(2006-07-14) Congo Cellphones

The Congo is using Mobile/Cell Phone-s in various ways. E Commerce, Economic Development, learning Reading And Writing. Iyombe said Text Messaging has been slowed by widespread illiteracy but has started taking off in recent months as people learn key words to text, such as "Call me." He said it is becoming more popular largely because a text message costs five cents, compared with 26 cents for a one-minute voice call. When his mother wants to talk to him, he said, she sends a text telling him to call. "It was a little difficult getting her to use texts, but now she's very good at it," he said, smiling at the thought... Conveniences such as Lap Top-s, Internet access, ATM-s and Credit Card-s are rare or nonexistent in Congo, so Entrepreneur-s are devising ways to use cellphones to serve the same functions... But the technology is also being used to create peace, as with a program to disarm more than 150,000 men and women who fought in Congo's gruesome war. One recent morning in downtown Kinshasa, Fiston Disundi walked up to a little white Celpay cash point booth and handed over his government ID. The woman in the booth entered his ID number into her cellphone and sent a text message to Celpay's computer database. Ten seconds later the response came back. Disundi, 27, was a former soldier who had turned in his AK-47 rifle in January. That meant he was entitled to a monthly $25 cash payment, which she promptly handed over to him.