Google’s Vinton Cerf states mobile phones feeding net growth

Mobile phones are the key to the growth of the worldwide web. This statement came from one of the founding fathers of the Internet, Vinton G. Cerf, also the Vice-President of Google.

Cerf points out that although Internet users have multiplied from 50 million in 1997 to nearly 1.1 billion, the web only reaches a sixth of the world’s population. The reason for this? Affordability issues. The mobile phone, however, seems largely affordable for the remaining part of the world’s population.

As a matter of fact, there are already 2.5 billion mobile-phone users, and the numbers are growing rapidly still especially in developing countries like India and China, the world’s most populous countries. In India alone, a country of 1.1 billion people, seven million more mobile phone users are added every month. The market for mobile phones in India is so attractive that British telecom giant Vodafone paid 11.1 billion dollars for a controlling stake in the local mobile firm Hutch-Essar this month.

Cerf said that there is an enormous number of applications that could be made available on mobiles. Handset manufacturers and mobile-phone companies are offering an array of Internet-enabled features and services. These include payment and navigation systems while dropping charges under the pressure of growing competition that will bring many of the new subscribers to the Internet.

Google wishes to focus on local languages, culture, content, and delivery of new business models to widen the reach of the Internet. It is now tapping on the talent of Indian engineers to innovate technologies and widen its range of services. A decent strategy, don’t you think?

Mobile phones are the key to the growth of the worldwide web. This statement came from one of the founding fathers of the Internet, Vinton G. Cerf, also the Vice-President of Google.

Cerf points out that although Internet users have multiplied from 50 million in 1997 to nearly 1.1 billion, the web only reaches a sixth of the world’s population. The reason for this? Affordability issues. The mobile phone, however, seems largely affordable for the remaining part of the world’s population.

As a matter of fact, there are already 2.5 billion mobile-phone users, and the numbers are growing rapidly still especially in developing countries like India and China, the world’s most populous countries. In India alone, a country of 1.1 billion people, seven million more mobile phone users are added every month. The market for mobile phones in India is so attractive that British telecom giant Vodafone paid 11.1 billion dollars for a controlling stake in the local mobile firm Hutch-Essar this month.

Cerf said that there is an enormous number of applications that could be made available on mobiles. Handset manufacturers and mobile-phone companies are offering an array of Internet-enabled features and services. These include payment and navigation systems while dropping charges under the pressure of growing competition that will bring many of the new subscribers to the Internet.

Google wishes to focus on local languages, culture, content, and delivery of new business models to widen the reach of the Internet. It is now tapping on the talent of Indian engineers to innovate technologies and widen its range of services. A decent strategy, don’t you think?