Public WiFi is for Men and Mobile Internet is for Women

Abstract

Public WiFi networks are increasingly viewed as last-mile Internet solutions for rural areas given the infrastructure intensive nature of fibre optic broadband connectivity, but how inclusive are they? This study reports on interviews, observations, and practices around WiFi access points in public spaces in a rural community in India. It illustrates the ways in which Internet savvy women may continue to experience exclusions in Internet access and use. Bound by social norms that restrict their movements and tether them to spotty mobile data, women's Internet usage is limited in comparison to men, whose relatively unconstrained mobility permits them access and use of the free WiFi in the community. Additionally, interviews with a commercial WiFi provider reveals naive assumptions about women's Internet habits and gendered mobilities influencing access. The findings suggest that in certain contexts, women may remain invisible as potential customers despite their desire and ability to pay for WiFi access.

Digital access through smartphones and well-being of BoP women: insights from a field study in India

“…However, women have limited access to such technologies due to the politics of accessing public spaces (termed gendered public spaces) in the rural BoP. In line with the arguments of Mudliar (2018), our study is situated at the intersection of women and access to ICTs through smartphones. Significantly, artefacts like smartphones are usually situated in a private space and enable personalized access for individuals (Venkatesh et al, 2012).…”

“…In the rural BoP, women also face hurdles in accessing public spaces. For instance, Mudliar (2018) in her paper interrogated the notion of "public" Wi-Fi and sensitised the readers on the politics of access to public spaces which complicates the experiences of women and hence creates inequalities in the access/use of public Wi-Fi. The author notes how gender and space interacted in rural India to restrict the mobility of women and actively denied them the opportunity to use resources in the so called "public" spaces.…”

“…Finally, a majority of the ICT-based interventions in rural BoP regions have focussed on a class of technologies known as "community ICTs" (Raman and Chebrolu, 2007) -ICTs like computers, telephones, radios, fax machines, etc. that are situated in a physical space and enable shared public access to the people (Mudliar, 2018). However, women have limited access to such technologies due to the politics of accessing public spaces (termed gendered public spaces) in the rural BoP.…”

“…In our study we focussed on Internet-enabled smart mobile phones. The extant literature notes the significant potential of smartphones to facilitate socio-economic well-being outcomes for people at the BoP (Ma et al, 2018;Mudliar, 2018). For instance Dey et al (2016) discuss how mobile phones were a source of social, occupational and emotional well-being through provision of information, enabling connectedness and by providing self-esteem.…”

“…While there are improvements in the Internet infrastructure in several rural spaces of developing nations, there are still several remote rural regions (such as the Kandi village in West Bengal, India, where this study was conducted) that have limited access to Internet infrastructure (Faroqi et al, 2018;Raman and Chebrolu, 2007). Hence, within the rural BoP population, studies at the intersection of women and digital access through devices like smartphones form a significant yet understudied aspect (Mudliar, 2018). Understanding the socio-economic well-being effects of providing digital access through smartphones on BoP women is significant because (1) smartphones are distinct from community ICTs [2] (e.g.…”