Why is the IDB interested in mobile telephone service, especially in the health sector?
Mobile telephone service is the first technology that makes it possible to provide customized information and services to most of the population. This includes approximately 160 million people who earn less than US$300 a month but have a cellular phone. There are three key factors driving the mobile telephone sector: the high penetration of mobile telephone service into Latin America and the Caribbean; mobile phone networks that already provide coverage to many of the region’s populated areas; and the capacity of these networks for data transmission, where SMS (Short Message Service) is second only to voice service. In addition, three trends that boost the potential of mobile telephone service have come together: the number of users is growing; mobile phone networks keep expanding and offering more and more bandwidth, especially in metropolitan areas; and the phones themselves continue to get smarter and can process more sophisticated applications. In the IDB’s Science and Technology D
