When technology, economics, health and new markets collide

Technology has been instrumental in the shaping of human evolution. Of that, there is no doubt.

From the first wheel right up to the mobile phone. Technology, either directly or indirectly shapes, influences our everyday life.

But because of the ubiquity of technology, and because such a substantial part of technology is older than we are, our perception is that these things aren't really a part of technology per se, but are just stuff that got invented.

We see technology as printed circuit boards, wires, advanced metal alloys and genetics. When in actual fact, technology is everything from the bricks and wood your house is built from, right up to your mobile phone and the close covering your feet, your arse and your back.

Technology can either enable; in the case of computers, or disable; in the case of machines and devices of war.

In some parts of the world, there is a dearth of technology that could otherwise open up a world of opportunities. And there are those who would hope to bridge the digital divide, such as Computer Aid International which charges itself with the task of taking technology to those that feel the draft blowing through this chasm of devision most acutely.

Recently, technology helped survivors and relatives find loved ones who fell victim to the Tsunami is Asia. A simple wireless network enabled people to get in touch and then stay in touch. Also, organizations such as Télécoms sans Frontier provided satellite phones to allow survivors to speak to relatives from all over the world.

In recent news, Motorola are developing low-cost mobile phones for developing countries:

"Motorola will enter emerging markets with ultra low-cost mobile phones aimed at 3 billion consumers who cannot yet afford to make wireless calls, the U.S.-based handset maker said Monday."

But while some might interpret this as some kind of mildly philanthropic gesture, it's just pure money making -- build 'em cheap and stack 'em high.

"Some 80 percent of the world's population has mobile phone coverage, but only 25 percent have a mobile phone. That is 3 billion people who have coverage but cannot afford mobile communications," said Ben Soppitt, project manager of the emerging-market handset program at the GSM Association.

So the drive into developing countries is more about getting a solid return on the investment in the vast telecommunications network infrastructure.

But I have a number of concerns, and they are the self same concerns that being debated right here in Britain.

Here in Britain, we have one of the more robust telecommunication infrastructures in the world, and that isn't by virtue of our geographically relatively small size; we have some pretty inhospitable and truly inaccessible landscape that creates problems for a number of utility providers.

So while the whole of British isles could quite easily fit into the American state of Florida, we have some notoriously shit places that make for some interesting black spots.

So, network coverage for the mobile phone services providers becomes a problem. And, to compound problems further, while network coverage could be good in the likes of Lincolnshire that is a flat as a fart in every direction for miles on end, usage contention in towns causes network saturation.

More phone masts are needed.

That's when the fun really begins because no one wants a mast on their doorstep. Worse still, there is conflicting bodies of research over the effects of these masts and what they're likely to do to people living in close proximity.

Even worse still .. the mobile phones themselves have been demonstrated to cause harmful effects on the human brain, and even more so on children who have thinner skulls, so are more likely to suffer from even momentary use of a mobile phone.

It's worth noting that even before all of this nonsense came to light, after using a mobile phone, I would suddenly become nauseous, disorientated, feel a sudden and localized warmth on whichever side of my head that I held the phone against and have problems swallowing as a result of sore and swollen throat, similar to the sensation of crying.

All of a sudden, in the absence of any satisfactory resolution to any of this, developing countries will be given the chance to embrace this new enabling technology and enable their population to communicate on a scale hitherto unheard of in those countries.

My question is: what amount of effort will be made by the service providers and the manufacturers of this equipment to resolve these issues before the technology becomes so widely used that any remedial efforts proposed would be disregarded on the grounds of such actions being prohibitively expensive?

And what happens if people in these countries develop illnesses as a result of exposure to ultimately poor quality and poorly maintained infrastructure?

On top of the litany of other illnesses that are commonplace in places such as Africa and Asia, do we expect to see any additional medical aid provided for yet another entirely avoidable and preventable problem?

Discuss...