Mobiles Conflict Zones

Report

A Development Informatics short paper by Agnieszka Konkel and Richard Heeks of the University of Manchester challenging conventional views on what drives mobile telecommunications investment, using evidence from conflict-affected countries. Questioning the standard development-agency assumption that security, stability and good governance are prerequisites for mobile investment, the paper examines cases where mobile telecommunications investment occurred despite the absence of these conditions, prompting a rethink of the investment ‘pillars’ framework commonly applied by the World Bank and similar institutions.