Grameen Bank's Village Phone Initiative: Connecting Rural Bangladesh to the World

<< Previous

"By making telephony widely available, Grameen Phone has increased the country's GDP by a far greater amount than repeated infusions of foreign aid. Mobile phones promote economic activity, prevent wasted journeys, make it easier to look for work, and widen access to markets."¹

- Iqbal Quadir, Founder, Grameen Phone, in 2006.

"What Grameen Bank has done is simply to take advantage of the synergy between micro-credit and ICT and help the poor women to exploit the market opportunity that exists around them."²

- Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director of Grameen Bank, in 2004.

Introduction

Abdul Rahman (Rahman), a migrant worker from Bangladesh, was employed in Saudi Arabia. In July 2004, floods ravaged Bangladesh, leaving many villages cut off from the rest of the country and hundreds of people marooned. Worried about the whereabouts of his family members, as his village, Jalkhali in Barguna district, was one of those affected, Rahman called on the mobile phone of Nazia Begum (Nazia). Nazia, a Village Phone Operator (VPO), immediately took the phone to his family members, who told him that they were safe. Nazia charged Rahman's family Taka3 2 for this service.

Grameen Bank's Village Phone Initiative: Connecting Rural Bangladesh to the World - Next Page>>

---

1] "Power to the People," The Economist, March 09, 2006.

2] "Petersberg Prize 2004: Grameen Bank - Village Phone Awarded," www. i4donline.net, July 2004.

3] As of August, 03, 2006, 1 US$ = 69.78 Bangladesh Taka.

---

Custom Search

---

Marketing Financial Products ICMR Textbooks Collection	Case Studies in Finance Volume-IV Case Volumes Collection	Case Studies in Finance Vol III Case Study Volumes Collection