Bangalore, September 26 2017: The mobile phone in India, is the most critical tool, in seventy years of independence, for  self empowerment, breaching social, economic and geographic  barriers.
 This is the core finding of a  study by  CyberMedia Research(CMR) on behalf of  mobile technology provider Qualcomm.
While the basic phone, otherwise called feature phone,  was a breakthrough tool for voice calls and text messages -- with some limited tools for  enjoying music or games -- it was the advent of the smart phone that opened the floodgates for users,  enabling creative use of tools like the camera and facilitating  banking  and money transactions, bill payments and  travel bookings from anywhere, anytime.
Comments Apalak Ghosh, Head,  Industry Consulting Group, CMR: “No other nation has embraced mobile phones the way India has. By connecting Indians to the internet, mobile phones have opened many new possibilities for them to perform key functions: whether it is communications or education, transportation or emergency situations, e-commerce or government interface.”
Adds Qualcomm India  President,Larry Paulson:   “The smartphone enables consumers in India to not just communicate, but rather to go online and perform many key functions in their lives – whether it is learning new information, connecting to friends, making and accepting payments, navigating through traffic, accessing government services, finding and applying for jobs and many more.”
The study reveals that  India starts and ends the day  with the smartphone: 69%  reach for their smartphone within 30 minutes of waking up.  They spend on average  from 2 to 6 hours a day online. The maximum usage is during working hours (42%) and at night (38%). The  device  is so essential, that 7 out of 10 Indians feel completely lost without their smartphone.
The study shows that 8 out of 10 Indians experience joy and fun through their mobile phone. How?  An overwhelming 86% access social media, 74% listen to music, 61% watch videos and 59% play games.
The CMR-Qualcomm study  entitled ‘India’s Independence via Mobiles’  is based on an online survey covering 3000 teens, youth, working professionals, housewives and elderly across Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities.