BBC News - Vodafone launch 'world's cheapest phone'

Mobile phone operator Vodafone has launched what it says is the "lowest-cost mobile phone on Earth".

The Vodafone 150, unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, will sell for "below $15" (£10) and is aimed at the developing world.

It will initially be launched in India, Turkey and eight African countries including Lesotho, Kenya and Ghana.

The UN predicts that mobile ownership will reach 5bn in 2010, with most growth in the developing world.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said that demand was being driven by people using their phones to access banking and mobile health services, the ITU said.

"Even the simplest, low-end mobile phone can do so much to improve healthcare in the developing world," said ITU secretary general Dr Hamadoun Toure.

For example, he said, SMS can be used to "deliver instructions on when and how to take complex medication such as anti-retrovirals or vaccines".

"It's such a simple thing to do, and yet it saves millions of dollars," he said.

Mobile phones have also become an increasingly popular way to transfer and save money in the developing world.

For example, a system known as M-Pesa in Kenya, which allows people to transfer money, now has around six million customers.

BBC News - Vodafone launch 'world's cheapest phone'