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20-Cent 'Cloud Phone' Offers Mobile Service for Poor
Plenty of people are using cell phones today, but many of the world's poorest mobile users don't actually have their own phones. Instead of shelling out $25 (or more) for their own personal handsets, many impoverished users simply purchase one phone, and share it amongst their friends or family. It may be a cost-efficient way of connecting to the world, but it isn't exactly convenient, nor does it offer a lot of privacy. Thanks to Movirtu Limited's new 'cloud phone,' though, cash-strapped cell phone users may soon be able to have their own mobile phone numbers for just 20 cents -- even if they don't actually have a phone. As Movirtu CEO Nigel Waller explains to CNN, the cloud phone isn't really a phone, but a mobile service. Once activated, the service will assign a unique number to each subscriber, who can then create a list of contacts, and check for any missed calls or text messages. The difference, however, is that users can access their accounts from any other phone. All they have to do is borrow someone's phone, type in their special PIN code, and instantly make or receive calls under their own number. And the best part, of course, is that they'll only have to pay 10 to 20 cents to subscribe -- although they'll still have to adhere to local rates if they want to actually place a call.
The cloud phone may not be able to provide actual phones for the world's neediest, but it can certainly help them maximize the handsets they've already invested in. And considering how many mobile users live on just $1 a day, any service capable of stretching that dollar is certainly a program worth pursuing.
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Comments
12
Subscribe to commentsthatslin2uOct 23rd 2010 3:39PM
Okay, isn't the government already giving free cell phones to anyone on any other government handout program? And aren't the government handout programs supposed to fill NEEDS? So now I'm assuming that everyone NEEDS to stay in constant contact with everyone they know. Every time I see that **** commercial it pisses me off. We didn't NEED cell phones when they didn't exist and we got along okay. And I pay for the 100 minutes a month I get and that's plenty. Why would anyone on welfare need 250 minutes per month?
kevinOct 23rd 2010 3:43PM
And I'm sure everyone will appreciate you asking to use their phones to make a quick call. Sort of like people asking for spare change.
leolux10Oct 23rd 2010 4:02PM
@(Unverified) Loser. Selfish people like you hard times even harder. Let's hope you never need a hand. I'd rather cut mine off....
shortyOct 23rd 2010 4:04PM
All they have to do is borrow someone's phone, type in their special PIN code, and instantly make or receive calls under their own number! Well did you not think that most people have to pay for each call or text messages made and using up their minutes! So what help is it for the person's phone you're using then? Non, it's costing them for me to use there phone? That's not right. Unless there's a phone I can buy at a small cost, a one time fee, to use all the time, then I don't see using someone elses phone a good thing. And then your always having to borrow, that can become to be a big pain for those your borrow from too. I know I would get tired of that. Nothing wrong with helping out, but after awhile that does get old. Someone coming over all the time and your in the middle of something? NO! Sounds good IF you can make it work better than this. But this is just my feelings on it.
MessaOct 23rd 2010 4:07PM
What a great way to encourage people to steal cell phones !
shortOct 23rd 2010 4:13PM
AND no ones being Selfish here as you put it. See how long you would like it with someone coming over All the time to use your phone. You would get tired of it and don't say you wouldn't! It's a matter of how they have set this up for folks and what it would do to others. I could not impose on others like that, it would be wrong to do.
bethOct 23rd 2010 5:06PM
Wouldn't it be just as cheap to save 20 bucks and get a cricket phone? There plans do good for both the poor and for those who want a monthly plan. Can choose unlimited talk and text for 35 bucks a month or can pay as you go....for the days you need the phone it cost one dollar for the entire day you use it, unlimited. Seems more reasonable that 25-35 cents per minute.
I'm not sure how people share a cell phone? That to me would seem more difficult than it is worth even if I couldn't afford a plan. How do you even work something out like that? I would hate to see what happens when the bill comes in each month. I bet there are a lot of arguments by the end of the month. "No that was your minute"! "No it wasn't"! "Well I'm not payin it". "Neither am I".
tstovepipeOct 23rd 2010 5:34PM
sounds like a rip off to me
TonyOct 24th 2010 3:51PM
why not just buy the cheapest phone available & "pay as you go" service???
shirazehOct 23rd 2010 10:28PM
i feel like a teeny bit of a hypocrit, but do we really NEED cell phones?? seriously?? i mean, if a person NEEDS one for work, then your job shld provide it. if u work for urself, then whoever said something abt cricket, i agree. & in every state there is federal/state help to get a home phone- as there is for food, utilities. believe me, im not saying it's easy, im just saying it's out there. and no, nobody NEEDS a cell phone. (especially not kids who are going to bully one another to death w/ them, but that's another story entirely; thats about parents getting 12-year olds phones more sophisticated than this computer on which i type & allowing them access to more makeup than ive worn in my entire 32 years, but didn't i say i digress?)
Mike ZachaczewskiOct 24th 2010 6:41PM
Buy the cheapest pay as you go phone. Problem solved!
JulesOct 25th 2010 10:17AM
You are missing the point, people! This is for someone who CAN NOT afford $20 phone! We are talking about rural africa, bangladesh, etc. People borrow phones there all the time. Whoever lends their phone gets paid for it. With "cloud phone" people who borrow the phone will have their own number and their separate account and people who share will get an incentive of a percentage of call made as air time.
I can not believe that some people are so slow.