Mobile Phones In Rural India Case Study

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Mobile phones act as a ‘Window to the World’ for rural India. They provide the rural communities a means to connect to the outside world and to each other. But it took a very long time for mobile phones to enter the rural market. Let’s look at the story from the start. When land phones first came into rural India, there used to be a single phone for a whole village which acted as the sole point for communication. People used to go there and wait for calls from their loved ones at prior appointed hours so as not to waste time or money. The same phone was used by everyone in the locality to communicate with their dear ones who stayed far from home. Telephones were costly affairs and it was a tad too difficult to get cables and connections to remote and far flung areas. As time passed, the scenario changed gradually and a telephone …show more content…

At the outset, mobile phones were considered as valuable resources that were shared by family members and close friends, rather than as purely personal devices. As times have progressed the way mobiles are perceived has changed, they have moved from the want segment to the need segment. “Mobile hai sabse bada badlaav (mobiles are the biggest change),” says Shashi Lal Kumar, who is a resident of Bihar’s Motihari and works as the caretaker of a telecom tower that provides wireless connectivity to the region. “You’ll find mobile phones with everyone around here. We have more mobile phones than people here,” adds Kumar who owns four mobile phones himself. India has seen unprecedented growth in mobile subscriber base and is second only to China. It is expected to have73 % mobile penetration in India by the year 2016. Mobile usage, which was previously restricted to urban India, has started penetrating the rural hinterland of the country at a good pace. The rural tele-density has grown at a startling rate and is over 15 per cent

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