Case Study:
Application Model:
Village Pay Phones is an initiative of the Grameen Bank aimed at reducing poverty through the economic empowerment of women in rural Bangladesh. The Grameen Group manages the entire phone system, operating the GSM network and loaning money to village women to purchase GSM cellular phones. Phone owners rent the phones out to village farmers and other community members for a fee and also provide messaging and incoming call services.
Illustrative Impact:
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Phones have been placed in 1,100 villages. The 6–7 year goal is to serve 500,000 subscribers, including 68,000 phones dedicated to serving rural areas. |
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Village Phones have increased incomes and savings accumulation among phone owners, mostly women. |
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Phone users, mainly local farmers, have increased their productivity through access to market information, weather reports and pest and disaster alerts. |
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Farmers in phone villages receive up to 10 percent higher prices for farm products and improved security of supply for inputs. |
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A significant portion of phone owners' profits have been spent on paying for improved education and health services for their families. |
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The phone service has also contributed to improvements in disaster response, crime rates and livestock mortality through better access to public services. |
Challenges:
While Village Pay Phones is a model for community development, the Grameen network is not integrated with the national fixed line network. This is due to telecommunications regulation in the country which, to a large extent, is being challenged by the rapid expansion of Grameen Phone. The wireless technology chosen by Grameen, based on well-known international standards, is expensive and not optimal for rural areas. Service quality has been inconsistent among phone owners and may have a negative impact on customer satisfaction.
Sources: ZEF Bonn-Center for Development Research, Insights from a Grameen Bank Initiative in Bangladesh, June 1999; Iqbal Z. Quadir, Connecting Bangladeshi Villages (www.devmedia.org/documents/ACF1055.htm), February 2000; Allen Hammond, CIO and Senior Scientist at the World Resources Institute