Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 April 1999 Issue No. 423
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Mobile mania

by Gihan Shahine

An elegantly dressed woman gets on the bus. She is about to pay the fare when a high-pitched squeal suddenly breaks the silence. Her fellow commuters crane to see where the noise is coming from. A mobile phone pops out of her handbag. She cups it to her ear and begins chattering away, glancing over her shoulder now and then at the other passengers. "Yes, darling. I'm on my way. Take care. Bye now." She clicks the mobile off and turns to pay the fare.

On my way home, I meet my neighbour. She, too, is holding a cell phone. She is a housewife; her two daughters, who stayed at home after graduation, have a mobile phone each. Their father, of course, has one too. "It is better when each member of the household has a phone," my neighbour explains. "One has to be in line with the latest technology. And of course, it is very useful."

Samira, another housewife, decided to give her cell phone to her son, a university undergraduate, after she bought a new, "more advanced" one for herself. My friend's brother bought himself a mobile; he needed it urgently, he said, so that he could call his friends anytime he wanted "and arrange an evening out". My cousin, on the other hand, finds that her mobile comes in handy to call her mother from the garage of the apartment building instead of going all the way upstairs whenever she goes to pick up her baby daughter after work. My mechanic usually keeps his phone in the inside pocket of his tattered overalls. And my friend begs her colleagues to call her on the mobile. "I just like to hear it ring," she laughs.

Many Egyptians have been bitten by the mobile bug. For busy professionals, of course -- journalists, doctors or businessmen -- cell phones are a boon. But there is no denying that they are also a pleasure, even to those who don't really need them. The aggravating little phones seem to trill their various tunes almost everywhere: on the street, in cars and buses, at cinemas and conferences, in mosques and churches and schools. Today, the sight of a person walking down the street talking, arguing or laughing uproariously hardly raises an eyebrow.

Satellite TV and the Internet brought technology to Egypt in a big way. Only a few years ago, car phones, prepaid phone cards and answering machines were the very latest thing; today, only a mobile will do.

Since the advent of mobile phones a year and a half ago, the market has been growing fast. But it was only after MobiNil, the first private company to offer mobile phone services in Egypt, began operating seven months ago that the number of subscribers doubled -- from 80,000 to 160,000 at last count. The market boomed after the second private company, Click GSM, began offering its services in November 1998. Click sold 40,000 lines in its first two weeks in business. The war was on.

Recent official statistics indicate that there are now 250,000 mobile users in Egypt. The number is expected to reach four million by 2003. Egypt is not alone in having succumbed to mobile mania. According to international statistics, about 80 million people use mobile phones in 130 countries all over the world. Statistics also place average demand worldwide at one new subscriber every 2.5 seconds.

In Egypt, however, the surge in demand seems to have come as a surprise. It has encumbered the network, alleged to have been malfunctioning recently. Minister of Transport and Communications Soliman Metwalli declared last week that a new mobile exchange office will start operating next month, and will accommodate 80,000 to 120,000 new subscribers.

"People are normally attracted to new technology," explains marketing strategist Lola Zaklama. "Customers will benefit from the competition between the two main companies. Both have adopted attractive marketing schemes. While MobiNil's marketing policy depended on discounts and attractive packages, Click depended more on the power of its network. But both were ultimately successful because they were able to fulfil their promises."

Customers were attracted to Click GSM because it introduced the first prepaid card service in Egypt, which many considered more affordable. But then MobiNil launched its own prepaid card service. Cards range in price between LE50 and LE300. Calls made through the card are charged at LE1.75 per minute.

According to Ibrahim Higazi, director of the Institute of Management Development at the American University in Cairo (AUC), the mobile boom in Egypt is the outcome of a thorough marketing study.

"There is a combination of two basic needs in Egypt, the rational and the hedonistic," Higazi believes. "Egyptian consumers can be divided into two types: those who buy a mobile phone for rational purposes like promoting self-efficiency and making profit, and those who consider it a matter of prestige entailed by social norms and peer pressure. It is the second type, however, that is more dominant here."

Mobile service marketers, according to Higazi, were able to address both types of consumers successfully. They adopted successful promotion schemes which informed consumers of the product's benefits, urged them to buy the product immediately, and reminded them of the urgency of satisfying their needs. The logo that MobiNil chose ('A mobile phone in every hand') has also been very effective and successful, according to Higazi, who predicts that the market will flourish even further in coming years. "What we see now is only the beginning of the product's life-cycle," he maintains. The following stage will be one of growth, with falling prices and the introduction of more advanced services.

"Looking at Egypt's population size and making a very conservative estimate, we can assume that the two types of consumers previously mentioned constitute at least two per cent of the population. That is, the number of potential subscribers is about 1,240,000," he calculates.

