Disqus
The GSMA and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a charity that supports women entrepreneurs published the “Women and Mobile: A Global Opportunity” report during the Mobile World Congress. It’s the first detailed global study of its kind, attempting to understand the nature of women mobile subscribers in low and middle-income countries such as Kenya and India.
Without further ado, here’s what the key findings show:
- There are 300 million fewer female subscribers than male subscribers worldwide
- A woman is 21% less likely to own a phone than a man in low and middle-income countries – 23% in Africa, 24% in the Middle East, and 37% in South Asia
- Regionally, the incremental annual revenue opportunity for operators ranges from $740 million in Latin America to $4 billion in East Asia
- Going forward, two thirds of potential new subscribers for mobile network operators will be women
- Women in rural areas and lower income brackets stand to benefit the most from closing the gender gap
- 93% of women report feeling safer because of their mobile phone
- 85% of women report feeling more independent because of their mobile phone
- 41% of women report having increased income and professional opportunities once they own a phone
And you can grab the full report from here. (PDF)
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
