1. 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

2. 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

3. Introduction and Background Telecom and Development Rural Telecom Cellular Context and background of this study Methodology Sample :1000 rural respondents Focus of this presentation

4. 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%)

5. Purpose of making calls (percentage ) All Male Female Emergency414138 Social929196 Govt.553 Business242710 Not ans129 Base637523114

6. Number of times Rural PCO used (Per cent) –All Male Female Upto 5626068 6-10181820 11-15664 Above 1515168 Base637523114

7. Amount paid for making calls All Male Female Upto Rs 10303220 10-25323328 26-50363536 51-75121117 75-100224 Above 100221 Base634521113

8. Purpose wise average duration of calls - Social(Per cent) All Male Female upto 3 minutes818278 3-5 minutes151518 Above 5 minutes445 Base601490111

9. Purpose wise duration of calls :business All Male Female Upto 3 minutes444273 3-5 minutes424327 Above 5 minutes15160 Base15814711

10. Receive calls through mobile PCO All Male Female Yes2830(181)19 (22) No727081 Base637523114

11. Perception on price, likely decrease in price by Re 1 Price All Male Female Reasonable30 3220 High 69 6779 Base635 521114 All Male Female Increase706976 Decrease552 Same252622 Base39633363

12. Number of Trips, Amount All MaleFemale Upto 379%76%91% 4-612%12%6% 7-10 3%4%1% Above 10 6%7%1% Base 47639581 Significant savings in Rs amount even by women.

13. Information Needs Document % tripscost (d) Cost (t)Time Ration card86375215 Licenses54104706616 B Certificates32575287 Land records2126316010313 D.certificate116110453 K credit card851680247 Tractor papers55140010213 Loan papers3183707510 Passports3677045512 Cattle Insurance241390236 Crop Insurance12530608 Base534

14. 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

15. 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.

16. 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

17. The Study Exploratory Internet Cafes in Ahmedabad Number of respondents :85 Differences in numbers

18. Source of Access to Internet MaleFemale At Office88 At Home1921 Internet Café2514

19. No of times Internet is used per month Male Female (percentages) 1-5832 5-10410 10-152010 >156846

20. No of Visits to Internet Café/month (percentages) Male Female 1-548 78 5-103614 10-157 >1516

21. 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”

22. Convenient Time Slots (At home)(percentages) Male Female After 10 pm5138 7-10pm3727 Afternoon hoursPredominantly housewives

23. Convenient Time Slots (Internet Cafes) Male Female 4-7pm2842 7-10pm4028

24. Perceived Usefulness(P ercentage) Male Female Makes work easy7853 Gives new/innovative ideas3626 Exposure5342 Updates on current news6039 Entertainment6447 OthersKnowledge of competitionSaves time, helps keep contact

25. Monthly Expenditure (Rs) MaleFemale Below 100850 100-2003329 200-5002921 500-10004 >100025

26. Non-gender specific logins to avoid advances of embarrassing nature MalesFemales Yes1725 No8375

27. Proportion of Monthly Expenditure MaleFemale Below 10%1250 10-20%5429 20-40%1321 40-60 60-8021 80-100

28. 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

29. Thank You