Does mobile growth mean economic development?

Sitting alongside Indonesia’s Minister of Communications and Technology, Axiata’s Chief Strategy Officer and Qualcomm’s President of Southeast Asia, Hilde Tonne, EVP and Head of Group Industrial development, represents the Telenor view on how mobile growth can be leveraged to support the socio-economic develop of Asia Pacific’s developing markets.

“The rise of Internet is impacting society, spurring growth, employment, new industry and innovation. Asia is embracing the mobile Internet, but access is still limited. This is the growth we plan to drive,” says Tonne.

Contributing to financial inclusion

Telenor research with Deloitte and BCG suggest a correlation between connectivity and GDP growth. A 10% increase in mobile penetration means 1.2% in GDP growth. A 10% increase in Internet penetration will represent 3-5% of GDP in emerging markets.

“One of the areas in which we see the most potential is mobile financial services. Here we as an industry have the potential to reach out to the 2.5 billion people in the developing world who are without access to banking services. Traditional banking in Asia has a limited reach, whereas we as the mobile provider have a quite far reach,” says Tonne. “It makes you think of growth when we see that 15% of the Pakistani population has access to basic banking services – and 70% have a mobile phone. This is an opportunity that we as an industry will follow,” she adds.

Telenor has already achieved significant results with Easypaisa mobile financial services in Pakistan, and Financial Services is being established as a focused business area in the Group. Telenor’s own research into this area suggests that there is a need for cross-industry collaboration, exchange of best practice and learning, as well as on-going dialogue with regulatory authorities to establish better frameworks.

“Furthermore, the mobile industry is in a position to contribute quite significantly within other services that are important for societal growth. We see that digital services such as mobile healthcare and mobile education can address serious issues in society. Telenor is helping new and expectant mothers in Bangladesh with life-saving information sent via SMS, and campaigns like iChamp in Pakistan are teaching kids, parents and teachers about the positive sides of the mobile Internet,” says Tonne.

Prerequisites for leveraging growth

Telenor does see some prerequisites for leveraging this growth opportunity, including fair and transparent spectrum allocation, regulations that allow for innovative and new operating models, including partnerships among operators and with vendors. With the right framework in place, telecom operators can innovate in terms of new types of services that deliver what people really need in their daily lives.

“We are well-positioned to help make a positive socio-economic impact. Mobile operators are essential building blocks for development, and we plan to continue to have dialogues with governments and regulators to ensure a fair playing field for telecom operators to innovate and enable societies to prosper,” concluded Tonne.