CNN: Developing countries will acess the Internet on mobile phones

Thanks to jetleg, I have been waking up on a daily basis at 5 AM and starting my day by then. While I was working today early this morning I had the TV on the background and interestingly enough what I heard on CNN is what we have been saying for years. On today’s coverage of the 3GSM, they showed how Asian companies came to Barcelona to exhibit not only their handsets but also software for migrating social networking and instant messaging to cellphones. These companies are targeting developing countries and claim that people who cannot access the internet (and internet based applications) on a PC will do it on their mobile phones. And if we think about it, the claim is plausible and is very likely to happen. I remember talking to a VC during a mixer this year in San Francisco and his disbelief that people would access the internet on mobile phones. While it may be relatively true for the US market today, the younger generations in Asia and Europe tend to access the internet from their mobile handsets. And that brings back to the problem of younger users (minors) accessing the internet on their mobile phones, being exposed to inappropriate content and also vulnerable to cyber predators. And it also shows how crucial EU’s last week’s decision was. That’s exactly what we have addressed on our press conference this years at the 3GSM and why we have developed technologies that proactively protects children and teenagers on any mobile platform.