
Cell Phones in Africa: Communication Lifeline - prostoalex
http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/04/15/cell-phones-in-africa-communication-lifeline/
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grecy
I lived in Ecuador for 5 months and was a little surprised that at one time
they had the highest rate of cell phone ownership per capita of any country in
the world [1]. Like the countries mentioned in Africa, it's because they
skipped the land line stage and went straight to cell phones.

What was truly shocking was the amount of money people were paying relative to
their income. There were local Ecuadorians working with me - earning a good
income by Ecuadorian standards, though they were living in dirt-floor houses
and didn't have hot running water.

These people were spending an entire months salary on a flip phone. Because
that's what they wanted and was cool.

It blew me a way to think of the average person from a Developed country
spending an entire months salary on a cell phone - it's essentially not even
possible.

It's as if they have access to all the same technology the Developed world
does, but the cost of entry is exponentially higher.

[1]
[http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?order=wba...](http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?order=wbapi_data_value_2013+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-
last&sort=desc)

