Spalter: Transference of Mobile Power

I was profoundly struck by these data when they were released about a year and a half ago by the Pew foundation, that in American society it is now African Americans and Hispanic Americans that significantly are using mobile devices for data acquisition and data use to a degree much more extensive than white Americans. It's the very first time that there's been this transference of not only power but usage by American minorities of important technology platforms. And I think that speaks to two things. One, it speaks to the fact that mobility has proven to be, as I said, an affordable way of accessing the internet and data and the utilities that the internet does give one's life. The other important impact that mobility and wireless is proving to have is as a really innovative source of economic development, engagement and enfranchisement for communities around the country. There's been some very interesting research pointing to the use of mobility platforms as a source for accessing data and economic development within those communities. The more mobile phones you actually see that have smart phone and broadband capacity, the more likely you're able to correlate within those communities greater rates of economic development and growth. It was very interesting, within the context of our recession that we unfortunately experienced in our and many other societies around the world, some of the greatest uptake of actual mobility services were by homeless people in our society. Homeless citizens were using cell phones at a greater uptake rate than many other sectors of our population. In times of economic distress it's proven that mobility becomes not only an anchor but also potentially a catalyst for economic enfranchisement.