MobileActive.org

In 2009, Accenture conducted a research study into the future of mobile industry expansion in rural India. We explored the views of rural consumers—both current customers and non-users—and also interviewed senior-level executives from companies that occupy strategic positions across the mobile telephony ecosystem. The key objective of this research was to understand the value proposition of mobile services to rural customers, and also to see how the
potential to serve rural markets is making mobile network operators re-think key elements of their existing business models.

This first phase of this research consisted of 15 in-depth, hour-long telephone or in-person interviews completed in June and July 2009 with executives in India representing mobile operators, handset manufacturers, passive and active telecom infrastructure providers, technology enablers/application providers, and content developers and aggregators. Additionally, in association with an independent research company, Accenture conducted an exploratory qualitative study using a focus group discussion methodology. The focus group invitees included primary wage earners, homemakers and students from rural areas.

For the second phase of the Accenture research, more than 2,400 rural citizens in India were surveyed—802 current mobile customers and 1,634 non-users— to gain a broader understanding of what customers value most in mobile devices and services. The insights drawn from this research can help mobile network operators evolve their business models, and can support more effective design of profitable packages for rural consumers

Can price information improve the functioning of rural markets in ways that benefit farmers? Beginning in October 2000, a private company established internet kiosks and warehouses that provide wholesale price information and an alternative marketing channel to soybean farmers in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Using a new market-level dataset with spatial geo-coded information, the estimates suggest a significant increase in the monthly wholesale market price of soybeans after the introduction of kiosks, lending support to the predictions of the theoretical model. Moreover, there is a robust increase in area under soy cultivation. The results suggest that information can enhance the functioning of rural markets by increasing the competitiveness of local buyers.