Mobile phone technology is a very cheap and effective communication medium for billions of people around the world. People can now have access to information and health services, education, and the economy through their mobile phones. Mobile phone users in the US depend primarily on their smartphones for all these activities.
A Pew Research Center survey was carried out in 2019 where they estimated that 37% of Americans use their smartphones for internet access. Moreover, 45% of smartphone users in the US say that they do not have a broadband connection at home because everything they need to do online can be done through a smartphone anyway. This pattern points towards Americans’ increased reliance on a smartphone, with further research stating that this reliance will increase to 311 million by 2025.
Mobile Phones In the US Market
As a result, the mobile phone carrier industry is currently booming in the US market. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and even newly-introduced Xfinity are some of the few major carriers in the US. AT&T is, however, known as the leading carrier with 44% of wireless subscriptions in early 2021.
Xfinity Mobile service, another carrier in the US that requires a subscription to Xfinity Internet along with it, has around 3.1 million subscribers and growing. Besides that, Verizon and T-Mobile are following behind.
In terms of smartphones in the US, the most popular brands are Samsung and Apple, with the latter claiming to hold more than half the market in May 2021.
Mobile Phones In Sustainable Development
With its popularity and usage in such a wide range of avenues, could mobile phones have any impact on sustainable development on a global scale? Large scale organizations have put forward a few goals regarding mobile phones impact on sustainable growth, which can be summarized as below:
- Prevent disease spreads. Prevention and early prediction of any transmissible diseases can be made through mobile phone data. For instance, there was research that extracted mobile phone data from millions of people in Kenya, and they were able to detect the spread of malaria.
It just goes to show that the traveling patterns of mobile phone users can be used to identify the spread of any disease and take further action towards prevention and prioritizing intervention. - Food crisis. Data from mobile phones can be collected to explore the patterns regarding stock and household expenditures. Mobile phone applications can be designed to alert about any proxy in food security indicators such as malnutrition or food shortages. When alerted, certain dignitaries who are responsible will take immediate actions to eliminate the food crisis.
- Mobile money. The mobile money technique was designed by organizations and institutions to accommodate and encourage the financial inclusion of all individuals, regardless of their economic stability. An example is Easypaisa in Pakistan which provides increased availability to anyone who needs it.
- Immediate action. Mobile phone technology can contribute to natural disasters by sending out emergency communication and early warnings. In case of epidemics, the use of mobile phone technology can help to monitor population transfers before and during any emergencies. A mobile phone carrier company called Telia in Norway was able to launch a mobile phone application for tracking and locating parking lots.
- Provision of Clean Water. This ensures easy and convenient collaboration between mobile wallet providers and water service providers to make sure that consumers have access to clean drinking water.
These changes or possible solutions might seem too far-fetched, but mobile technology is constantly improving and evolving. The day isn’t too far that mobile technology will have numerous other solutions for sustainable development.
