Studying mobile phone use in context: cultural, political, and economic dimensions of mobile phone use

This paper discusses the need for studying mobile phone use within the context of a society, with consideration of the cultural, political, and economic factors that influence phone use. Such contextual study is especially valuable in a culture that sharply differs from the industrial, predominantly Western perspective in which mobile phones and applications are developed. This paper presents a case study of mobile phone use in Uzbekistan, a Central Asian republic with a unique socio-political environment that is experiencing growing mobile phone use. A review of literature related to mobile phone use in developing, non- Western countries are presented. Some results of interviews about perceptions and use of mobile phones in Tashkent are discussed.