ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how to write about the imaginaries of freedom and mobility that are enabled by the contemporary mobile phone, which as a medium marked by rapid convergence of technologies has broken all limits to move from basic cellular mobile telephony to become a complex assemblage of a range of mediascapes. It addresses questions and concerns about “digital divide” and “differential access” as well as the affordances and pleasures of mobile media and cellular infrastructures. Mobile media companies promise frictionless mobility and tout the boundless capabilities of mobile media through faster download speeds, “seamless” streaming services, and a plethora of apps. Mobile phone conversations involve intimacies and expressions, but these intimacies and expressions have to be budgeted, rationed, and calculated. The location of Airtel’s headquarters in Delhi helps it provide stronger coverage in India’s capital while Jio provides better services in Mumbai where the company’s head office is located.
