MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR Table 9 Summary of recommendations for Myanmar stakeholders The identified stakeholder is a primary actor Actor The stakeholder needs to play a supporting/facilitating role Actor Action Network roll-out to increase female (and male) mobile ownership Government Digital skills/literacy development for women (and men, who women sometimes learn from) Ensure fair and affordable access by all mobile operators to the incumbent backhaul fiber optic network and sufficient coverage and capacity spectrum Content development Mobile network operators (continued) Demand stimulation Ensure an equitable, transparent, and predictable taxation system, and ensure there are no distortions in investment and consumption of mobile services Develop clear and transparent pricing, including warning reminders, especially for data charges Handset manufacturers Create an enabling environment for the local app market to grow, and develop locally relevant and accessible apps for women Develop digital skills content (e.g. short tutorialstyle videos), which can be disseminated via social media, agent networks, or other channels. 70 Create incentives for agent networks to improve the digital literacy of their female (and male) customers (i.e. an in-person approach) Demand stimulation Develop innovative financing mechanisms to lower the cost of handsets (e.g. microloans, monthly installments) Conduct additional research on the negative perceptions of available low-cost handsets; identify actions to negate the perceptions (e.g. mobile repair services, partnerships with lowpriced handset manufacturers) Develop solutions to improve the phone-sharing experience, especially ensuring data privacy for different users Demand stimulation App developers Content development and digital skills/literacy development Target men in marketing campaigns to reach women in settings where men commonly make decisions about women’s SIM cards and plans Secure sufficient international bandwidth to keep up with increasing data traffic Develop digital skills content (e.g. short tutorialstyle videos), which can be disseminated via social media, agent networks, or other channels Explore the possibility of providing scaled down (lower cost) and easier-to-use versions of popular handset brands which meet user requirements, in order to make them more affordable for nonowners Support efforts by other stakeholders to develop digital skills content (e.g. short tutorial-style videos), which can be disseminated via social media or other channels Content development Create an enabling environment for the local app market to grow, and develop locally relevant and accessible apps for women Continue efforts to design competitively priced and more durable, more affordable smartphones Incorporate basic digital skills (internet safety and privacy awareness) into the national ICT curriculum beginning in primary school Support the creation of an enabling environment for the local app market to grow, and develop locally relevant and accessible apps for women Demand stimulation Digital skills/literacy development Simplify right-of-way access to all telecom operators (for backhaul and access network) Introduce more creative pricing to appeal to women’s price sensitivity, call patterns, and daily routines (e.g. creative tariff plans, innovative data packages, low-denomination top-ups, bite-sized or on- demand data pricing, emergency credit services) Mobile network operators Action NGOs Digital skills/literacy development Banks and other Demand stimulation finance institutions Investors Demand stimulation and content development Develop solutions to improve the phone-sharing experience, especially ensuring data privacy for different users Develop locally relevant apps which take current low levels of digital literacy into account Lower data costs by designing apps that update efficiently Development of digital skills content (e.g. short tutorial-style videos) which can be disseminated via social media, grassroots networks, etc. Develop innovative financing mechanisms to lower the cost of handsets (e.g. microloans, monthly installments) Support the local app developer market to grow, and develop locally relevant and accessible apps 71