3. Research findings 3.1 Demand side research: Quantitative 3.1.1 2015 baseline survey Apart from being an integral part of the impact evaluation, the data from the baseline survey is interesting in and of itself, and shed significant light on the status of ICT use in the country, when no other nationally representative data for the country on ICT use existed. Its highlights are reported here since the previous grant ended before the results were analyzed, with the analysis being done in this grant. Further detailed descriptive statistics are available in the online report available at http://lirneasia.net/wpcontent/uploads/2015/07/LIRNEasia_MyanmarBaselineSurvey_DescriptiveStats_V1.pdf. It can also be referred to in Annex 1 ICT access 5 By the time of survey, 96% of wards and 87% of villages in Myanmar received a mobile signal. Quality is variable as networks expand coverage and capacity, but just one year after the two private licenses were granted, mobiles had already become the most prevalent ICT in Myanmar households (Figure 1) with 58% of households having an active SIM and 57% having a mobile handset present, compared to ‘older’ ICTs like TVs and radios. Almost 60% of households had at least one mobile phone present, while almost 30% had more than one. Mobile SIM and 6 handset ownership was approximately 45% higher in urban (vs. rural) and 43% higher in higher income (vs. lower income) households. Active mobile SIM 58% Mobile handset 57% 52% Television CD/ DVD/ EVD/ Blue Ray disc player 44% Radio/cassette player 18% Fixed phone 5% Desktop computer 1% Internet connection (excluding. via mobile phone) 2% Notebook, laptop computer 2% Tablet computer 1% Figure 1: Household access to ICTs and ICT connections 2015 (% of Myanmar households) 5 Based on survey responses of ward/village administrators surveyed in every ward/village selected for the baseline survey; ward/village administrators were asked whether their ward/village received any mobile signal at the time of survey. Coverage data is based on responses to the following question: “Do you receive any mobile phone coverage in your ward/village?” All ward and village administrators/leaders in the survey were asked this question. 6 ‘High’ income households were considered as those that had a total monthly expenditure of over MMK300,000, equivalent to socio-economic classification (SEC) groups A, B and C; similarly, ‘low’ income households were considered those that had a monthly household expenditure of MMK300,000 or less, equivalent to SEC groups D-E.