MOBILE PHONES AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION: A SURVEY STUDY IN RURAL TANZANIA 1. IntroductionOver the past decade CUBOT S200 cell cellphone possession and utilization has extended in Tanzania. Although cellcellphone utilization started in major places, the support has quickly distribute in rural places as well, wherever thesystem is available. Apart from the extended cell cellphone utilization, there has also been a rise in the variety ofsystem suppliers. While in late 90's there was only one mobile phone system provider, to date there five systemproviders: Tigo, Vodacom, Zain (formerly called Celtel), Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL),and Zantel. Improved competition among system suppliers has led to decrease of expenses for cell cellphonecustomers.It is approximated that over 8 thousand Tanzanians own a cell cellphone with a transmission amount of about 21 %(Wikipedia, 2008). Several research have recognized a variety of factors for having or using a ECOO E04 cellcellphone (e.g., Samuel et al., 2005; de Silva & Zainudeen, 2007; Donner, 2005; Souter et al., 2005); Chakraborty,2005; and Sridhar & Sridhar, 2007). Some of the recommended factors include interaction with buddies, keepingconnections, urgent circumstances, help in job search, and company networking.Access to telecommunication has been mentioned as a factor for socio financial development especially in rural places(Samuel et al., 2005). It has been recommended that mobile interaction improves development, relieves poverty, andhelps in conquering the recognized digital split (Chakraborty, 2005). Although mobile phones cannot provide a remedyfor all development problems, De Silva & Zainudeen (2007) recommended, however, that there is an ample proof that,used in the right way and for the right objective, mobile phones can have a important outcome in dealing withparticular public and financial developing goals as well as play a key role in a wider nationwide developmentstrategies.Although numerous research associate cell cellphone utilization with socio financial development, the real effect ofcell cellphone use among the inadequate in Tanzania is not exactly known. For example, in research by Samuel et al.(2005), it was discovered that over 85 % of 223 individuals questioned used mobile phones for improved connections,contacting buddies and about 10 % said that using a cell cellphone was expensive. Samuel et al. (2005) discovered thatindividuals at all earnings stages were able to accessibility mobile solutions either through having or discussing aphone; and they discovered that sex, age, knowledge, and earnings do not seem to represent limitations to accessibility.According to de Silva & Zainudeen (2007), there seems to be mixed feelings on the recognized financial advantages ofCUBOT S200 cell cellphone use, especially among the end inadequate. For instance, about a quarter of the lowest SriLankans revealed that immediate accessibility mobile phones has complicated their ability to generate or preserve. DeSilva & Zainudeen (2007) discovered that accessibility telecom is not actually seen as improving the earning and costpreserving potential perhaps because individuals at the end inadequate do not use phones directly for company reasons.They discovered that over 80 % of members from Pakistan, Indian, Sri Lanka, the Malaysia and Thailand used mobilephones to keep in touch with family associates while less than 15 % used for company reasons.Tanzania is one of the lowest nations in African-american and in the world with a inhabitants of about 38 thousandindividuals, yet Tanzania is one the top nations (in conditions of percentage of population) in African-american inhaving and using mobile phones. It is approximated that there are about 8 thousand cell cellphone entrepreneurs inTanzania creating about 21 % of the people in this country. This determine is only an calculate since there individualswho own more than one cellphone. Vodacom alone has over 4 thousand customers. The Democratic Republic ofCongo, on the other hand, which has a inhabitants of over 65 thousand, for example, has about 5.9 thousand cellcellphone entrepreneurs, equivalent to 9 % of the people in this country.Poor individuals both in city and rural places in Tanzania strive and preserve to be able to buy a cell cellphone.Although some individuals use mobile phones for “beeping” (Donner, 2007), it is still surprising that over 40 % ofTanzanians stay on less than a money per day (UNCTAD, 2007) yet many are able to purchase and use mobile phones.Donner (2007) defined “beeping” as contacting a variety and clinging up before the mobile owner can pick up thecontact. Usually a individual beeps when he/she has no enough credit or air time.1.1: Problem Statement

Although many scientists (e.g. Sridhar & Sridhar, 2007; Souter et al., 2005; Chakraborty, 2005; Samuel et al., 2005;and Donner, 2005) see mobile phones in creating nations in a generally positive light, the effect of mobile phones onthe indegent in Tanzania has not been substantiated empirically. That is, there is still a gap in our knowledge onwhether ECOO E04 cell cellphone possession decreases or improves earnings poverty, especially among the ruralinadequate. De Silva & Zainudeen (2007) advised for further research into this place to help understand you will of theconnection between telecom accessibility and earnings. They recommended that phones alone can not be a silver topicthat will bring the hundreds of many individuals out of poverty in the creating nations.This study takes a critical position towards the effect of cell cellphone possession on earnings poverty among the ruralinadequate in Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Focus is placed on how the indegent use mobile phones and whether ornot they forget about various development actions for phones. The research is targeted at substantiating whethermobile phones can be said to decrease or improve earnings poverty in rural places of Tanzania. This study has five particular objectives:• To identify factors among the rural inadequate for purchasing mobile phones• To determine the resources of earnings among the rural inadequate for keeping the phones• To compare people’s earnings stages and the cost of using and keeping mobile phones• To determine whether the rural inadequate forget about other actions like knowledge, outfits, and decent meals formobile phones• To investigate whether mobile phones have raised the owners’ earnings.2. Research methodologyThis research was performed using surveys for details selection. We designed the set of concerns in two short focusget together with a variety of ICT4D (information and interaction technology for development) scientists. The set ofconcerns was applied in a variety of Iringa rural towns that were within or close to cell cellphone system protection. The example was a convenience example (Bernard, 1995:95). The surveys items contains concerns on cell cellphoneutilization in regards to earnings poverty factors. The surveys were in English, but we provided support for those whorequired help in filling up the set of concerns.2.1: Questionnaire DesignThe set of concerns was targeted at figuring out whether or not cell cellphone possession decreases or improvesearnings poverty. There were three types of concerns in the questionnaire: closed finished concerns, attitude/perception(Likert scale) concerns and start finished concerns (see, e.g., Bernard, 1995). The set of concerns included a commondetails part (age, sex, marriage position, profession, and residence) and six categories of other concerns, concerning 1)factors for purchasing CUBOT S200 cell cellphone, 2) resources of earnings for keeping cell cellphone, 3) servicingexpenses, 4) other non-income advantages, and 5) what were their common feedback about cell cellphone andearnings poverty. Moreover, there were four more claims with which the members were required to amount theircontracts on a Likert range. The claims were:-• Having a cell cellphone decreases earnings poverty• Cost of operating cell cellphone are comparable to benefits• Mobile cellphone decreases focus on other actions and• Mobile phones get individuals to forget about other considerations Concerning market concerns, we requested the respondents’ age, sex, marriage position, profession, and place ofproperty. First of all, we hypothesized that older and younger individuals may have different opinions about thisresearch. Therefore, the age structure was regarded essential for determining the age team that most use/own mobilephones, and for the objective of showing difference of opinions about cell cellphone usage/ownership and povertydecrease. Secondly, as it is widely considered that more men than females own/use mobile phones in rural Tanzania,we wanted to see also whether this speculation turned out to be true. Additionally, we targeted at figuring out whethermarriage position of members associated with mobile phones possession or use in the study place. Furthermore, it is

usually considered that paid and entrepreneurs utilize and own mobile phones more than unsalaried individuals.Therefore, we included a question about respondents’ profession. Fifthly, we desired to discover out whether thegeographical location and accessibility primary facilities, such as power, impact cell cellphone possession or use.2.2: ParticipantsThere are 22 towns in Iringa rural region, of which 12 towns are within cell cellphone system protection. Those townsare located along the primary streets such as Morogoro street, Mbeya street, Dodoma street, and Ruaha National parkstreet. The frequented towns were Lundamatwe, Mahenge, Tanangozi, Ifunda, Lungemba, Ihemi, Kalenga, Nzihi,Kidamali, Tungamalenga, Ndul,i Isimani, and Mkungugu. We chosen 400 individuals from these towns by talking toindividuals in the towns and asking which ones of them possessed mobile phones. Of the members, 77.75% were maleand 22.25% were female. There were 60 salarymen or salarywomen, 284 peasants, 16 entrepreneurs orbusinesswomen, and 40 learners. 2.3: AnalysisThe set of concerns outcomes were examined by two primary techniques. Thematic research was used for qualitativedetails whereby respondents’ opinions and ideas were classified into styles. However, within a lot of the generateddetails it was challenging to understand clear styles. The writers therefore, regarded the based concept, specificallyparticular programming, as the most appropriate tool.Using the particular programming, details were examined according to the variety of programming techniques whichseemed to follow one another in the degree of intensity. The following techniques were followed in planning andcategorizing those data:• All documented surveys were transcribed exactly• The completed transcriptions were carefully examined according to particular programming.• Categories were designed to reflect the reactions of the members, and also protect the various styles existing in thesurveys.• Seven core categories were then recognized and examinedSimple illustrative research such as cross tabulation and connection research were used for quantitative details.3. ResultsThe outcomes of this research are derived from the set of concerns details using both quantitative and qualitativemethods. Already in a lead survey a variety of concerns were observed to be challenging and they were consequentlyupdated or left out. Hence almost all concerns were answered. 