The survey below, commissioned by Samsung in the US, contrasts with LIRNEasia’s research on teleuse by women at the Bottom of the Pyramid, still in the process of being written up. Our Pakistan findings, being discussed on a PK focused blog, provide the starkest contrast.
Survey Reveals Important Role Mobile Phones Play in Women’s Lives
“A cell phone does much more than make calls for the Single Mobile Female,” said Randy Smith, vice president of channel marketing for Samsung. “The cell phone is an integral part of the SMF’s life, serving as a pocket-size detective, matchmaker, wing-woman and beyond. It is now officially a girl’s best friend.”
Cellular Singles
* Saved by the bell. More than one out of three SMFs have had a friend call them to interrupt a date (34%).
* So you think you can trust your girlfriend … A whopping 70 percent of females surveyed said they have snooped on their significant other’s cell phone. For example, they have looked through text messages or picked up their phone to see who is calling.
* I’m sorry, you’re breaking up. I can’t hear you. Click! Single mobile females are not only using their cell phones to make calls, but they are using them to avoid calls, too.
* 40 percent of respondents have faked technical difficulties to avoid someone they were not interested in dating.
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5 Comments
Peenn
It has to be a contrast. How can you compare a woman in USA with a poor woman in Pakistan?
Apples and Oranges.
zzainudeen
An interesting issue which arises is how do we know that this kind of behavior is limited to womens’ use only? How do we know whether men are not using the phone in simliar ways?
In order to ascertain that such behavior is unique to women, men have to be comparably studied also. For example, Moyal (1992) concludes that women use telephones for longer-duration calls and to use it primarily for relationship maintenance. Moyal only studies women (and incidentally, uses women to conduct the interviews). Leaving aside issues of apples and oranges, the Samsung study also only studies women (‘more than 500 U.S. unmarried females ages 18 to 35 who have a cell phone).
Zoom Zoom
I have seen a public phone call simphony using GSM technology in several garment factories and got to know that many girls are using a card with a mobile number. I tried to buy but i couldn’t find it anywhere. anyone knows about this card
samarajiva
See comment by Rizak under the Bharti slow start thread.
Babar Bhatti
It makes sense to have this divergence … mobiles are highly personal and a reflection of the social environment. Good thing is that these studies are providing a window to learn about the drivers of mobile usage.
Harnessing Data for Democratic Development in South and Southeast Asia: Pakistan Country Report
This report on data governance in Pakistan is part of the “Harnessing Data for Democratic Development in South and Southeast Asia” (D4DAsia) project, which aims, inter alia, to create and mobilize new knowledge about the tensions, gaps, and evolution of the data governance ecosystem, taking into account both formal and informal policies and practices. This report is also part of a broader comparative effort that includes case studies from India, Indonesia, Nepal, South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines.
LIRNEasia expertise contributes to Sri Lanka’s first National Policy on Archives and Records Management
Archives and records management is a critical foundation of any society, but especially in information societies that are emerging now. Unfortunately, this subject tends to be neglected.
Data governance in Pakistan is no longer a technical issue; it is a democratic one
In an article published on 26 January 2026 in The News Pakistan, LIRNEasia Senior Policy Fellow Muhammad Aslam Hayat highlights how data has become a powerful instrument of governance in Pakistan, yet the frameworks governing data remain fragmented and heavily skewed in favour of state control rather than citizen rights. He stresses that Pakistan does not need more data; it needs better rules to govern it.
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