Juniper Networks recently issued a first-of-its-kind report exploring the differences between how people use mobile Internet connectivity in their day-to-day lives at work and at home and what they hope to achieve using their connected devices in the future.
The extensive report showed, quite impressively, that in all emerging markets where consumers were surveyed, 97 percent of respondents revealed “fundamental life-changes in key areas of their lives.”
Not surprisingly, as documented in the Juniper Networks Global Bandwidth Index, people in developing countries routinely use connected devices “as a tool for personal advancement and self-improvement.”
In the developed world, on the other hand, the focus is “much more on convenience and efficiency.”
According to the study, nearly twice as many people in developing countries regularly use connected devices for educational purposes as those in developed markets. Further, 46 percent of respondents in developing countries use connected devices for professional development versus 27 percent in developed markets.
Additionally, forty percent of respondents in emerging markets say that connectivity has improved their earning power, compared with just 17 percent in developed markets. Not surprisingly, sixty percent of consumers in emerging markets believe that connectivity has transformed their social lives, compared with 38 percent in the developed countries.
“The Juniper Networks Global Bandwidth Index found that mobile connectivity has had a profound impact on how people communicate, work, learn and play around the world,” admits Mike Marcellin, senior VP of strategy and marketing for Juniper Networks. “It also suggests that this transformation will continue as new technologies emerge, network speeds increase and hundreds of millions of people who aren’t yet connected to the Internet gain access. The report reveals an opportunity for service providers to continue to deliver new, life-changing services in areas like education, particularly in emerging markets where there is a great demand.”
