Molecularist

I find it sad that when we say EMEA for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, we really only concentrate on Europe, secondarily on the Middle East, and never on Africa.

But, wake up folks! See the link below to a brief story on how fast mobile is growing in Africa. And I read in Business Week that Nokia sold 15 Million Nokia 1100 phones in 3Q05. Also, Nokia sent out a carefully positioned press release highlighting that it sold it’s billionth phone, a Nokia 1100, in Nigeria.

And how many of these folks (will ever) use a PC?

SMS and voice (and maybe browsing) will be the core use case of the next 1 billion phones and all we do is think we’re smart with all these fancy schWeb2.0 PC-based browser services or smartphone apps that weigh a ton.

Eh.

I know Ethan always knew this. He’s told me some cool stuff he’s done with mobiles in Africa and he so gets it.

Link: AngolaPress – News.

The number of mobile telephone subscribers in Africa has risen from 8 million, five years ago, to 100 million, Kenya`s information and communication minister Mutahi Kagwe said here Tuesday.

What did I tell you? SMS is still growing.

Why? Because, among other things, it’s simple to understand and ubiquitous. My friend and I have been working in fits and starts on a simple SMS service here in Finland. If we can ever get our butts in gear, I’ll let you know how it all goes. But, I think this is something he and I are only going to have time to hack over the summer.

Gotta love the comment that SMS is like the Cinderella of the industry (see below and follow link for good story).

Link: 160Characters Association.

Next week 3GSM in Cannes will see many dazzling new technologies on display, but how many stands will have interesting new SMS services? Based on my previous experience the answer likely to be ‘hardly any’. So few in fact that SMS could be called the Cinderella of the mobile industry – doing all the work, providing most of the revenues, still full of potential but not getting the recognition it deserves.

Thanks Peter B for lead.

Whoa. And he is so right.

Link: GigaOM : � Mobile Industry Doesn’t Get Consumers.

My take on this: if you are a wireless carrier, might as well save those millions you plan to spend on music download services, or video services, and instead try and lure more customers with better (and cheaper) voice plans to your network. It seems to be working for T-Mobile USA, which attracted 4.1 million new users in 2005, despite its obvious lack of high-speed networks, and fancy offerings. Its unique selling point – despite spotty coverage – low prices.

I forget how I came across it (thank you, to whomever it was), but this is an interesting and irreverent website and store for untethered (wireless and so on) stuff and support.

Really, gotta love the attitude.

Link: the Wibrary at Untangled Life.

I’m a long-time fan of Cringley.

Here’s some great insight from him regarding all the crying the connectivity providers are doing to lock down the Internet (with the US Congress nodding in agreement).

Link: PBS | I, Cringely . February 9, 2006 – Stupid Net Tricks.

I live in Charleston, SC, one of the most technologically backward cities in America, yet I can call my Mom right now using any one of half a dozen completely independent and parallel communication networks. So my right to phone service is no longer dependent on BellSouth’s right to provide phone service. If BellSouth went out of business there would be no long-term disruption. The argument that any particular service provider ought to be given preferential rights in order to help them survive no longer has any real bearing on Public Service. That argument is bogus.