Mobile revolution: A window to social good

The spread of anywhere, anytime communication infrastructure has dismantled traditional information hierarchies, leading to social empowerment and inclusive growth

One of the most significant aspects of the evolution of telecommunications in the country has been the consistent proliferation of mobile phones. The mobility that a cellphone provides can be easily regarded as a key transformative tool for societal development. An array of services enabled this transformation - such as handsets with user-friendly features at affordable prices and low denomination, cash-based, prepaid, billing systems, launched by service providers. These measures by different stakeholders resulted in mobile phones becoming the single most powerful enabler and equaliser. In fact, Leonard Waverman, chairman of the economics faculty at London Business School, found that with a 10 per cent increase in the penetration of mobile phones, there is an addition of 0.6 percentage points to the economic growth rate of a developing country. The World Bank puts the impact at 0.8 percentage points.

The mobile multiplication paradigm
A Mobile Multiplier Study conducted by Tata Teleservices and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, relates mobile phone ownership with both economic and wider measures of social wellbeing in the country. The study reveals that Indian households that own at least one mobile device enjoy 62 per cent higher level of economic prosperity compared to non-mobile-owning households; this premium is even more pronounced with respect to urban communities where mobile phone-owning households are 'on average' 85 per cent better off in economic terms. In other words, access to communications boosts incomes and makes local economies far more efficient. Moreover, the study also finds that the correlation between mobile phone ownership and prosperity is not limited to economic measures. Indian states with higher rates of mobile device per household also tend to enjoy higher levels of social wellbeing, based on human development indices - a measure of life expectancy, educational attainment, and per capita income, particularly within India's urban communities.

The social object
Mobility as an essential element of enabling development is touching various sectors at once. Educational VAS service like 'English on Mobile', informative service such as Railways enquiry, rural radio stations on mobiles Kan Khajura Tesan, among others are already delivering critical services to populations in remote areas of the country. Basic healthcare service SPARSH - India's first sexual and reproductive health services application, delivers advice on puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and contraception. The service disseminates information via Interactive Voice Response (IVR), SMS and Out Call technologies, giving users privacy and providing timely information (critical in life-threatening situations). Some of the initiatives such as Kisan Sanchar, an interactive platform for farmers bringing them agri-extension information services and E-Mamta, a mother and child tracking system to help reduce infant mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio, show immense potential but with a consistent challenge to scale up for greater social and economic impacts.

Through this kind of mobility enablement, delivering financial services is also turning into a reality. For example, mRupee is an RBI approved semi-closed and secure prepaid wallet that enables financial transactions in a convenient, electronic form.

To sum up, the second wave of the mobile revolution in the country has already begun. To tap its potential, mobile operators will be required to ingrain deeper with the community. This would eventually make public investment and public-private partnerships significant to ensure seamless connectivity, provide innovative services and continuous information access.

By Elango Thambiah, president, mobility, Tata Teleservices Limited