Cellular mobile phone service in Portugal

Some values to consider:

Quarterly data
Penetration rate (number of subscribers / estimated value for Portuguese population)
2003 (4th quarter) - 95,5
2008 (2nd quarter) - 134,9


Yearly data
Number of calls (outgoing) - 2003 (5.809.558) 2008 (7.035.021)
SMS - 2003 (2.296.159) 2008 (18.554.867)


There was a significant raise in the penetration rate between 2003 and 2008. However, when we analyse how people use mobile phones, we can see that the major raise was on messages (SMS) and not in calls.
These figures interpretation lead us to consider mobile phones young users increase, and the SMS low cost (in some plans they are free). In a an online national survey on media uses by pre-teens and teenagers in Portugal (integrated on the E-Generation project ) the results show that SMS is the main service that they use.


The complete information is available at http://www.anacom.pt/streaming/stm_2trimestre2008.html?contentId=628879&field=ATTACHED_FILE#1%20assinantes_subscribers.Print_Area

Mobile phones and development opportunities

I was doing some readings in Communications ACM, related to mobile phones and came across some interesting articles about mobile phones and developing countries.
It is enthusiastic to understand how mobile phones can contribute to promote equality as well as social and economical development. Some examples cited in the articles: track crop prices in Kenya; manage micropayments in the Philippines; handle healthcare information in Nicaragua; oversee bakery orders in Nigeria; personalized agricultural extension system in India.

However, even more enthusiastic is this statement: “For the first time in history, information is no longer the exclusive domain of the powerful and the rich. The ubiquity of mobile devices is changing the political and economic dynamics around the world. The technology is empowering people that have in the past been disenfranchised.” Jhonatan Rotberg, lecturer at MIT.

These reflections took me back to December 2005, when I went to Mozambique (Maputo). It was my first time back, after 30 years, to the country where I was born and lived my childhood.
In the streets, it was common to see public mobile phones available. It is a service for those who do not own a mobile phone, just as it used to be with public fixed phones. Some differences: this service can be available on different places (it is mobile) you just need to find a place where there is a network available; it can be an individual initiative (not a company business); and there is someone operating it making it accessible to those who do not know how to operate a phone.
Some pictures that I took can give us an idea of different types of stands: more permanent or more mobile.










Underwood, S. (2008). Challenging Poverty. In Communications ACM, 51 (8): 15-17.

Greengard, S. (2008). Upwardly Mobile. In Communications ACM, 51 (12): 17-19.

Handheld

When I say handheld, I really mean handheld :-)

The previous post was a picture taken and sent while biking.

Riding a bike in a rare moment (meaning: not as often as I would like)
of leisure, I can take a picture and blog it with just one hand, and
still riding the bike ;-)

Note - the goats do not always ride with me, it was just a brief encounter ...

Biking and blogging

Uau ...