On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 6:52 PM, Thomas Dalton
<thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:
2009/5/31 Anthony <wikimail(a)inbox.org>rg>:
I just found another statistic. Mobile networks
cover roughly 80-90% of
the
worlds population.
For them, using that mobile network is probably the most cost effective
solution. For the rest, giving them enough of an education to have the
means to come live with the rest of us, is probably the most cost
effective
solution.
Those are basic mobile phone networks, not internet phones. I don't
think voice calls and SMS messages are going to be much help.
It's mostly GSM. You're telling me these networks can't handle the use of a
GSM modem? If it can carry voice, it can can carry data.
Fair point. I guess I'm so used to broadband I forgot about the
existence of dial up for a second! You would need to hand out phones,
laptops, and network subscriptions, though - that's getting rather
expensive just to give someone an up-to-date encyclopaedia. The
network subscription could probably be heavily discounted if you were
only able to phone one number and that was to a WMF phone line that
handled the updates (so not strictly an internet connection).