Tag Archives: e-village
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LIRNEasia research picked up by ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
Sri Lanka: Cutting it
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
In the world’s poorer countries, the purchase of a mobile phone has become increasingly affordable. Using it, however, can still be a struggle. Low-income mobile phone owners in Sri Lanka are getting around this problem with a novel method for keeping costs down.
Known as ring cutting, mobile phone subscribers rely on ring tones to communicate with others, rather than actually staying on the line to talk. By a pre-arranged signal that will convey the desired message – “two rings means I’m home” – callers negate the need for a conversation. They simply hang up as soon as the number of tones are finished. The recipients’ phone log records the number of the person who dialled, and at what time. They can choose to call back, or not.
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