By Giovanna MonteverdeSenior Project Manager for Latin America, InterMedia3 March 2010(Bogota, Colombia)-- In the last three years, the Colombian capital has seen the emergence of an informal street market for mobile phone minutes. At nearly every corner or shopping mall, you can see vendors selling mobile minutes alongside their typical offerings of cigarettes, candies and chips. This informal market has allowed many more people, especially from low-income neighborhoods, to have access to and use mobile phones when they are needed. I have been to nearly every major city in Latin America recently, and this is the only place where I have seen such a system operating. It seemed to begin about three or four years ago when mobile phone plans became very accessible.
By Giovanna Monteverde
Senior Project Manager for Latin America, InterMedia
3 March 2010