Currently, mobile networks cover more than 80% of the world's population, and an estimated 4 billion people – and counting – own mobile phones. In 2007 and 2008, an estimated 1.15 to 1.2 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide, the majority bought by relatively young consumers in developing countries. More importantly, thanks to mobile phones’ flexible product architecture and increasingly powerful microprocessors, mobile phones are capable of handling the transmission of not only vocal communication, but also data and services. The added service that has attracted the most attention is, by far, banking. In low-income communities, mobile phones often offer previously unbanked customers major improvements in security, convenience and range of services. In South Africa, for example, it is estimated that by 2010, half of all bank accounts will be managed through mobile phones.
Mobile phone platforms exhibit very high degrees of capillarity. Obviously, the information generated by this growing network can be hugely valuable, especially as mobile phone standards converge, enabling data sharing. Depending on the variety of services offered through mobile phone networks, the accumulated information may be more or less detailed, but on the other hand, the scope for a partnership may be wider. Finally, mobile phone platforms not only collect information about individual customers, but may also offer a detailed view into the social networks of their users, thus giving incoming firms the chance to cater to groups rather than only to individuals.
A version of this posting, co-authored with Manuel Bueno, was published on the NextBillion blog.
