Matt Johnson: Grosvenor development will be sure to surprise

Sep 12 2007 by Matt Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

WHEN the wraps come off the prestigious Grosvenor development, I am sure we'll all be in for a few surprises.

One thing no shopper should be surprised about though is the likelihood that the major mobile phone networks will be represented in the swanky new shopping areas.

As if we needed reminding, mobile communications is a phenomenally big business. Walking from Clayton Square to Whitechapel the other day, I counted five mobile phone retailers.

Mobile telephony is a very competitive industry, feeding as it does what appears to be our incessant desire for more and more sophisticated mobile communications.

It's less than a decade since handsets became easily manageable, truly portable and capable of holding their charge for longer than it took to make or receive a handful of calls. Now it is not uncommon for people to own more than one device.

All of which may seem an age away from some of Africa's poorest communities. Yet this week, it's closer than many may imagine.

Nearly half a million people, described by the UN as "the poorest of the poor", will soon be able to make mobile calls.

As part of a UN programme to tackle poverty in rural Africa, 79 villages across 10 African countries will be hooked up to cellular networks.

It is hoped that the connections will help improve healthcare and education, as well as boosting the local economy.

WE MAY take for granted being able to communicate via cellular networks and forget how empowered this technology has made so many of us. In these remote areas and communities it is even more valuable.

The plan to extend the mobile network to people who would not normally be considered a priority for mobile phone firms is part of the UN Millennium Villages programme.

The initiative started in 2004. According to the UN, the Millennium Villages are "located in hunger 'hotspots' where chronic hunger is widespread, often accompanied by a high prevalence of disease, lack of access to medical care, and a severe lack of infrastructure".

The infrastructure, as well as solar chargers for phones, has been provided free of charge by mobile firm Ericsson. Credit to them for a worthy example of corporate social responsibility destined to make a big difference in these communities.

And it's good to see a business thinking beyond its own balance sheet to help others less able to help themselves.

MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group