Internet of Things (IoT), local feedback loops and monetization

[mouakter13]

If you imagine an edge server on a cell tower running the apps you use and storing all the data that you currently run and store on your phone, you realize that your device could be less “smart” – and less expensive. In this scenario, a twin of your Facebook or LinkedIn account data (to take some common examples) would live on the edge server, and you wouldn’t have to bother updating these apps on your phone; they would be updated on the tower, for everyone at the same time. This opens the possibility of a mobile phone equivalent of Google’s cloud storage-based Chromebook, in which as much hardware as possible is stripped away, leaving only the bits that allow the phone to retrieve, display and interact with data from/on a server. This approach would make the device cheaper. Call it an edge phone, which might be something akin to the “smart feature phone” described in the 2021 GSMA State of Mobile Internet Connectivity report. This sort of phone could help bring content access prices down in regions like Africa, where smartphones, recently described as a new tax on the poor, continue to be out of reach for many. According to Connecting Africa, “Sub-Saharan Africa still has the most expensive data prices in the world.” And according to the GSMA, “Accounting for the important differences in income across countries, the median price of African spectrum assignments [i.e., sections of the radio spectrum allotted to individual companies] over the 2010 – 2019 period was more than four times the median in developed markets.” Simpler device requirements could also create opportunities for indigenous handset manufacturers, such as Mara (in Rwanda) or AfriOne (in Nigeria).

The value of local ownership

One of the most interesting things in the GSMA white france whatsapp number data paper discussing edge computing is the GSMA’s openness to interoperable, federated telco edge computing platforms. This seems to suggest that small, new players – which otherwise cannot afford to buy national operating licenses, or to lease spectrum for their signals – might be able to enter the market. And technology from companies like MobiledgeX already allows MNOs to combine their edge-based clouds. Plus, the presence of a visible, well-functioning edge server in a community may give residents a sense of ownership over it, especially if they rely on it to store their data, and if it offers useful services – and affordable access to smart devices – to the community.