This paper looks at telecom use at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) in emerging Asia, where many of the ‘next billions’ of subscribers will come from. It explores the potential for new customers, and issues of affordability at the BOP. The findings reveal potential for as many as 140 new...

When one talks of a ‘shoestring’ budget, it is understood that reference is being made to constrained finances, where individuals make attempts to cut costs through various methods without harming utility. This paper looks at the use of ‘strategies’ by such ‘shoestring’ users to...

Much has been said about women’s access to and use of the telephone. Many studies conclude that a significant gender divide in access exists particularly in developing countries. Women are also said to use telephones in a different manner from men –making and receiving more calls, spending...

In emerging economies, access to accurate market information can be limited by poor, underdeveloped or even absent infrastructure. Countries are poor, partly because markets do not work well and partly because of information problems. Isolated and poorly-informed farmers, traders and businesses...

El presente libro reúne opiniones de especialistas, profesionales, ex-miembros de organismos reglamentarios y encargados de la formulación de políticas sobre el problema de la expansión de la conectividad en la tecnología de la información y la comunicación (TIC) en el Asia emergente....

The research quantitatively identifies the effect of willingness to use ICT by measuring the perceived impact of ICTs by users in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia. The study attempts to model the relationship between the perceived impacts of access to mobile phones and the adoption of...

Mobile phone access is widespread in Asia; voice connectivity has been achieved for the most part through intense competition, with prices being driven down to unsustainable levels. Against the backdrop of intense competition, new services and applications such as price information services, news...

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have embarked on government funded e-government and telecenter initiatives, with the telecenters being a central delivery channel for e-Gov services. But with rising income and education levels, wide availability of mobile phones among the poor as well as increasing...

This study looks to assess if a demographic shift in new mobile owners occurred with phones diffusing to individuals in small townships and rural areas, or if phones continued to be concentrated in the hands of the wealthy in big cities. It then examines the relationship between the date of...