A number of articles appeared this week that trumpeted both the success and growth of mobile telephony in emerging economies. The first gives an update from the Emerging Market Handset Programme (EMHP), highlighting GSMA's six month extension of its endorsement of Motorola as the program's official vendor. The article credits the program as being the catalyst which encouraged handset vendors to seriously begin to examine base of the pyramid (BOP) markets.

The arrival of these so-called Ultra-Low Cost Handsets (priced at or below $50) has brought price competition to the mobile sector. The second article points out that to compete with the new offerings, official handset retailers, as well as black market, second hand and refurbished retailers were obliged to reduce their prices across all tiers. "The redirection of vendor strategy towards the growing low and ultra-low cost segments is increasing competition in these segments, obliging further handset cost reductions. This impact has made all handsets in the market more affordable and has even encouraged higher-end handset customers to change their phone, making them available in turn to be refurbished."

As readers of this page are now well familiar, companies worldwide are rapidly becoming aware of and pursuing markets at the base of the pyramid (BOP). I'm often dismayed, however, by how many of these efforts are essentially just scaled-down or lower-cost versions of existing products or services. Although these can succeed and positively impact BOP markets, the real potential lies in radically new and innovative solutions designed to meet the specific needs of poor people.

I haven’t found too many groups designing such solutions from the ground up. One notable exception has been the 'Design for the Base of the Pyramid' project at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design. The initiative is developing "human-centered design strategies and concepts for new products, services and businesses capable of generating sustainable economic improvement in the lives of people living at the BOP."