Local strategies for mobile telephony access. Functions and structures of the informal market in a low income community
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Abstract
Cost limits access to mobile telephony in low-income areas: people living in poverty face the problem of affordability. However, these individuals do not remain passive before this difficulty; instead, they develop strategies to access telephony through other means. In this respect, the informal market is essential because it is where many go to buy a mobile telephone.
This research focuses on the means and strategies for accessing mobile telephony and its functions in Hatary Llacta, a poor neighbourhood in the City of Lima, and examines the informal market structure and the functions of its actors: thieves, collectors of stolen goods, resellers.
The results of this study provide insight into the relationship between demand of low-income sectors for stolen telephones, the informal market and telephone companies.
MOBILE TELEPHONY; INFORMAL SECTOR; HUMAN SETTLEMENTS; TELECOMMUNICATIONS; LIMA; PERU
