Earlier this year, mobile users donated more than $40 million via text messages to help Haiti's earthquake victims. Now our friends at the Mobile Giving Foundation, who spearheaded the texts-for-Haiti effort, are doing the same for the Chileans. All you need to do is text "Chile" to a five-digit number and you can make a donation of $5 or $10 to Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army or World Vision.
In a recent CNET article, Lance Whitney explores the exponential growth of wireless on a global level. With the ITU predicting that wireless subscriptions will reach 5 billion in 2010 (or 74 percent of the world’s population), it’s pretty clear mobile devices have become ubiquitous in today’s society. And the applications offered by mobile technology are in great demand.
This week at the Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun Toure discussed the growing role that mobile plays in providing Internet access:
"Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services and I am confident that we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in particular in 2010, with many more people using their phones to access the Internet."
This increase in mobile connectivity can have positive implications for people around the globe.
"Even the simplest, low-end mobile phone can do so much to improve health care in the developing world," said Toure. "Good examples include sending reminder messages to patients' phones when they have a medical appointment, or need a prenatal check-up. Or using SMS messages to deliver instructions on when and how to take complex medication such as anti-retrovirals or vaccines. It's such a simple thing to do, and yet it saves millions of dollars--and can help improve and even save the lives of millions of people."
The outpouring of mobile donations in support of disaster relief in Haiti has been phenomenal and unprecedented. Immediately following the earthquake, Americans began reaching for their cell phones to make donations via text message. In the first day of a mobile call to action done solely through text messages, and made viral on networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, more than $5 million was raised for the Red Cross's relief work in Haiti.
Seven days after the earthquake hit, a record $22 million had been raised by the American Red Cross for relief efforts in Haiti, a groundbreaking statistic. Within hours after reports first emerged of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, all major wireless carriers agreed to utilize the mGive software application to allow users to text SMS short code 90999 and type "Haiti." A user's account would be charged $10 for the donation on their next bill and a user could text up to two times. Cell phone carriers chose not to charge users to send the texts and some carriers fronted the donations to the Red Cross to speed up delivery of money that is typically held up until a user is billed and money from customers is received.
The post-earthquake, text-to-give campaign reflects the growth trends in mobile use and texting -- not just in the younger demographic but in the over-35 group. Text messaging has grown exponentially -- with texting volume increasing 600% in just the past two years; mobile internet traffic is expected to grow 100 times faster than wireless voice traffic over the next decade; and 1 in 5 Americans already connect to the Internet daily over their mobile device. The ubiquity, power and reach of mobile phones make mobile giving a convenient and secure way to donate. In fact, cell phone campaigns may be reaching people who might not otherwise have made the effort to get involved.
This historical milestone in goodwill contribution is a hallmark of 21st century innovation and technology. For more information on how you can join the relief efforts please visit www.redcross.org
Question: What do the following have in common: a state sales tax, a local sales tax, three transportation surcharges, a 911 fee, a utilities tax, an excise tax and a franchise tax?
Answer: They're all state and local fees paid by New York's mobile phone users.
Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner is among those willing to say, Enough is enough. Weiner tells the New York Daily News that Big Apple mobile users pay 10 state and city taxes and fees - more than any other city in the nation. Combined, he says, this adds about 16 percent to the mobile phone bill. Among U.S. cities, only Chicago adds on a higher amount, with a 19 percent total.
According to the
AP, high schools across Florida are embracing mobile technology as
part of the learning process. As Ariana Leonard, a Spanish teacher at a public
school near Tampa put it, students' mobile phones are such
an important part of their lives that classroom use is like "giving them another
avenue to learn outside of the
classroom."
The instruction
typically centers around text messaging and use of phone's browsers.
The reason is
pretty straightforward: Among teenagers, 71 percent have cell phones, according
to a 2008 survey by the Pew Internet & American
Life Project. Importantly, that figure remains generally
constant regardless of race, income or other demographic factors.
Back in August, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
approved three Notice of Inquiries (NOI) covering issues on innovation and
investment in wireless; competition in the wireless industry; and consumer
protection and access to information about communications services. Mobile
Future took the opportunity to respond to the FCC's investigations with reply
comments filed on behalf of the coalition. The reply comments focused on the recent paper
sponsored by Mobile Future, "Why the iPhone Won't Last Forever and What the
Government Should Do to Promote Its Successor." You can read Mobile Future's
comments here.
The Mercury News in Silicon Valley recently published an op-ed by Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter. The piece outlines the potential pitfalls from the FCC's recent announcement to extend net neutrality rules to the wireless world.
For the 200 million Americans who increasingly rely on their mobile phones to manage their connected lives, this subtle rule change could have a raft of unforeseen consequences, say many mobile operators and the labor unions who work with them. These could include a slowdown in investment, job cuts and worse.
The days of cutting class and burying bad tests at the bottom of the backpack may be over for many students in the Houston area. An article in the Houston Chronicle reports that schools are using technology to better inform parents about their children's education:
The majority of area school districts - Houston and Klein joined the ranks last month - now allow parents real-time online access to their children's grades, assignments and attendance reports. Parents can set up triggers that send e-mails or texts at the first sign of trouble.
For many parents these updates have become an invaluable tool: allowing them to stay updated on their children's education, while opening new lines of communication between parents, students and teachers. Parents are not only able to stay informed of how their children are doing, but also what they are learning - making those dinnertime "what did you learn in school today" conversations a little more productive.
Schools in Texas aren't the only ones to take advantage of wireless technology. Earlier this month a principal in Algonquin, Ill. gave his cell phone number to all 2,500 students at Jacobs High School during the morning announcements.
In his announcement, the principal asked all students and staff to text-message him anytime day or night with safety-related concerns or to report a school disruption. Some of those things could include knowledge of students with drugs, alcohol or weapons; gang-related activity; or a planned student fight on school property.
In a school where 90 percent of students send text messages, Principal Michael Bregy says the idea has helped foster a safe learning environment and let him connect with students in a way that they feel comfortable with.
Many schools and universities throughout the nation also use text messages as a way of informing students and parents of emergencies and cancellations. Texts have been used to inform parents of cancellations because of inclement weather and to give students real-time instructions in potential emergency situations.
Such messages are not only a convenience and a better way of staying informed, but also an example of how mobile technology has become a vital means of keeping students safe and improving education.
It's great to see so many schools using wireless technology to benefit students. We're excited to see what kind of innovative ideas educators will come up with next.
The Houston Chronicle
recently printed an op-ed from Mobile Future Board Member Art
Contreras. The piece
reviews Mobile Future's latest white paper on mobile broadband
usage in the Hispanic community. Art is a Texas native and Houston local who served in the Houston Police
Department for 36 years and was U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Texas
from 1998 to 2002.
"As a Hispanic-American, I am proud
our community is leading the way in wireless adoption, and I'm excited to see
how this adoption can be applied to bolster the community as a whole - from
entrepreneurial opportunities and health care to education and law
enforcement."
In addition sharing his thoughts on wireless usage in the Hispanic
community, Art also discusses how wireless technology can assist public safety
officials in keeping communities safe. You can read Art's op-ed here.
Congrats to our friends at NDN for launching the Global Mobile blog. NDN has been doing some great work in the mobile space and we wish them all the best with this latest venture. Check it out when you get a chance.
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Tags: Mobile Giving, News, Public Safety, Text message