Washington | Mobile Learning is extremely practical due to the maximum flexibility regarding learning location and learning situation and is therefore booming worldwide. And yet there are still several construction sites for further expansion, such as the supply of mobile Internet. The Pew Research Center from the USA has now presented a management report on the supply of mobile Internet in the emerging markets under the title “Mobile Divides in Emerging Economies”, based on a survey of over 28,000 people conducted at the end of 2018. The situation in 11 emerging markets was examined. According to the survey, 6% of users do not even own a device, but are dependent on borrowing a device in order to use mobile Internet. The highest rates of users without their own device were found in Venezuela (32%), India (30%) and the Philippines (27%). There, around three in ten adults currently do not have a smartphone.
But even if users in emerging markets already own a smartphone, they often encounter several other problems. Depending on the country, between 27 and 67% are significantly affected by several hurdles. In the recent Pew Research Center survey, 46% of all respondents across countries report having frequent or occasional connection problems alone. Another significant barrier to expanding mobile Internet use is the cost of data plans, according to 37% of respondents.
According to the Pew Research Center, there are specific problems depending on the country. For example, 77% of smartphone owners in Lebanon report having connection problems. Accordingly, there are concrete starting points where politics and business can and should start in the respective countries.
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