The New York Times carries this lengthy article about the use of cellular phones in the developing world. The Times reports that 3.3 billion people now have cellphones, approximately half of the world's population. The article discusses how 80% of the world's population lives within cellphone range of a network and how the mobile phones are changing lives and allowing a rapid development of economies in the developing world.
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When the article speaks of 3.3 billion people with cellphones, does it actually mean that many people HAVE the phone or access to the phone. I can see many families, villages, etc. with one phone. Exactly how are they measuring this number?
Great article.
The article says that there are 3.3 billion mobile phone “subscriptions.” I’m not sure what this means. Possibly 3.3 people who have paid for mobile service? If so, some of them might not have their own physical phone. But surely, a village with a single phone lady provides service to the entire village when the villagers need it. I suppose all the villagers are counted in the 80% within service range.
What is of more interest to me is that mobile phones provide people in our increasingly mobile world a “fixed identity point.” On Jan Chipchase’s Website (he is the featured “human-behavior researcher” in the article) he has a photo of a house that has the mobile phone number written above the door. That’s “where” the occupant mostly likely can be found: “home” is the phone. A different sense of place and space is created.