Mobile phones: the silver bullet to bridge the digital divide? (PLA 59)

Roxanna Samii reflects on the rising popularity of mobile telephony for development purposes. Across the world, the mobile phone is becoming a more accessible, affordable and convenient means of communication than the Internet and computers. Particularly in Africa, as the cost of services and handsets continue to reduce, mobile phones are increasingly becoming the preferred tool for accessing and sharing information. As the impacts of this new 'revolution' are starting to be assessed, Samii argues that mobile phones have the potential to become the first universally accessible information communication technology.

Participatory Learning and Action (PLA, formerly PLA Notes) is the world's leading series on participatory learning and action approaches and methods. PLA publishes articles on participation aimed at practitioners, researchers, academics and activists. All articles are peer-reviewed by an international editorial board. See: www.planotes.org

Article in: PLA 59. Guest editors: Holly Ashley, Jon Corbett, Ben Garside and Giacomo Rambaldi. Published by IIED and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA).

Keywords: Web 2.0, Web2forDev, ICT, ICT4D, mobile, Internet.

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