Abstract
Low-income users in developing economies do not have access to a lot of formal services; however, most have access to a mobile phone. In fact, prior research confirms that the mobile phone is a valuable and often necessary tool for livelihoods of the poor, with a fair number of the lo-income groups using the mobile phone for business or financial related activities. However, based on an empirical survey of 3180 urban low-income micro-entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, there appears to be instances where users hesitate to consume certain services due to perceived hidden costs. There are also instances where they have found interactions with service providers to be challenging. This is a descriptive paper of a demand-side survey conducted in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh of urban low-income micro-entrepreneurs and their use of mobile phones. It also captures a supply-side study of the mobile network operators in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The paper aims to provide recommendations that would bridge the gap in service delivery to the under-served population. Keywords: mobile, low-income, micro-entrepreneur, service delivery, customer relationship management
Recommended Citation
Zuhyle, Shazna and Gunaratne, Roshanthi Lucas, "The Use of Mobiles Among Low-Income Micro-Entrepreneurs: A South Asian Perspective" (2014). 2014 International Conference on Mobile Business. 1.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icmb2014/1