Antecedents to mobile phone diffusion in a developing economy: The case of Malaysia

Mobile phones have gone through rapid diffusion rates in developing countries and have been regarded by many as the information and communication technology (ICT) that will significantly close the digital divide between the haves and have-nots in the knowledge economy. Malaysia, like all other developing countries have introduced a number of policies and plans to increase mobile phone diffusion rate among rural and marginalized communities. This paper studies the level and the key determinants of mobile phone use among diverse rural populations in Malaysia. Using a sample survey of 1020 respondents and the PROBIT model, this study finds that access, type of rural communities, education, gender, encouragement and age are key determinants for mobile phone use in the rural areas in Malaysia. Reasons for not using mobile phones among rural communities were also identified and strategies to increase the mobile phone use among these communities were discussed in this paper.