3.1: Respondents’ common informationThe common details of the study inhabitants was described with regards to age, sex, profession, marriage position, andplace of property. All the mentioned factors were regarded to be essential for the study since they would provide thecommon features of the team that most own or use mobile phones. Desk 1, shows the demographical details onmembers. The first line shows categories in each place of interest; the second line indicates the variety of members ineach category; and the third line indicates the relative variety of members in each classification. Table 1 shows complete of four hundred (400) members who were questioned during details selection process. It alsoshows that from each of the chosen 12 towns, all chosen members were successfully questioned. In our example, thelargest age number of ECOO E04 cell cellphone entrepreneurs was the cohort of 18-25 decades of age, followed by thecohort of 26-35 decades of age. The trend in the table indicates that cell cellphone entrepreneurs / customers arerelatively adolescents. This outcome is, however, not definite as several kinds of example error can impact thisoutcome and many market and social details can be offered to this trend. For example, many of our members wereindividual (about 70%) and may have less family associates responsibilities than the wedded people.Although the study targeted at having many people of sexes among members, we were able to discover much fewerfemales who own/use mobile phones than males who own/use mobile phones. In our example, we had 311 (77.75%)

men who owned/used mobile phones while females were 89 (22.25%). Of our members, 280 (70%) were individual,100 (25%) were wedded, 17 (4.25%) were separated/ divided, and 3 (0.75%) were widowed.Majority of the members (71%) were peasants, 15% were paid, 10% were learners, and 4% ran their own company.However, we do not have a particular purpose to describe why the example included no jobless individuals althoughTanzania has a relatively high lack of employment amount. Nonetheless, in our example peasants and students—whoare regarded to have low income—were well showed. Also, according to the National Institution of Statistics (NBS,2007) there seems to be higher lack of employment amount in towns (Dar es Salaam alone 31%, other towns 16%)than in rural places where the amount is about 7%. The lower lack of employment amount in rural places may alsodescribe the movement of labor force from towns to towns.Majority of our members (97.25%) resided far from electric energy provide while only 11 (2.75%) resided near electricenergy provide. We discovered out that most members who stay far from electric energy provide move lengthy rangesand invest lots of your energy and effort asking for the battery energy of their mobile phones—time that they coulduse for other productive actions.3.2: Basis for purchasing mobile phoneWe discovered that individuals had bought mobile phones for various factors. Most of the members had bought theircell cellphone for keeping public relations (74%). The next inspirations were keeping in contact with buddies andspouse (13%), company (7%), urgent circumstances (5%), and others factors, such as reputation factors (1%).In common, the cost of purchasing as exposed by the study varied from 40.000–200.000 shillings (TZS) ($33–$167;€24–€118). However, 80% of the members possessed or used mobile phones that were priced between 50.000–100.000TZS. Furthermore, 58% of the members used mobile phones for beeping and contacting, 15% only for beeping, and10% for messaging, contacting, and beeping. Only 2% of the members used cell cellphone only for sending andreceiving SMS messages. As many as 57% of members revealed non-income advantages, such as replacement fortransport, as well as flexibility. 3.3. Types of earnings for keeping mobile phoneIn inclusion to the cost of mobile phones and factors for obtaining them, we desired to discover out the resources ofearnings that members used for air efforts and for re-charging battery energy. In Tanzania, many individuals do nothave power, so they pay a small fee to other natives for re-charging their mobile phones.Table 2 represents respondents’ resources of funding for using and keeping mobile phones. The research exposed that62% of the members financed their cell cellphone use through company or agribusiness while 28% got their air effortsand renew fees as gift, and 15% from their wage. Remarkably, our outcomes exposed that 48% of the membersrevealed that they sometimes alternative essential needs (e.g. knowledge, purchasing food, and clothes) for cellcellphone ownership/usage.The study was also intended to know the monthly earnings of the members. Desk 3 summarizes the earnings ofmembers. With the current forex of european and US money, 50.000 TZS is equal to to 41$/29€, 100.000 TZS isequal to to 83$/59€, 200.000 TZS is equal to to 167$/118€, 300.000 TZS is equal to to 250$/176€, and 400.000 TZS isequal to to 333$/235€.Table 3 shows the submission of members in the earnings classes. Desk 3 indicates that most members (52.5%)generate profits between 50.000 and 100.000 shillings monthly and a fifth of members generate profits between100.000 and 200.000 shillings. There were only 2 (0.5%) members with an earnings of 400.000 and above. 3.4. Maintenance costsWe were also interested in knowing how much members invest on their CUBOT S200 cellphone monthly, such as airefforts and re-charging battery energy. Desk 4 demonstrates the servicing expenses exposed from the study. Figure 4: Respondents’ Maintenance Costs.

