Millions of people in developing countries without mobile phones are being sidelined as the technology takes over the rest of the world, according to a study announced today.

Experts from the Universities of Strathclyde and Manchester claim although mobile phones can have great benefits for poorer nations, those left without are being put at risk.

Professor Richard Heeks, director of the University of Manchester’s centre for development informatics, said: “We talked a few years back about the ‘digital divide’; now we are recognising the ‘mobile divide.’”

The research looked at a group of cloth-weaving workers in Nigeria, comparing the work of those who owned mobile phones against those who did not.

They found weavers who owned mobile phones were able to make substantially less journeys to meet traders and suppliers than those who did not own phones, because they were able to call in advance to check it was worth making the trip. This is important in countries like Nigeria where journeys are fraught with accidents and robberies.

Dr Abi Jargun from the University of Strathclyde said: “The weavers value this as much for the risks avoided as for the money and time saved.

“The poorer weavers told of travelling many hours after hearing rumours of a potential order, only to find when they arrived that it had already been assigned by phone to someone else. They were therefore losing business and losing income.

“Customers and traders, all of whom have phones, prefer to do business with phone-owning weavers.”

The mobile divide between Africa and the rest of the world is particularly stark. In Europe there are 111 mobile phones for every 100 people. In Africa this figure is 28 for every 100 people, and there are still 350 million Africans living in areas that do not have mobile phone coverage.

It is estimated those Africans who do own a mobile spend 20 per cent of their disposable income on communication – more than they spend on education.

Professor Heeks added: “For sure, the benefits of mobile phones to the developing world are huge as they are used as a primary form of communication: landlines are much less common.

“But that growth does not reach everyone and without a mobile, you are cut off socially and economically.

“There is no reason to doubt that inequalities in Nigeria will be consistent across the developing world.”