By 2013, four billion people across the globe had access to cell phones, compared to 2003, when only one billion people had access to the technology. The growth of wireless technology has not discriminated by geographic location and government type, despite frequent attempts to stifle its expansion, as explored in a recent article published by Strategy Page.
Cell phones have disproportionately benefited poor countries that previously had limited access to communication devices. In these countries, like Somalia for example, cell phone technology was cheap to set up and able to withstand a corrupt government that had monopolized other industries in the nation, according to Strategy Page.
Islamic terror groups have generally been resistant to the spread of such technology, including attempts made by militant groups to stifle internet and cell phone access for fear they would be used for licentious activities. But despite these attempts, cell phone access has expanded in the Middle East, like in Iraq, for example, where five years after the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003, there were three million cell phones in the nation.
Cell phone technology has also revolutionized modern warfare, as it enables better communication for “bad guys,” but also leaves them more vulnerable to eavesdropping by their more technologically advanced adversaries. Radical groups have tried to squelch cell phone communication by blowing up cell towers, for example, but this makes them more hated by locals, reports Strategy Page.
June 29, 2017
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