Blurring various boundaries of age, place of residence (urban/rural) and sociocultural–economic factors, the mobile phone has become an integral part of everyday life of almost everyone in this world. Through the identification of differences in accessibility and use of technology including the mobile phone, a digital divide is seen to be emerging, and what is of great concern is the emergence of a digital gender divide. The article is based on a study of mobile phone use by rural illiterate women in India, exploring whether three different parameters, namely, place of residence (rural or urban), gender and illiteracy, are hindering the use of the mobile phone or not. Nearly 85 per cent of the rural illiterate women studied were found to be using a mobile phone without necessarily owning it. It was their quickest means of communication and receiving information. A further improvement such as a community radio through which interaction with the outside world can be facilitated should be encouraged.

由于模糊了年龄，居住地（城市/农村）和社会文化经济因素的各种界限，手机已成为这个世界上几乎每个人的日常生活不可或缺的一部分。通过查明在可及性和使用技术（包括手机）方面的差异，可以看出数字鸿沟正在出现，而人们最为关注的是数字性别鸿沟的出现。该文章基于对印度农村文盲妇女使用手机的研究，探讨了居住地（农村或城市），性别和文盲这三个不同的参数是否妨碍了手机的使用。被调查的农村文盲妇女中有近85％被发现在使用手机而不必拥有手机。这是他们最快的沟通和接收信息的方式。应鼓励进一步改进，例如通过社区广播，以促进与外界的互动。