MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR 1 MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR Introduction The recent introduction of mobile communication in Myanmar is a potentially life-changing prospect for the country, one of the poorest in Southeast Asia. A quarter of its population is estimated to live in poverty,7 while the country as a whole performs poorly on most socio-economic indicators. There is much potential for mobile phones to play a role in socioeconomic development, be it through access to services such as mobile money, or simply the access to information a mobile phone provides. It is estimated that 90% of wards and villages in the country already have a mobile signal.8 The Ministry of Posts and Telecom (MPT) began offering mobile services in 2013. In January 2014, Ooreedo and Telenor were granted licences to provide mobile services, with commitments to provide 85% voice coverage within five years. It is expected these new networks will first cover the densely populated urban centres and gradually move outwards to rural areas, which do not currently have coverage. Since the country has opened up only relatively recently, there are few (public) sources of detailed nationally representative data available. This kind of data is needed to understand the current and future information, knowledge, and communication needs in the country. Disaggregated by gender and other demographics, it can be a powerful tool for evidencebased policymaking. In recent years, much effort has been put into documenting and understanding the gap in mobile ownership between men and women (the gender gap). Organisations like GSMA Connected Women and LIRNEasia are among those who have been engaged in this kind of research. The gender gap in both mobile ownership and access has been a cause for concern in many low-income countries, where men and women do not benefit equally from the ‘digital dividends’ of mobile and internet services. Now that Myanmar is on the mobile coverage map, it must be determined whether a gender gap exists and, if so, understand the factors contributing to it. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the GSMA Connected Women programme and LIRNEasia have attempted to answer these questions. 7. The Integrated Households Living Condition Assessment-II survey of 2010 conducted by UNDP indicated a poverty level of 26% in Myanmar, using a poverty line based on consumption expenditure required to meet basic nutritional needs plus a provision for basic non-food expenditure. The poverty line was estimated at MMK 376,151, or approximately USD 295, which equated to less than 80 US cents per day at the time. See http://www.mm.undp.org/content/dam/myanmar/docs/FA1MMRPovertyProfile_Eng.pdf for more information. 8. http://lirneasia.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-07-MyanmarBaselineSurveyICTuse-v9-11.pdf 6 A survey conducted by LIRNEasia in wards and villages across Myanmar9 between February and March of 201510 was able to collect nationally representative data on the information and communication needs and habits of over 12,000 respondents. A genderdisaggregated analysis of the survey findings (some described below) was the starting point for a deeper qualitative study of 91 men and women in one urban location (Yangon) and one rural location (Pantanaw), conducted jointly by GSMA Connected Women and LIRNEasia in July 2015.11 LIRNEasia’s national baseline survey findings indicate that a mobile signal can be found across the country, and uptake is already quite high relative to the postliberalization growth some of Myanmar’s neighbours have seen. At the time of survey, 96% of wards and 87% of villages in Myanmar received a mobile signal.12 Quality is variable as networks expand coverage and capacity, but just one year after the two private licences were granted, mobiles have 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. Figure 1 Source: LIRNEasia Baseline Survey, 2015 Household access to ICTs and ICT connections % of Myanmar households 58% 57% 52% 44% 18% 5% 1% 2% 2% 1% Active mobile SIM Mobile handset Television CD / DVD / EVD / Blue Ray disc player Radio / cassette player Fixed phone Desktop computer Internet connection (excl via mobile phone) Notebook, laptop computer Tablet computer The findings point to a significant gender gap in mobile ownership. Overall, mobile phone ownership (having an active SIM, with or without a handset13) among 15–65 year olds in Myanmar was 40%, but among women it was just 33% compared to 47% among men. 9. Excluding 32 townships (or 3% of the population) which were deemed unsafe/inaccessible for researchers 10. With additional data collection in May 2015. 11. The larger set of findings from the national baseline survey can be found at: http://lirneasia.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/LIRNEasia_MyanmarBaselineSurvey_DescriptiveStats_ V1.pdf 12. 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. 13. Although responses show that a negligible number (0.7%) own an active SIM but not a handset of their own, in this report, these SIM-only owners are also considered mobile ‘owners’. 7