ABSTRACT
This chapter draws attention to the role of press workers as entrepreneurs and the role of the products in the Product-Service Systems (PSS) such as mobile phones in the micro-enterprise of ironing in the informal sector. While there is much anecdotal evidence on the ways mobile use can improve the social and economic status of poor people, there is little systematic evidence on the benefits of mobiles for these groups. Most urban poor work in micro-enterprises that provide self-employment for themselves and some family members. The range of economic activities is vast in the informal sector in urban India, and providing ironing services constitutes an important micro-enterprise in the informal sector. The ironing enterprise in the urban informal sector may also represent survival activities at the margins of society. The chapter bases on an empirical study of 200 families engaged in the micro-enterprise of ironing in different parts of Delhi.
