Mobile Usage at the Base of the Pyramid in South Africa
Mobile phones are the primary means of accessing information or communicating for those who live at the base of the pyramid (BoP). It is likely that the mobile phone will therefore also be the preferred medium to provide value-added services to tho...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/12/18807105/mobile-usage-base-pyramid-south-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17629 |
| Summary: | Mobile phones are the primary means of
accessing information or communicating for those who live at
the base of the pyramid (BoP). It is likely that the mobile
phone will therefore also be the preferred medium to provide
value-added services to those at the BoP, whether they are
private users or informal businesses, for the foreseeable
future. Although the prepaid mobile model has brought voice
and text services to this group, sustainable, replicable
models for enhanced services, products and applications are
far more limited. The purpose of the study is to investigate
the demand for mobile applications, services and products,
with a view to increasing economic opportunities and
improving well-being for users at the BoP. The key
objectives of the study are the following: i) to increase
understanding of the actual usage of mobile services,
products and applications at the BoP, and to understand
their potential for economic and social empowerment; ii) to
identify scalable examples of services, products and
applications at the concept, prototype, or early
product-development stages; iii) to develop tools and
instruments to map viable operation models and objects of
various segments of the BoP markets and to identify user
needs; and iv) to formulate recommendations for business
planning and policy development that can support this potential. |
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