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I was in Nicaragua a few weeks ago. While I didn't see any of these, I was struck by one thing I saw related to cell phones... In one rural area we visited many people lived in 10x20 see-through shacks. These people appeared to be dirt poor, however I saw more than one person talking on their cell phones outside of their homes (I was told their phones/plans cost around the same amount we pay here). I simply couldn't (and still can't) believe that people would put money into a cell phone/plan when living in such accommodations. Very misaligned priorities if you ask me.
-Peter
It appears that the benefits haven't helped their "see-through" shack situation but I'm still interested in why they would pay for expensive mobile plans. There have got to be some major benefits.
Where is the micro-marketing/survey data when you need it?
hood rich.
nigga rich.
reality check for REAL.
You can check out more stats at:
http://www.telcor.gob.ni/Desplegar.asp?PAG_ID=47
I also disagree with Peter's comment about how people who live in 10X20 shacks have misaligned priorities by spending money on cell phone minutes. Communication is very important to the poorest of people who are mostly day laborers, if they can make a phone call to resolve a problem that saves them from traveling by bus for several hours and missing a days wage in addition to the cost of transportation they save, then the cost of the phone call is worth it.
To put communication in rural areas in perspective for your readers sending hand written notes sent via bus or calling a radio station to have them broadcast a message to someone in an area without cell phone or landlines is still a popular and effective way used to communicate with people in rural areas.
By the way for more information and photos of Llamadas Pedaleadas you can check out our site at http://www.llamadaspedaleadas.com
The opportunity costs of riding a bus or train to the city or a distant village to get something or talk to someone is horrendously debilitating to the under-$2-per-day crowd.
One of the biggest examples would be banks. It's hard to find a conventional brick-and-mortar bank in rural areas. So, if you are a smart villager and want to put your small earnings in savings you have to take a whole day off work to get to the bank.
This brings us back to your point of good communication (phones) bringing benefit to the bottom-of-the-pyramid crowd.
Let's hope that telecom companies find innovative ways to put beneficial mobiles (preferably w/ internet connectivity) into the hands of the under-$2 crowd with payment plans that make sense for their extremely small and volatile daily wages.
As for seeing people talking outside of tin shacks talking on their cellphones, there is an easy answer. Most people use their phones only to receive calls. Often, they will call me and ask me to call them back, or just call long enought for the caller id to show up on the phone. Nicaragua's landline phone system is improving, but there are hundreds of towns where there are no lines available, I lived in Ciudad Dario in northern Nicaragua, and there were people there who had been waiting 5 years to get a phone line for their house.
For many Nicaraguans, their cellphone is their only way to be reached.
I really think that mobiles with affordable data and call plans (Internet) are going to make a huge impact in rural developing areas.
It seems like the most innovative companies like Google understand that mobile is the next big thing and are all trying to figure it out. They also understand that a lot of people in the global market don't have access to the Internet and mobile technology and they want to change that.
This can only be good news for Nicaraguans living out in rural towns.
Thanks.
Cell phone minutes in Nicaragua are all prepaid. Minutes are literally sold everywhere in public.
People load their cellphones when they can. Sometimes as little as $1 at a time. They use minutes sparingly. If they have the chance to save 50 cents, they will. If that means ducking into a cyber cafe to make a cheaper international call, they will. Possibly their phone does not have any minutes left on it. This is common, the phones can still receive calls even if there are no minutes. Rather than pay the relatively exhorbident cost of cell phone international calling, they might opt to have that 30 minute call to the cousin in Colombia in a cyber.
There is no concept of cell phone service on or off or a monthly bill.
And there are Genuine Apple iPhones in Nicaragua. They buy them modified from China. The phones have been modified to hold dual sim cards. This way they can have two numbers and can buy minutes from both the major vendors, Claro and Movistar. I guess they just use them as cell phones and PDAs, no Internet access or iPhone specific features.
Hope this information is interesting to someone.