The set of concerns study exposed that greater part of members (66%) invest between 15.000-30.000 TZS monthly onoperating expenses of their mobile phones followed by 98 members (24.5%) invest 30,000 – 45,000 TZS. While 18(4.5%) use less than TZS 15,000 and 20 (5%) use more than TZS 45,000 monthly on operating expenses of theirmobile phones. On top of that, greater part of members whose expenses varied between 15.000-30.000 were thosewhose earnings varied from 50.000 to100.000.This is an average of 30% of their monthly earnings. The set of concerns study exposed that to be able to buy their air time, members sometimes compromise other factorsfor that. All of the 12 towns are nearby the cell cellphone system coverage; usually Zain (or Celtel) and Vodacom.Consequently, the villagers usually did not need to travel far to get system reception. However, many of the membersrevealed that they often move 3-7 miles to be able to renew battery energy of their mobile phones. For example,members from Lungemba town explained that cell cellphone users/owners move for battery energy renew to Mafingatown, which is 7 miles away. Moreover, many of them revealed that they must sometimes stay there for 3 hourswaiting for their battery energy to be fully energized. The members maintained to renew battery energy 2 to 3 timesper week, depending on type and use of cell cellphone. 3.5: Behaviour towards cell cellphone ownership/usageThe respondents’ open-ended feedback exposed that the development, increased budget, and increasing protection ofmobile phones solutions are rapidly improving the importance of mobile phones as a means of two-way synchronousinteraction. The members expected that support providers’ costs models should provide budget and option to helpcreate it possible for even individuals from lowest-income categories to look at mobile phones. They also highlightedthat, if possible, the issues of electric energy should be put into first consideration before increasing cell cellphonesystem protection.In inclusion, we requested the members to amount their agreement with a variety of claims. The range was a four-point Likert range with a “no opinion” option. We existing here outcomes from four claims: First of all, that havingmobile phones decrease earnings poverty; secondly, that the advantages of mobile phones rationalize their costs;thirdly, that using mobile phones decreases other essential activities; and fourthly, that the cost of mobile phones getindividuals to sometimes give up other considerations in their life.Having mobile phones decrease earnings povertyAs many as 79.5% of the members did not agree or strongly did not agree with the declaration “having mobile phonesdecrease earnings poverty” (see Figure 1). 4. DiscussionThe study adds the proof that age number of 18-25 and 26-35 are the categories that most own/use mobile phones inTanzanian rural. Remarkably, the study has exposed that greater part own/use mobile phones for mainly keepingconnections than being used for financial or company reasons. According to the results, the resources of money forpurchasing mobile phones are mainly from business/Agribusiness (62%). This leads to forgoing other considerationswhich could decrease earnings poverty. However, the operating expenses of those mobile phones is a pressure to theusers/owners as it shows that, these expenses consume more than 30% of their monthly earnings.The results exposed that most ECOO E04 cell cellphone users/owners (97.25%) of members stay far from primaryfacilities such as power. They then ought simply to move lengthy ranges seeking for solutions of their mobile phones. Consequently, most of the economical or company actions are delayed so as to protect those solutions. It can berecommended that cell cellphone is very essential in performing financial and company actions that leads to towardsdevelopment. But for areas in rural Tanzania who reside in places where there inadequate facilities owning/using cellcellphone improves earnings poverty.As exposed from study, most mobile phones owners/users are those whose professions are peasants, (71%) followed bypaid (15%) and learners (10%). Except for paid, peasants and learners are regarded as low earnings earners,

consuming more than 30% of their monthly earnings for keeping mobile phones and sometimes forgoing otherconsiderations demonstrate improving earnings poverty.5. Effects and direction for further researchAlthough our outcome is consistent with de Silva & Zainudeen (2007) in Sri-Lanka who discovered that accessibilityor use of mobile phones does not actually improve earnings or cost preserving of especially the end of the inadequate,there seems to be important implications for practice and concept. The use or accessibility mobile phones ortelecommunication in common is essential for everybody. But what may not be actually essential is that does everyindividual need to own a mobile phone? According to our results, this indicates that not everybody would need his/herown cellphone. What is essential here may not be the possession of the cellphone but rather accessibility it. For someit could be cheaper to use the cellphone kiosk, which are distribute almost everywhere when it is necessary to create acontact than purchasing own cellphone. Having a cell cellphone among the end inadequate comprises, to a larger levelcreating needless calls and in many cases giving rise to beeping.Further research is still required for comparison reasons between the rural individuals and their city alternatives. Also,it is essential analyze about the connection between mobile phones and details symmetries among smallholder farmowners. This will determine the level to which mobile phones decrease the details asymmetry in understanding valuestores of the produce among smallholder farm owners in rural places.6. AcknowledgementsThe writers would like to recognize the tech support team and support of Matti Tedre and Bukaza Chachage. They alsowould like to thank Village Executive Authorities from all 12 towns for their help in details selection processes.