Sep

8

Mobile observations in Cairo & Istanbul

Filed Under Gadgets, Mobile, Travel | Comments

I recently spent a week in Cairo and a week in Istanbul and I wanted to highlight a few of the things I noticed with current mobile trends in these two major middle eastern cities.

egyptnokia

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Cairo

  • By far, most people carry Nokia but the latest models are rare.
  • Most people are on prepaid accounts: data usage is charged per KB and texts are charged per sent/received instead of having a monthly allowance so people are overall careful with their usage.
  • I used local provider Mobinil while there – 3G coverage was widely available and speeds were great (even around the pyramids).
  • The iPhone is available on two local carriers (with MMS support) but considered very expensive.
  • Somehow even though Egypt is still behind on widely available and affordable broadband internet access, most people are on Facebook and actively using it (mainly through mobile access). Minimal Twitter use as far as I could tell.

Istanbul

  • Same as Cairo: saw mostly Nokia handsets being carried, a majority of which are Nseries devices.
  • I used local provider Vodafone Turkey and got ZERO 3G coverage the entire week (even though customer support told me to make sure I turned on 3G in the settings during activation). This was around the entire city and even some areas outside of city center.
  • The iPhone also available in Turkey on two carriers but along with BlackBerry’s not nearly as commonly used as here in the U.S.
  • Staying in a hostel, it was interesting to see everyone accessing Facebook & Gmail during downtime via laptops and sometimes their phone on the hostel’s WiFi.

Other Tips

If you have a GSM phone, travel frequently, and like to stay connected I highly recommend you unlock your device and use local carries like I did. Besides the iPhone, I believe most carriers will help you unlock a phone before you travel. The fact that prepaid accounts are the norm here and in some foreign cities makes it very easy to walk into any major carrier’s store once you arrive with your passport and within 10 minutes you have a newly activated SIM card. And you will avoid being charged “affordable” international roaming charges. When possible, just use Skype to make much cheaper international calls back home over WiFi (or 3G with some extra work on the iPhone).

I honestly don’t see the iPhone being a dominant device in Egypt and think it will take a while before it’s big in Turkey. This recent Fast Company article highlights Nokia’s efforts on how they plan to remain a leader in these global markets. What I witnessed in Cairo and Istanbul verified what I have always been hearing and reading about when it comes to their global dominance outside of the U.S.

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