Mobile Phone Adoption and Use in Lockhart River Aboriginal Community

Abstract

This paper reports on an ethnographic study of mobile phone adoption and use in a remote Aboriginal community in Cape York, Australia. The researchers found that, within nine months of the introduction of the 3G network, 58% of the Indigenous people interviewed had acquired a mobile phone, a much higher rate of adoption than any other ICT. The phones were employed for communication, with multimedia uses (music, games, videos, photos) also very popular. Issues included the cost, robustness and usability of the devices, although most people managed costs well by purchasing pre-paid phones. The findings suggest a number of possible initiatives that government, service providers and business could consider to leverage mobile phone usage and develop capacity in the community.