How mobile phone impacts today’s life

NAIROBI, KENYA: There are about 4.8 billion mobile phone users in the world today.

This number is critical in understanding and delivering cutting-edge solutions for the market given that one out of every two people uses a mobile phone. Corporates and individuals are in the forefront of developing solutions that are sustainable and have positive impact to communities.

Today, more people are well connected, more people communicate efficiently and carry out business transactions with ease thanks to the mobile technology advancements. The advent of the smartphone has gone a step further and enabled more data availability across platforms and on vast geographical settings.

Data carrying capability on a mobile phone is critical in the era where content availability is a serious tool for tangible interactions. Data allows for business engagements, provides a platform for verification in cases where material items are required and may be used as evidence of actual products and transactions.

The benefits of mobile broadband as a tool for sustainable development cannot be gain said, the integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in corporate sustainability strategy play an integral role in tackling numerous challenges that plague the globe.

In Kenya, mobile phone brands like OPPO have come forward to revolutionise ways to communicate. Families and communities’ can now access health services in ways previously viewed as impossible. The health sector has seen lessened mortality rates due to access to information. The mobile phone, for instance is capable of providing accurate information on the location of health providers as well as giving alerts to doctors on the location of those in need of emergency care. The connectivity that mobile phones offer to rural folk in remote parts of the continent has saved many lives.

For instance, mobile phones enable data transfer from remote locations and to a professional doctor’s device and solutions transmitted back for a fast lifesaving procedure. This reach coupled with the on-going establishment of mobile clinics and dispensaries inform the life changing transformation in many African countries.

Education is one of the most reliable avenues for knowledge acquisition and development in many parts of the world. Africa continues to appreciate the importance of educating its population. Teachers in remote parts of the continent receive vital information that enables them to provide their pupils with current trends through the mobile technology. This, subsequently, bridges the information gap and lifts villages out of poverty by empowering them to reach for better solutions to their life needs.

Furthermore, it has been proven that it is possible to improve living standards in most communities by availing critical information to the masses. In Kenya, for instance, the ability to transfer money via the mobile phone has been celebrated as a game changer in how we now conduct our business, and relay money to our family and friends. In addition, the need for such services means that the chain of agents that provide the services translates into small businesses that earn extra income for families.   

With some countries on the continent mired in war for decades, the mobile phone has become a tool of communication for families that have been split up due to the ravages of war. Stories have been told of how refugees in one of the world’s largest refugee camps in Kenya, Kakuma, make a living through giving other refugees an opportunity to communicate with their loved ones in their countries of origin. Many refugees today have access to a mobile phone, and stay in touch with family members in their country of origin or to those who have migrated to other countries and continents, look up information on asylum procedures, and to transfer money electronically through various providers.

The current mobile evolution has seen the smartphone advanced to take high resolution photos and videos making it a very competitive field to develop cutting edge technology to suit the changing needs of the consumers. Africa with its differential energy challenges requires devices that suit these challenges. Phone makers such as OPPO has also developed revolutionary technology that allows the phone to charge at a fast rate, allowing the user a longer talk time for its devices. With this kind of device, the user is almost guaranteed a day of uninterrupted service and uptime, a key need in today’s fast paced world.

One of the key advantages of mobile technology is that broader mobile broadband coverage serves as a major accelerator. Policymakers today have the opportunity to facilitate even greater positive change and economic development in rural Africa by leveraging low-band spectrum to bring the internet to all.

As the globe looks to realize the sustainable development goals, it is vital to continue the support for mobile phones services penetration and entrench the use mobile communication as a significant driver for development. This can be achieved through integrated communications policy development, engaging researchers in identifying areas that can improve lives for those in need and working on collaborative initiatives that use information gathered at the local level to develop devices that provide solutions to local challenges.

The writer is the OPPO - Kenya PR and Communications Manager