earticle

영어

Mobile communication services have expanded beyond simple voice communication in the past couple of decades into other areas such as commerce, banking, education, and healthcare just to name a few. Due to adoption of wireless communication in these services, people are connected anytime, anyplace, any device, and anywhere. It is also observed that an Average Revenue per User (ARPU) has been dropping for the past few years as voice communication has been commoditized. Telecom operators are providing number of value added services (VAS) to users in the urban and rural sector of India to enhance revenue. Healthcare service is one such area which provides maximum revenue enhancement potential for the operators. Penetration of smartphones, availability of connectivity, and availability of relevant apps are some of the key drivers and enablers for services. The teledensity in the urban sector is over 154% while it is about 51% in the rural sector(TRAI, 2016). This study was undertaken for understanding the present status of the healthcare services in the rural areas and how mobile communication could be used to improve or provide additional services to enhance health in rural population. The healthcare services sector was chosen for the study as 70% of the population of the country is in the rural areas where quality of healthcare services is poor. Improved healthcare services in these areas will have direct impact on productivity and efficiency of people working in farms hence the contribution to the Gross National Product (GDP) of the country. The survey was conducted in three villages surrounding the urban city of Pune. The data is analyzed to study the interdependence of various factors related to present healthcare service system. Recommendations are provided to telecom operators based on the outcome of data analysis.