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Assessing Socio-economic Impact of Rural Cellular Telecom: Implications for Policy. Rekha Jain, T. Sastry rekha@iimahd.ernet.in Centre for Telecom Policy Studies Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India. About the Institute. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India
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Assessing Socio-economic Impact of Rural Cellular Telecom: Implications for Policy Rekha Jain, T. Sastryrekha@iimahd.ernet.inCentre for Telecom Policy StudiesIndian Institute of ManagementAhmedabad, India
About the Institute • Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India • Centre for Telecom Policy Studies • (www.iimahd.ernet.in/ctps) • Inter-disciplinary group, Mc Gill, CIDA
Introduction and Background • Telecom and Development • Rural Telecom • Cellular • Context and background of this study • Methodology • Sample :1000 rural respondents • Focus of this presentation
Coverage • Users and non-users (63%), (37%) • Men (82%), women (18%) • Caste : High (69%) SC\ST (5%), OBC(12), Others (13%) • Occupation:, business (40%), service(27%), agriculture(22%), labourers(3%) • Upto Rs. 5000 (85%) • upto 2000(22%) • 2001- 5000(63%) • >5000 (15%)
Purpose of making calls (percentage) All Male Female • Emergency 41 41 38 • Social 92 91 96 • Govt. 5 5 3 • Business 24 27 10 • Not ans 1 2 9 • Base 637 523 114
Number of times Rural PCO used(Per cent) • All Male Female • Upto 5 62 60 68 • 6-10 18 18 20 • 11-15 6 6 4 • Above 15 15 16 8 • Base 637 523 114
Amount paid for making calls All Male Female • Upto Rs 10 30 32 20 • 10-25 32 33 28 • 26-50 36 35 36 • 51-75 12 11 17 • 75-100 2 2 4 • Above 100 2 2 1 • Base 634 521 113
Purpose wise average duration of calls - Social(Per cent) • All Male Female • upto 3 minutes 81 82 78 • 3-5 minutes 15 15 18 • Above 5 minutes 4 4 5 • Base 601 490 111
Purpose wise duration of calls :business • All Male Female • Upto 3 minutes 44 42 73 • 3-5 minutes 42 43 27 • Above 5 minutes 15 16 0 • Base 158 147 11
Receive calls through mobile PCO • All Male Female • Yes 28 30(181) 19 (22) • No 72 70 81 • Base 637 523 114
Price All Male Female Reasonable 30 32 20 High 69 67 79 Base 635 521 114 All Male Female Increase 70 69 76 Decrease 5 5 2 Same 25 26 22 Base 396 333 63 Perception on price, likely decrease in price by Re 1
Number of Trips, Amount • All Male Female • Upto 3 79% 76% 91% • 4-6 12% 12% 6% • 7-10 3% 4% 1% • Above 10 6% 7% 1% • Base 476 395 81 • Significant savings in Rs amount even by women.
Information Needs • Document % trips cost (d) Cost (t) Time • Ration card 86 3 75 21 5 • Licenses 54 10 470 66 16 • B Certificates 32 5 75 28 7 • Land records 21 26 3160 103 13 • D.certificate 11 6 110 45 3 • K credit card 8 5 1680 24 7 • Tractor papers 5 5 1400 102 13 • Loan papers 3 18 370 75 10 • Passports 3 6 770 455 12 • Cattle Insurance 2 4 1390 23 6 • Crop Insurance 1 2 530 60 8 • Base 534
Conclusions • In order to incorporate gender based policies wrt telecom • => Need to integrate telecom with other developmental activities (funding) • => Linkages with NGOs, private sector • => Move away from voice focus alone
Internet and On-line Computing • Women studies repeatedly emphasize exclusion • Contemporary women are increasingly becoming user of technological artefacts. Increasingly strive for competence and enjoy the power and status that comes with technological work.
Issues • Would women’s computing expertise remain without status while men continue to monopolise computing jobs with power and prestige? • Role of inter-personal communication and diffusion of developmental issues through Internet
The Study • Exploratory • Internet Cafes in Ahmedabad • Number of respondents :85 • Differences in numbers
Source of Access to Internet • Male Female • At Office 8 8 • At Home 19 21 • Internet Café 25 14
No of times Internet is used per month • Male Female (percentages) • 1-5 8 32 • 5-10 4 10 • 10-15 20 10 • >15 68 46
No of Visits to Internet Café/month (percentages) • Male Female • 1-5 48 78 • 5-10 36 14 • 10-15 7 • >15 16
Reasons for low access • 53% women face problems in access to Internet compared to 30% men. Reason for low usage by women • Occupied by other family members/employees (presumably male) : 40% • Perceived complexities in connecting to the net • Lack of time • Women find they have less time to learn to navigate on-line systems • “It is designed for people who have got hours to spare: in the garage, in the shed or in the attic, cracking the code”
Convenient Time Slots (At home)(percentages) Male Female • After 10 pm 51 38 • 7-10pm 37 27 • Afternoon hours Predominantly housewives
Convenient Time Slots (Internet Cafes) Male Female • 4-7pm 28 42 • 7-10pm 40 28
Perceived Usefulness(Percentage) Male Female • Makes work easy 78 53 • Gives new/innovative ideas 36 26 • Exposure 53 42 • Updates on current news 60 39 • Entertainment 64 47 • Others Knowledge of competition Saves time, helps keep contact
Monthly Expenditure (Rs) Male Female • Below 100 8 50 • 100-200 33 29 • 200-500 29 21 • 500-1000 4 • >1000 25
Non-gender specific logins to avoid advances of embarrassing nature Males Females • Yes 17 25 • No 83 75
Proportion of Monthly Expenditure Male Female • Below 10% 12 50 • 10-20% 54 29 • 20-40% 13 21 • 40-60 • 60-80 21 • 80-100
Research Issues • Development related activities primarily targeted at women. How can Internet be used to strengthen such initiatives in the social context (role of women, local language, relevance of content) • In what ways do men and women use the Internet differently (perceived usefulness, nature of tasks etc.,) • How to structure the tasks/role so that women may exploit the advantages of Internet