The key to economic growth for a developing society is communications. Think about it - if you can communicate, you can get whatever you're trying to sell to more people.
Studies have shown that when communications systems are put in place, economies boom. Check this out:
DJ - 2/28/95 =Developing World Dialing Up Wireless Phones At Torrid Pace - The village in Karnataka state was much like any of India's 575,000 others, with merchants and traders traveling dusty lanes to do business face to face. Then, in 1986, its 5,000 residents received a 100-line digital telephone system.
Six months later, a flurry of phone-driven economic activity had pushed up the village's bank deposits 80%.
John M. Windolph, director of corporate communications for Iridium Inc., related that story as a small example of why his consortium and dozens of other concerns are rushing to ply developing countries with the latest in wireless-communications technology.
Wolfe from Telular says: "The cost of a typical wireless local loop system is about $2,000 a subscriber, compared with $2,000 to $3,000 for standard wireline. Technological improvements have brought the cost of some wireless systems down to around $1,000 a subscriber. ''The cost curve is coming down dramatically on infrastructure as well as terminals,'' Wolfe said. He predicted that the total cost of a wireless system will decline to $500 or $600 a subscriber within the decade, ''more than likely within the next couple of years.'' |
