How To Make a Dumb Phone Seem Smarter

In most of the world, mobile phones are pretty dumb. Eighty-two per cent of the planet’s nearly seven billion mobile phones operate on what’s known as a 2G network, meaning connections to the Internet are so slow it’s difficult to display TV programs, movies, or music. (They also often can’t snap pictures, search the Web, send e-mail, shop, play games, take school tests, or pay bills.) What they can do is make phone calls and send and receive short bursts of text, usually on prepaid cards whose cost can be measured in pennies.