But continued marketing success, Higazi warns, will depend on the companies' ability to assess and update their products, pricing, distribution, and promotions continually.

In Egypt, however, cell phones are now coming under attack for a plethora of reasons. Health, class, national identity, social alienation... The raging public debate has touched on just about every major issue you care to name. Recent research has established a clear correlation between the use of cell phones while driving and the likelihood of accidents. Medical researchers have long suggested that mobile phones may be hazardous to users' health; excessive use has even been associated with brain cancer. Educationalists have called for a ban on mobiles in schools and universities, while many sociologists and psychologists think the recent rage is, quite literally, a "craze" with important psychological and sociological dimensions.

Al-Ahram satirist Ahmed Bahgat and veteran columnist Salah Montasser have both made their contributions. "There is no doubt that mobile phones can make a life or death difference," wrote Montasser recently. "I realised this when I was in hospital and used my mobile to make necessary calls. What is very strange, though, is the way mobiles have spread among teenagers."

According to Bahgat, mobile phones, originally a necessity for busy professionals (physicians and businessmen, for instance), are seen as a status symbol by many housewives, students and "the illiterate nouveaux riches", who clearly do not need them.

Bahgat cited the example of a man who was run over by a car when he stepped off the footpath while speaking on his mobile. When the man was taken to the hospital, it was revealed that the phone was a toy. Trying to fit the norm, Bahgat warned, can have tragic consequences.

Nahed Ramzi, a psychologist at the National Centre for Social and Criminological Research (NCSCR), believes the craze epitomises the confusion born of sudden exposure to technology, combined with a powerful trend of Westernisation. Ramzi attributes the loss of an Egyptian identity to long periods of colonisation. "Besides, young people are attracted to whatever is Western," she noted. "They imitate without thinking. The family, however, should play a role. They should not respond to their children's unnecessary demands. They work against peer pressure and the lure of advertising."

Many cannot wait until the craze dies down. In England, lobbyists have managed to ban the use of mobiles in schools. "I believe they should be banned in Egyptian schools and on university campuses as well," remarks Hamed Ammar, a veteran educational expert.

Ammar feels mobile phones prevent students from being attentive in class and isolate them from the immediate world of school or university. Cell phones, he warns, can even encourage deviancy. "Who would a student be calling?" he demands. "Probably his girlfriend, or it could be a drug dealer on the other end of the line."

Since mobiles are such a clear sign of class distinction, furthermore, Ammar fears they will "breed animosity among students, but also teach young people that the value of an individual depends on financial standing and possessions rather than personality and professional success."

While the phones are still in evidence in the playground and on campus, however, action has been taken to penalise the use of mobiles while driving. A member of the People's Assembly recently presented a proposal stipulating that a fine of LE50 to LE200 be imposed on those who just can't wait to make that call. Legislators in a number of countries are studying the risk of using cellular telephones when driving, and several countries have actually drafted laws prohibiting the use of hand-held telephones.

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine on the association between cell phone calls and motor vehicle collisions found that "drivers using a cellular telephone were four times more likely to be in a motor vehicle collision" than drivers who were not. This risk is similar to driving under the influence of alcohol when the blood alcohol level is at the legal limit, the study warned. Researchers also estimated that "cellular telephone user risk of a collision was between 3.0 and 6.5 times higher within 10 minutes after a telephone call began than the risk when a cellular telephone was not in use."

Safwat El-Alem, a researcher on traffic problems and professor at the Faculty of Mass Communications at Cairo University, believes the proposed ban should be more comprehensive, to include whatever may distract a driver, like car TV sets.

"Drivers who receive urgent calls may park their cars for a while until they are finished, or else click the phone off until they reach their destination," El-Alem suggested. "In this way, an accident can be avoided."

But the health hazards of mobile phone use may remain. Research is still taking place on the effect of low-frequency radiation such as that emitted by mobile phones and computer VDUs on the health of users. One study at the University of Montpellier found that, in a group of chick embryos which had been exposed to such radiation for eight hours a day, 60 per cent died, whereas in the control groups 17 per cent died.

Low-frequency radiation is thought to endanger health because of its effects on the brain, which cause stress and suppress immune response. Amr Mansi, professor of neurology at Cairo University, asserts that the most recent research conducted by the two largest cancer research centres in the US concluded that the electromagnetic radiation emitted from cellular phones causes cancer. A UK study has proven the risk of mobile use on heart patients. Another study, Mansi adds, shows that mobile phone use can cause temporary headaches and loss of concentration.

"The hazardous effect on the brain depends on the duration of its use and the closeness of the handset to the head," Mansi cautions. "The danger almost disappears when earphones are used as an alternative to handsets."

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