The effects of the expansion of the coverage of mobile telephony have interested economic analysts all over de world. They have said, for example, that it is contributing to reduce poverty in Latin America. Although the evidence is still not very strong, it is known that mobile phones have penetrated more than other technologies, like Internet or computers, in the population with the lowest income. This means that it is becoming a powerful weapon to create public policies. In many countries, including Colombia, mobile phones are part of the strategy to include poor people in the banking system for them to have access to credit and other financial services.
Well, two Colombian economists -Santiago Montenegro, former director of The National Planning Department and nowadays the head of the association of Colombian pensions’ administrators (Asofondos), and the professor Álvaro Pedraza- present a new thesis by which mobile phones have contributed a lot to reduce kidnappings in Colombia between 2000 and 2008.
In the study, published by Los Andes university, in the capital city, Bogotá, Montenegro says that president Uribe’s Democratic Security policy has been very important for this reduction, but this is possible also because there is a better quality in the communications, and the possible victims can be in touch with the authorities: “The expansion of the net of mobile phones increased the effective coverage of the public forces, and that led to an spectacular decrease in the kidnapping rate”. Montenegro also says that the achievements in security made possible to increase the investment on telecommunications, which led to a better communication with the authorities and, as a result, even more security.
This improvement is related to the Democratic Security policy because more people joined the Army and the Police, forces that were more present in different cities and towns.
At the same time, the country was advancing a lot in technology. The number of relay masts grew a lot since 2002. That year, there were 772; in 2003, there were more than 1.000, and today there are around 7.300. The coverage has grown in every region, even in rural areas. Nowadays there are 42 million active mobile lines.
The study investigated numerous cases in which citizens that faced an emergency situation, like kidnapping, could contact the authorities or a relative by mobile phone. Montenegro says there have been a lot of attempts to make massive kidnapping by Farc guerrillas that failed because the possible victims called the Police. It is demonstrated that to react fast is very important in these cases.
But expansion of telecommunications by itself can not reduce the number of kidnappings. Like the economists say, there are countries like Venezuela or Mexico in which mobile phone coverage is growing, and the rate of kidnappings too.
It is the combination of Democratic Security policy and a better technology which has been successful in Colombia. The conclusion is that the investment in communications has great implications in politics to guarantee protection for the people and fight against crime.