Bangladesh: The Succes Of GrameenPhone
While realising that communication is so important, Bengalese investment banker Mr. Iqbal Quadir realised that he could use the microfinance model of the Grameen Bank.
He formed a consortium with Muhammed Yunus' Grameen Bank and Telenor, a Norwegian mobile operator that provided the required telecoms expertise. He was then able to secure loans from development banks and aid agencies, and won a licence from the Bangladeshi government. GrameenPhone launched its service in March 1997, and today has more than 6 million subscribers, making it the country's largest telecoms operator. Bangladesh now has six mobile operators and more than 9 million subscribers in what has become a booming market.
Around 200,000 of GrameenPhone's subscribers are "telephone ladies" who provide access to telephony in more than 50,000 rural villages, with a total population of 80m people. Despite accounting for a small proportion of the mobile phones in circulation, these "village phones"
account for one-third of the traffic on the network, since they are shared between a large number of users. By making telephony widely available, says Mr Quadir, GrameenPhone 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. GrameenPhone is not a charity, but a profitable venture: it made net profits of $101m in 2004. Its approach is now being replicated in other countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, including Uganda and Rwanda.
Read more in the source article in The Ecnomist