Analysis, Digital Divide, Low-Cost Phones, Global: Mobile World Congress 2008 did indeed revive the discussion about low-cost mobile phones. While our reports** of the products announced at Mobile World Congress come with our "government health warning" urging readers to study the evidence and then make up their own minds, we are glad that the subject has not been forgotten.

It is all too clear that the Digital Divide is being bridged: Developing Telecoms is confident that this is the case and that the low-cost phone is set to play its part. And we are not just talking about basic voice telephony, for one of the reports talks about email and web-based messaging thrown in!

We do have some questions - readers may wish to bear them in mind. In any case, we welcome our readers' views, whether in agreement or otherwise.

• First, there are the prices quoted. Are those prices too cheap? It may be that commentators have been won over by previous prices, US$30 or US$40, and can not quite get their heads round anything cheaper.
• The lower costs raise questions of overall quality. Are the actual components up to the standards required? Is the assembly process up to the demands of what has been described as an earth-breaking phenomenon? Will the end-result be an assembly line of bored, under-paid workers losing their concentration and allowing mistakes to get through?
• If a component does break down in the new phone, will there be spares available? Or will the whole machine have to be thrown away - a waste of resources if ever there was one?
• Come to think of it, will there be adequate profitability for the manufacturers and promoters of these products? Will the latter simply lose interest? And will such a low price support a network of maintenance facilities and retailers?

This commentary appears to be a series of questions rather than statements of opinion. And yet, we ask readers to ask exactly these questions when debating the merits of any particular product of this nature.

• ** Spice Corporation launches sub-US$20 phone
• ** Mobile ULC2 Alliance claims world's lowest-cost smart entry phone