The study, carried out in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, was selected as a case study of the use of mobile telephones among small-scale goods and service providers in a relatively slowly moving urban place like Shillong. The study attempts to observe different sectors of traders and goods and service providers of perishable and non-perishable items using mobile telephones. The attempt is to see if the mobile device has evolved as a grand tool to overcome various obstacles in the expansion and extension of livelihood and business opportunities, and understand the how changes in communication technology have an enabling influence in people’s business lives—as a resource for increasing clientele, improving sales, and connecting to new markets, buyers and vendors. Differences are greatly found to lie in the type of goods and service provider, types of clientele being targeted (local versus international) and scale of operations.
International ESCO business opportunities and challenges: a Japanese case study
