Village Phone replication manual : creating sustainable access to affordable telecommunications for the rural poor

One of the greatest success stories in international development has been Grameen's Village Phone program in Bangladesh. In rural villages where no telecommunications service has previously existed, mobile phones are provided to very poor women who use the phone to operate a business. These micro-entrepreneurs purchase the phone with a loan from Grameen Bank and then sell the use of it on a per call basis. The benefits to both the operator and the community have been tremendous. The Grameen Technology Center, an initiative of Grameen Foundation USA, launched an initiative to replicate the success of the Village Phone program outside of Bangladesh and document a model for replicating Village Phone. Uganda was identified as the first country for replication and since November 2003, MTN villagePhone has been working to alleviate poverty and empower rural Ugandans through the provision of communications services.This document is a guideline for replicating the Village Phone program in a new country. It draws on Grameen's experience in both Bangladesh and Uganda and establishes a template for creating sustainable initiatives that simultaneously bring telecommunications to the rural poor, create viable new businesses for micro-entrepreneurs, and expand the customer base of telecommunications companies in a profitable way.