Serving the poor: Multisided mobile service platforms, openness, competition, collaboration and the struggle for leadership

Four billion people at the base of the economic pyramid live on incomes below $3000 a year in local purchasing power, and more often than not, lack consistent access to services, such as water, healthcare, banking or agricultural know-how. Rapid advances in mobile technology offer the potential to mediate access to essential services. Through this research, the answers to the following question were explored: will mobile service platforms bridge the gap between service providers and people living at the base of the pyramid in developing countries? Anchored in interviews with 31 experts in the field of mobile and ICT, qualitative analysis starting from platform leadership to explain the role of mobile service platforms is presented: how operator, device and service provider centric platforms compete, collaborate and open up (or not) for delivering scalable services to the poor. Based on the analysis in this paper, it is portended that although operator centric platforms are in pole position, device centric platform providers, being astute innovators, are positioned to close the lead by presenting alternatives to bridge the gap in developing countries. This paper frames the current debate on M4D through the lens of platform theory, and aims to provide guidance to policy makers to improve access to services for the poor.

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► Viable mobile service delivery to the poor requires a cooperation framework that involves all three providers in the ecosystem – operators, devices and service providers – and the extent to which each open up their platforms to stimulate value added services, compete and collaborate to assert pro-poor leadership.
► Operator centric platforms are dominant, but device centric providers can close the lead through disruptive technology alternatives.