MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR 5.1.4 Selecting a mobile operator Until 2013, a SIM card in Myanmar could cost hundreds of dollars, and even if one had the money, SIM cards were not freely available. In 2013, the government introduced a lottery whereby monthly winners could buy a SIM for as little as MMK 1,500 (less than two US dollars). Since liberalisation and the entry of Ooreedo and Telenor in 2014, the price of a SIM has stayed at MMK 1,500, but SIM cards are now freely available to anyone who can afford them. This has enabled scores of people to get connected, and some (around 13%) are even able to afford more than one SIM card. MultiSIM ownership is a strategy employed by some to take advantage of cheaper rates and promotions, by others to take advantage of network availability, and others to take advantage of better call/data quality.38 In general, the consensus among qualitative research respondents (in Yangon and Pantanaw) was that: • MPT is used for incoming calls since many have had this SIM the longest and their contacts are familiar with this phone number; network stability and data speed is perceived as inferior to Telenor and Ooredoo, especially in Pantanaw. • Telenor is perceived to have the best calling and data rates, although the internet connection can be patchy in places. • Ooredoo is perceived to have a good network quality but higher charges than others. New mobile owners tend to use what others are using, but female owners did not actively select the operator themselves because others bought their handset and SIM. Enabling women to improve their digital skills can help them to participate in the SIM-purchase decision and find a plan that best suits their needs. 5.1.5 Smartphone usage At the time of the survey, 66% of mobile owners aged 15–65 in Myanmar had a touch-enabled smartphone (commonly known as ‘touchphones’—any mobile with a touch screen). Three percent of owners had both a smartphone and a keypad phone (a mobile with a keypad interface; in most cases this was a basic/feature phone). There were no differences between male and female owners of smartphones (Table 4). Source: LIRNEasia Baseline Survey, 2015 Table 4 Type of mobile handset owned (% of mobile owners) Male mobile owners (%) Female mobile owners (%) OWN A ’TOUCHPHONE’ (SMARTPHONE) 65% 64% OWN A ‘KEYPAD’ PHONE (BASIC/FEATURE PHONE) 37% 37% The arrival of installment plans has brought smartphones within reach of many who would not otherwise be able to afford them. Phone shops also offer cheap bundles (handset + SIM + top-up) from Ooredoo or Telenor. For example, one shop in Pantanaw offered such a package for MMK 25,000 but it included a keypad handset. The majority of respondents are not interested in keypad phones. Particularly in Yangon, having a smartphone has become the standard, since people rarely see or know people with a keypad phone. Qualitative respondents indicated that having a keypad phone would be somewhat of an embarrassment, and they would be perceived as socially inferior. Some prioritise social status over functionality; one respondent was holding out on buying a mobile because she could not yet afford a smartphone (even though a keypad phone was already within her budget). When asked whether people would consider second-hand smartphones, there was reluctance, mainly because the owner would feel inferior to other owners since they had not purchased it themselves. Similarly, when asked if they were given a mobile for free, they would accept it, but would still feel inferior if people knew they had not paid for it. The ability to afford a (brand new) mobile phone clearly bolsters the perception of one’s social status, or at least in their minds. Some rural owners of smartphones used it as if it were a keypad phone, and limited their use to basic calling instead of exploiting all the functionalities of their phone. That said, some indicated that a keypad phone was fine for those who just needed to make calls, but a smartphone was needed for Facebook, Viber, and other internet-related uses. Female urban non-owners already had some knowledge of the internet and/or app-use either by using them on someone else’s phone or watching them use it. 38. For example, though mobile signal is present in 96% of wards and 87% of villages according to the national survey, only 56% of mobile owners in urban Myanmar (wards) and 40% in rural (villages) say that their mobile calls are successful upon first attempt. 36 37