It’s hard to imagine life without cell phones. It has not just made communication easy, but has changed the way we perceive things around us. It won’t be an overstatement to say that it has caught the imagination of the youngsters. In Adilabad, one gets to see teenagers, almost all of them, buried in their phones busy playing games or listening to music. The markets are flooded with cheaper handsets offering various applications that attract young minds for a myriad of reasons, particularly that of entertainment.
There is a great demand for Android handsets resulting in the companies offering these at cheaper rates. “An Android cell phone with touch screen now costs as low as Rs. 2,000,” points out Prakash Patel of Mahalaxmi mobile outlet in the town.
Most popular among general public is the handset that costs less than Rs. 5,000. Sale of costlier ones is limited to the affluent and educated class.
The town has around 200 shops and makeshift vends selling handsets which indicates that the number of mobile users in the town has increased. Moreover, the alluring factor is that almost all cell phone operators are now offering 3G services in smaller towns which has resulted in increased use of internet-based applications. “You can even find youngsters reserving train tickets on cell phones,” says Mr. Patel.
A larger chunk of teenagers in Adilabad, who are inclined towards music, use cell phones to listen to songs. Many others use it to watch videos or feature films.
There are shops which specialise in loading songs, videos and films at affordable rates. For example, a 100 song capsule can be loaded in the memory card for as low as Rs. 10 and a feature film will be loaded for not more than Rs. 25.
