How Did Mobile Phones Change Cameroon - Term Paper Example

?How Did Mobile Phones Change Cameroon Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 What Are The Factors Or Forces In Your Selected Country (Cameroon), Which Leads To Rapid Development Of Mobile Phones? If So Why? Why Is It Faster? 3 2)What Is The Status Of Mobile Phones In Cameroon? (Mobile Phone Generation, In Relation With Fixed Phones, Compare With Other Countries, Such As SAR, Bostwana, USA, Korean) 4 3) What Are Some of the Unique Features/ Practices of Mobile Phones Uses (Sharing Phones among Neighbors, International Calls, Payments) 7 4) How Did The Advances In Mobile Phones Influences Development In: Agriculture, Business, Healthcare And Education. 9 Works Cited 11 1) What Are The Factors Or Forces In Your Selected Country (Cameroon), Which Leads To Rapid Development Of Mobile Phones? If So Why? Why Is It Faster? An important factor or force that has led towards the development of mobile phones in Cameroon has been related with socio-cultural issues. Increase in per-capita income of the probable users can recognize a major socio-cultural factor for increase in mobile phones in Cameroon. The availability of set out legal and regulatory frameworks to install and set up mobile phone towers has also provided significant benefits towards the growth. Highly advanced and appropriate technology is the other factor that must be considered for better development of the mobile phones according to the huge demand of consumers. In recent years in countries such as Cameroon, subscription of mobile phones has enlarged due to availability of mobile phones at lower costs. A large section of populace has started to use mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa such as Cameroon in the period in between 2000 to 2008 can be apparently witnessed from the growth of mobile phone users from 16 million to 376 million. In some African countries mobile phone is generally used for oral communication instead of reading or typing text messages as these countries have a high level of illiteracy. With regards to Cameroon, cost is an important factor and therefore companies provide the facility of internet access in the handsets in much cheaper sets (Aker & Mbiti, “Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa”). Mobile phone service is highly profitable and is expanding in the emerging markets very rapidly. The growth and the development of the mobile phones have gained a strong position with rise in the population density in Cameroon. The profitability of the mobile phones is related to the demand factors. Apart from this, previously landline connections were being used and it required wires on every road with fewer lines in each for every connection, which turned out to be very expensive. Therefore, mobile phone mechanism evolved that provided a service station within 5-10 kilometers radius which is much cheaper than landlines. Hence, it was found that the use of mobile phones proved to be most effective and gained acceptance among the consumers (Banks & Burge, “Mobile Phones: An Appropriate Tool for Conservation and Development”). 2) What Is The Status Of Mobile Phones In Cameroon? (Mobile Phone Generation, In Relation With Fixed Phones, Compare With Other Countries, Such As SAR, Bostwana, USA, Korean) The mobile phone revolution is felt across-the-board throughout Cameroon. It has been noted that there has been tremendous rise in the demand for the mobile phone after the liberalization took place in Cameroon by the government in the year 2000. With the invention of liberalized mobile phones administration in Cameroon, there has been rise in the competition among the private companies so that customers can be attracted. The figure below shows the mobile phone usage in Cameroon from the year 1996 to the year 2010: Mobile phone is considered as asset in numerous towns and villages of Cameroon. Alike most of the African countries, Cameroonian telecommunication sector has gained huge advantage from the spectacular development since the year 2000 (Zebaze, C. D., “Impact of Liberalisation of Trade in Services on Africa: Case of Telecommunication Services in Cameroon”), The growth of the cell phone industry in Cameroon is being made stagnant because of the expensive cell phones. It has been found that the total number of mobile subscriber in Africa surpassed the number of fixed lines in Africa in 2001. The figure below demonstrates the mobile phone versus fixed phone usage from 1996 to 2010. It is apparent that there is rise in the usage of mobile phones. Furthermore, the total quantity of mobile subscriber was 110 million at the end of the year 2006 (Bela, “Mobile Phones Boom In Cameroon”). It has been noted that there has been rise in the mobile subscribers in Korea since the year 2009. The Korea market passed the 105% diffusion rate mark in 2011 with many individuals carrying at least one mobile phone (Paul Budde Communication, “South Korea - Mobile Market - Overview, Statistics and Forecasts”). Even in the United States, there has been tremendous rise in the total number of mobile subscribers. By the early part of 2012, it has been estimated that the number of subscribers would be about 327 million (Paul Budde Communication. “USA - Mobile Market Insights, Statistics and Forecasts”). 3) What Are Some of the Unique Features/ Practices of Mobile Phones Uses (Sharing Phones among Neighbors, International Calls, Payments) The general features of mobile phone include sending a message and making a call to communicate with each other. An application such as alarm clock, clock, calculator, calendar and games should also be included. Within a short distance, sending and receiving videos and pictures through Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is one of the unique features of the mobile phones. Other features of mobile phones are constant connectivity, high quality audio, digital camera and music player audio-video recorder. At times, it also functions as radios. Internet facility can also be provided which will enable to use internet banking. The use of mobile phones also helps students to communicate with each other. Students can also communicate with the teachers for rearranging their extra classes, deal with attendance issue, discuss regarding the assignments data and coordinate about group study. Apart from this, use of mobile phones even helps in managing proper schedules of teachers more effectively in order to guide the students in their studies. Mobile phones can also be used for business purposes. The mobile phone is also used to pay for the purchases with debit as well as credit cards and it can also be used in recording conversation. Several businesses offer mobile phones to their workers as it helps to keep in contact with each other when they are out of the office through e-mail. The use of mobile phones is blurring the margin between work-life and private-life as well as the difference between the public and private space. It also helps the user to easily convey valuable decisions regarding their business purposes (Katz, “Recent Changes in Classroom Environments”). 4) How Did The Advances In Mobile Phones Influences Development In: Agriculture, Business, Healthcare And Education. The mobile industry is considered to be one of the most vibrant and growing industries in the present world. In the present times, it no longer just delivers the voices over the phones. According to the micro as well as macro-level evidences, mobile phone assists in enhancing consumers’ as well as producers’ welfare in the developing countries. By the year 2015, it has been forecasted that in sub-Saharan Africa number of people with mobile network access would increase in comparison to populace having electricity at home. With the rise in the diffusion of the mobile phones, the mobile industry is having a profound impact upon the society. Along with improvement in the communication sector, it has been noted that the mobile phone is assisting in the improvement in the field of agriculture, banking, healthcare, education as well as empowerment of women. It has been estimated by International Food Policy Research Institute that nearly 65% of the population belonging to sub-Saharan Africa generally depends upon subsistence farming. The farmers are capable of connecting themselves with the up-to-date agricultural knowledge with the help of the mobile phones (Africa Focus, “Africa: Fast-Paced Mobile Growth Continues”). With the help of mobile learning initiatives, remote locations can also avail the facility of education as well as learning. M-learning offers a supplement to Bricks and Mortar schools on those areas where there is limited education and educational schools are not up to the mark (Africa Focus, “Africa: Fast-Paced Mobile Growth Continues”). One of the biggest challenges for most of the countries is the access to quality healthcare. Mobile technology has evolved as one of the crucial tools that can be used in order to stimulate the efficient delivery of healthcare sector (Africa Focus, “Africa: Fast-Paced Mobile Growth Continues”). Works Cited Aker, Jenny C. & Mbiti, Issac M. “Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 24.3 (2010): 207-232. Africa Focus. “Africa: Fast-Paced Mobile Growth Continues”. February 20, 2012. News, 2011. Banks, Ken. & Burge, Richard. “Mobile Phones: An Appropriate Tool For Conservation And Development”. February 20, 2012. Fauna and flora international conservation reports, No Date. Bela, Dominique. “Mobile phones boom in Cameroon”. February 20, 2012. News, 2008. . Katz, James E. “Recent Changes in Classroom Environments”. February 20, 2012. Mobile Phones in Educational Settings, No Date. Paul Budde Communication. “South Korea - Mobile Market - Overview, Statistics and Forecasts”. February 20, 2012. Synopsis, 2012. Paul Budde Communication. “USA - Mobile Market Insights, Statistics and Forecasts”. February 20, 2012. Synopsis, 2012. Zebaze, Calvin, Djiofack. Impact of Liberalisation of Trade in Services on Africa: Case of Telecommunication Services in Cameroon. Centre D’etude Et De Recherche Sur Le Developpement International, 2010. Read More