According to studies made for the OECD and the US Department of Commerce the massification and increase of the penetration of internet in Developing Nations will be related to the significant divides between rural and urban connectivity, as well as differences in income, education, and gender factors.
One of the strategies to attract investments is to put government services and content online as e-government services and applications to help organize the public sector more efficiently. This must be combined with the construction of wireless networks in rural areas, as new technologies are emphasizing the development of more powerful mobile phones.
The combination of this smart phones, wireless networks and voice accessible internet applications will open the internet to many new users. For example, more than half of the Asia-Pacific countries now allow some form of market entry in basic services, highly in mobile devises.
Summarizing, in these countries there is a growing demand for data services from low income consumers in both urban and rural areas, the important is to offer relevant e-services that can run on mobile devises or in low band conditions. One question that the develop countries companies´ need to answer is, are they thinking in these markets, or they are thinking only to develop new application for high speed broadband internet users?
The other problem is the control and censorship of local governments that can block website arguing national security or contravene of public morals, the problem is the vagueness of their legal language, the broad personal interpretation by state officers and not consulting international laws. Will this be an impediment for the future develops of internet of these countries?
Sources:
OECD (2008). Broadband Growth and Policies in OECD Countries. Retrieved on October 11, 2011 form http://www.oecd.org
World Resource Institute, WRI (2007).The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid. Retrieved on October 11, 2011 form http://www.wri.org/publication
Rohan,Samarajiva (2007). Preconditions for Effective Deployment of Wireless Technologies for Development in the Asia-Pacific. Retrieved on October 11, 2011 from http://www.mitpressjournals.org
Situational Report on Control and Censorship of Online Media, through the Use of Lawsand the Imposition of Thai State Policies (2010). Retrieved on October 11, 2011 from http://es.scribd.com
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