A growing number of people in emerging economies are using the Internet for the first time on a mobile device. Despite the pre-paid options and a vast array of choices in Internet credit purchases, mobile data remains expensive. In the African context, we wanted to understand how price transparency can reduce barriers to technology usage and help millions of new and existing users experience a safer, more manageable, and less erratic Internet.
In a recent study by McKinsey, over 20% of mobile data non-users in major African cities said that the key barriers to using the Internet were lack of pricing information and lack of control over monthly expenses. While there are a few ways to monitor airtime expenditure, mobile data use is difficult to understand -- what is the cost to load a "web page"? What does a balance of 3MB tangibly mean? Which websites take up most credit? Making data costs visible to internet users is important, helping them make informed choices about their online behavior and economic expenditure.
To help us understand the impact of price transparency on Internet use, we built SmartBrowse, an Internet proxy system that helped users to understand how much they spent on mobile data. SmartBrowse showed estimated Internet costs on Google.com search results, displayed current credit balance, and provided protective controls before expensive webpages.
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