Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-06-10)

DATA:

WORLD

BANK

solar­poweredruralcelltowersandtoserveasWi­Fi

hotspotsoninformalcommuterbusescalledmata-

tus. Tomakesurethemachinescansurvivebothhot

expansesandthepossibilityofbeinghoseddownby

matatudrivers,BRCKhousesthecomputersinalumi­

numcasesthatcanguardagainsttheelements.

Oneproblemthecarriershaven’tsolvedis thehigh

priceofmobiledata.Everygigabytecoststheaverage

Africana relativelymassivesliceofmonthlyincome—

about9%,comparedwithlessthan0.5%intheU.S.,

accordingtotheAllianceforAffordableInternet,a

coalitionofcompanies,governments,andadvocacy

groups.FacebookInc.hasdevelopedspecialsoftware

formobilecarriersthatit’sgivingawayina bidtolower

coststoconsumeitscontent.

Market­researchcompanyStrategyAnalyticsInc.

expectssalesofphonespoweredbyKaiOStojump

50%thisyear,to 105 milliondevices, makingit the

fastest­growing major phone OS in the world. Most of

that growth will likely come from India, where the bil­

lionaire head of conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd.

spent tens of billions of dollars to build a nationwide

mobile internet network from scratch and extensively

subsidize the phones.

Like India and the rest of the world, Africa can’t

afford to ignore the poisonous downsides of the inter­

net, notably its capacity for spreading hate speech

and misinformation. Yet like energy and transportation,

internet access has become an essential component

of infrastructure, economic development, and social

empowerment, so much so that authoritarian gov­

ernments in parts of the continent have tried to block

access to it entirely. The growing sweep of KaiOS offers

a reminder that the most important innovations aren’t

always the driverless cars, the pilotless planes, or the

sailorless boats. Sometimes they’re a $20 phone. <BW>

Bloomberg Businessweek | Sooner Than You Think June 10, 2019

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