Representing the Nonformal

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Representing the Non-formal The Business of
Internet Cafés in India
NIMMI RANGASWAMY Microsoft Research India
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• 8 months of study in Mumbai city/outer suburbs
• Open-ended interviews
• 35 café owners and
• 18 regular users
• Observations in café premises

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• Urban cafes in India are of two kinds Franchises
  promoted by big corporates and small businesses,
  mom and pop joints, that sprout all over urban
  areas
• All cafes are part of allied businesses helping
  to stay afloat.
• With PC penetration in India being 5 (around 20
  million PCs but growing in urban areas) cafés
  become prime spaces for internet access.

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The Grey Zone of i-café Biz

• Grey market for hardware/software
• Multiple Unaccounted businesses
• Unclear ownership
• Irregular Billing

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The new cafes of Dharavi
Popu Around 1 Million, Density 314,887/km
4000 types of Industry 90 of Biz
unregulated
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• Demand for internet has cropped up recently
• Most cafés are assorted communication centres
• Café owners supported by social networks to
  maintain and trouble shoot computers
• There is almost nil home PC penetration

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• Non-formal business practices more pronounced
• Deeply embedded in the larger grey economy
• Slippages between non-formal and Illegal
• Grey Internet activity

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Gamers and Chatters..
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Correspondence of greyness in youth behaviour
and i-café business practice?
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• Non-formality as Alternate Premise
• The unregulated or beyond the legal
• Grey markets
• Formulate business strategy

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Thank You! http//research.microsoft.com/indian
immir_at_microsoft.com