Digital Divide: Why Business Should Pay

As much as I'd love to write a revolutionary blog entry about how evil corporations are keeping down the working man while those in Africa and Asia starve, I actually have some practical reasoning today. The article in the Economist about the digital divide shows that cell phone use is expanding to even the poorest of countries and regions in the world. This is an important step in economic development. One of the smartest moves the business community could make would be to invest in expanding cell networks and providing free or low-cost phones to small businesses and communities in developing world. This would increase the efficiency of the economies and increase the standard of living. It would also provide jobs for the communities and raise their annunal incomes thus providing new markets for exporting products. Of course, imagine the wonders cell phones would acclomplish for international trade in providing instant ease and access.