I believe Mobile Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) are and very well remain powerful and best-suited technologies that will help provide connectivity and digital access in a much faster and cheaper way for developing countries of the globe. Thus, they are to be leveraged within their most strategic and profitable functional or usage contexts. Mobile access technologies along with relevant innovations have formed a powerful springboard for the Internet to be significantly accelerated in terms of access, usage and penetration. The mobile access paradigm is one that has forged a novel and solid path to bridging the digital divide and creating a multitude of opportunities to transform and empower populations in developing countries. With reports of the total number of smartphones globally reaching 1 billion users mainly driven by growth in emerging markets, there is great growth potential and opportunities for pre-existing challenges to be addressed.

Mobile communications technologies today come as a continuum of options offering appropriate solutions for various needs, and present a future that is full of better and more powerful technologies. With Mobile Broadband starting to make way into different markets through new technologies such as 4G/5G promising faster and richer data communications, mobile is poised to yet revolution communications in developing countries. In fact, mobile-based e-applications including m-agriculture, m-commerce, m-banking, m-government, m-health and m-learning, will be the most important and effective with mobile access. They are revenue and growth carriers. Their implementation as mobile applications is supported by the availability of mobile platforms. Considering existing challenges in building the appropriate or suitable networks to support web applications, the most available and affordable platforms should be leveraged in such cases. An example would be the use of open source platforms Android and Java Mobile as convenient ones.

In an age of rapid development, technology constantly challenges us on how to best manage innovation in order to maximize its benefits. Developing and emerging countries stand today at a vantage point helping them benefit from innovation by being able to leapfrog, acquiring and integrating decent and optimal technologies that will allow them to efficiently serve their markets. Many innovations currently taking shape are bound to make the mobile access domain a vibrant one. We are shifting towards a fully digital economy where revenue and profit for mobile will hinge on the ultimate result of the use, consumption and operation of innovative artifacts such as mobile applications, clouds, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), digital and virtual entertainment products. These are some items that developing countries will be capable of making available, and capitalize on. Mobile entrepreneurship is a determining market boosting factor that will help better acquire and commercialize such technologies and products.

The mobile internet advantage to emerging regions is deemed a crucial fulcrum, one that comes with an imperative to rethink different matters and aspects in order for technology to be best utilized. With the Internet part of the equation, it is necessary to safeguard its various core and key principles. Network Neutrality principles need to be preserved in order to avoid tier-payment models in mobile access and therefore keep growing the mobile user base.

IPv6 for example that will accommodate the growing number of mobile devices and connected machines will require stewardship and management in order to be well-utilized and exploited. Traffic boosting is also to be enabled through deploying new IXPs and CDNs. Also good regulation comes as important factor that will play a big role in this context of mobile access. Governments and Mobile Operators will be able to collaborate in creating and establishing effective regulatory frameworks that will help manage critical resources such as radio spectrum, Intellectual Property and also facilitate trade processes and mechanisms and promote entrepreneurship. A good Internet Governance practice has to be effectively observed around the mobile communications model in order to maintain a suitable environment for optimal operations.

Mobile access certainly will help Developing countries tackle several digital access challenges they faced before and also certainly manage to record economic growth and inch further toward closing the digital divide. They are still facing major handicaps, mainly the lack of infrastructure somewhat characterized by a lack of capital or economic and technological power, still impeding a full growth and maturity.