Smart Feature Phones and Welfare in Poor Developing Countries

Introduced first in India a few years ago, a major innovation known as the smart feature phone has already brought the Internet to tens of million people in that country. It is affordable even to some of the poor in poor countries, such as those living in Africa, where it sells for around US$20. This price was made possible by a series of design changes, such as the use of open-source software, which distinguish the product from the much more expensive smartphones. Yet, in spite of the vast potential that the new technology brings to developing countries, the actual benefits that accrue to the poor citizens of those countries depend (especially in rural areas) not only on economic mechanisms, but also those of a cultural, social, as well as institutional kind. Such factors range from issues of relevance and localization, to linguistics, the form of communication (whether text or speech), and the extent of literacy and digital skills. What I find is that there are indeed cases where smart feature phones help to promote the degree to which the benefits from the Internet are realized by the poor. Because it substitutes voice for text, for example, Google Assistant allows even the illiterate to participate online and it also provides the highest number of local languages, in India, than any other competing voice-assistant. Then, there is the encouragement given to local developers to submit what one hopes will be locally relevant applications and content that includes live livestock tracking and mobile payments. In other areas, however, such as the severe lack of digital skills to operate the Internet effectively, far too little is being done by governments or private actors, though there are a few notable exceptions.