Telenor, a Norwegian mobile company serving 11 markets in Europe and Asia, and Boston Consulting Group have now issued their take on it all and believe so. Some of the more impactful statements on this 12 country study:
- The necessary infrastructure is already there: 7.4 billion mobile subscriptions projected by 2015
- The technology richness and network capacity is sufficient, both on simple feature phones and on smart devices (so why is it so expensive in the US?–Ed. Donna)
- Currently, more than 500 mobile health projects are taking place around the world (what, only 500??–Ed. Donna)
- Costs in elderly care can be reduced by 25% with mobile healthcare
- Maternal and perinatal mortality can be reduced by 30%
- Twice as many rural patients can be reached per doctor
- Tuberculosis treatment compliance can be improved by 30-70%
- 30% of smartphone users are likely to use “wellness apps” by 2015
- Costs related to data collection can be reduced by 24%
Obviously the study backs it up (one would hope), but the release on Telenor’s site doesn’t link to it or even an abstract, which is disappointing given these broad statements, at a time when this area is looking for financing and business.