At the time, 93% of South Africans had access to clean water and mobile penetration was at over 100%.
For the whole of Africa, it was ~46% water to 50% phones.
But, as ever, definitions are important. If you have to spend half a day walking to a well for a bucket of water - that counts as access. Similarly, a family who shares a phone each has "access".
It's also a lot easier to build a mobile phone network than a water network. Stick up a tower, power it with a generator / solar power, and point it to a back-haul link. Hey presto, you've got wide area coverage.
At the time, 93% of South Africans had access to clean water and mobile penetration was at over 100%.
For the whole of Africa, it was ~46% water to 50% phones.
But, as ever, definitions are important. If you have to spend half a day walking to a well for a bucket of water - that counts as access. Similarly, a family who shares a phone each has "access".
It's also a lot easier to build a mobile phone network than a water network. Stick up a tower, power it with a generator / solar power, and point it to a back-haul link. Hey presto, you've got wide area coverage.