With some six billion mobile subscriptions now in use worldwide, around three-quarters of the world’s inhabitants now have access to a mobile phone. Mobiles are arguably the most ubiquitous modern technology in some developing countries, more people have access to a mobile phone than to clean water, a bank account or even electricity. Mobile communications now offer major opportunities to advance human development from providing basic access to education or health information to making cash payments and stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes. This 2012 edition of the World Bank’s Information and Communication for Development Report analyzes the growth and.
