Paying for ICTs Allocating for a Changing Communications Repertoire

in Middle Class Indian Homes

Communication repertoire

The family mobile phone

Changing family contexts

Three Thematic Discussions

MethodologyEthnographic probes

Repeated family visits, depth interviews and participant observation

79 Hhlds in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai

•What interests me.. ………The status of the mobile phone in the family

Framing Middle Class India

•Have distinct cultural values•Internally variegated and complex•Changing and adopting new values

Framing Middle Class India … ….Have distinct cultural values

•Hierarchy of spending•Kin group priorities

•Social networks of support

Framing Middle Class India … …. Internally variegated and complex

Framing Middle Class India … …Changing and adopting new values

Children…

Children beneficiaries and drivers of Globalizing India Initiate change in family life Technology innovators for the home?

A rite of passage for children to adopt a Mobile phone

Parents hold mixed views of mobile phones as they transform to a multi-media device

Managing communication repertoire at home

• Who pays for telecom• What is appropriate

•Mixed media environment

Careful attention to selecting and using the new range of tele-com options in the most cost-effective way

Family adjusted financial priorities to purchase more expensive, feature-rich handsets

Managing communication repertoire

Family contexts reflect allocation, sharing, and mutual responsibilityin handling mobile phones

The Family Mobile

The Family Mobile

Mobile phones do not shift the primary focus on family

Far from being a personal device it has entered the balancing act of the

family relational dynamic around finances

Income range 2000-5000 $US per anum per hhld

Television 177- 555 $US1-3 Mobile hand sets 11- 135$US Washing Machine 200--530$US VCD player 66- 155$US Two Wheeler 330-1100 $US Refrigerator 150$US-500$USHome PC 130-555$US

Two portraits of the family mobile phone……

Dalvi’s

•Live in Delhi•Maharashtrian Brahmin•Income 4500$US PA•Father Junior Level Executive•Mother School teacher•Daughter,24, Design Graduateand Son,21, Management school

Son- has a ‘poor man’s cell phone’ a basic Nokia costing Rs3,550 (about USD $77), a gift from his sister

‘…Then I ask my dad to top-up. It is logical thinking.”

Dalvi’s

Father- There is a landline in the house—that is for my wife. She receives calls from her natal family.

If I need to call someone from home, I can use the landline.

Mine is a prepaid connection and I receive incoming calls. If I need to call someone from home, I can use the landline.

…the only big expenditure is that of the instrument. The landline will turn out to be more expensive when calling to mobiles

.

… I like a simple phone but I chose this one with a colour screen.

Solonki’sRaksha’s mobile

Gujarati Catholic•Income 3500$US PA•Father House Help•Mother House Help•Daughter,22, Naukri.com Sister, 19, Brother 16

Daughter’s mobile was the first phone and only radio of the house. Saved money to buy it.

Now saving for a camera phone

I cannot carry the same Nokia 3500 – I…it’s for beginners.

Also, it does not go with me anymore.”

Solonki’s

Now there is a second mobile in the house some kind of a pattern has evolved around the 5 member family

sharing phones

Phone is almost central to her personality, but sharing with family not incongruent

Thank You!

http://research.microsoft.com/indianimmir@microsoft.com