project .is a collaboration of the Grameen Foundation and Nokia. It allows grassroots entrepreneurs in Rwanda, Uganda, and Cameroon to get a "micro-loan" and purchase a "Village Phone business"--literally a business in a box. Operating in rural areas where there are no other telecommunications services, they rent the use of the phone on a per-call basis. Watch a video published by the Grameen Foundation introducing their project.
credit: Afzalul Bari, Grameen Bank Center Meeting, Outside of Dhaka
Visit a report about Bridgeit, a pilot educational program in the Philippines. "Bridgeit combines existing mobile products and satellite technologies to deliver digital, multimedia materials to teachers and students who otherwise would not have access to them."