| The concept of Village Phone is an idea which caught
people's imagination. Grameen Bank members have
entered the age of information technology by leasing and
purchasing cellular phones. The mobile phones not only create
a new business opportunity for the poor, but also bring access
to information, market, health and other services to the remote
rural areas of Bangladesh. With Grameen Bank financing a
Grameen Bank borrower buys a mobile phone to become the
Telephone Lady of the village. She provides the
telecommunication services to the village while earning profits
for herself. By the end of 2004, there were more than ninetytwo
thousand village phone ladies who have together
taken loans amounting to Tk. 1,072.40 million. |
| The demand of the Village Phone services is
increasing day by day. During the year nearly
50,000 new phones were distributed and
connections were provided to as many cell |
 Ambia talks to her husband, as their son listens in, on the Village Phone at the Bason Gazipur Branch in Dhaka Zone |
| |
| PROGRESS OF VILLAGE PHONES UP TO DICEMBER,2004 |
| Zone |
|
No. of Branches |
|
Village Phones Woned
by Bank Members |
|
| Narayanganj |
|
69 |
|
9,091 |
| Rajshahi |
|
88 |
|
8,942 |
| Bogra |
|
104 |
|
8,464 |
| Dhaka |
|
78 |
|
7,724 |
| Khulna |
|
75 |
|
6,800 |
| Noakhali |
|
72 |
|
6,523 |
| Mymensing |
|
60 |
|
5,850 |
| Comilla |
|
69 |
|
5,285 |
| Rangpur |
|
77 |
|
4,876 |
| Chittagong |
|
76 |
|
4,726 |
| Faridpur |
|
75 |
|
4,517 |
| Sylhet |
|
58 |
|
4,294 |
| Jamalpur |
|
46 |
|
3,449 |
| Dinajpur |
|
64 |
|
3,228 |
| Patuakhali |
|
94 |
|
2,577 |
| Tangail |
|
67 |
|
2,352 |
| Hobiganj |
|
35 |
|
2,237 |
| Nilphamari |
|
43 |
|
1,738 |
|
| Total |
|
1250 |
|
92,673 |
|
|
| |
|
