Telenor Launches Rural GSM PayPhone in Pakistan

Telenor Pakistan has launched a community project, apnaPCO, which aims at bringing access to the most disadvantaged rural communities in the country.

Telenor Pakistan says that it has entered into an alliance with the National Rural Support Program (NRSP) for the roll-out of the project in the most impoverished rural areas of southern Punjab.

The project works on the principle of "shared access to voice," - a term which refers to the sharing of a mobile phone, as opposed to individual ownership, in the form of a supervised public payphone.

The project has been set up with support from the Development Fund of the GSM Association (GSMA).

Speaking about Telenor Pakistan's launch of apnaPCO, Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunications Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari said: "Despite the tremendous advances the industry has made, rural tele-density in Pakistan needs to increase greatly. Innovative community support projects like Telenor Pakistan's apnaPCO, which empower local entrepreneurs, can help bridge the gap between the digitally poor and the digitally rich by eliminating access and affordability constraints in disadvantaged rural markets."

Talking about Telenor Pakistan?s constant drive to innovate for the rural customer, CEO Telenor Pakistan Tore Johnsen said: "Telenor Pakistan is playing its part with great enthusiasm. Our village conversion program, partnership with NBP in the President of Pakistan's Rozgar scheme, TeleKisan ? an IVR service for the farming community, and Telecom Futures program all focus on providing solutions to disadvantaged communities."

Earlier, Executive Vice President Telenor Pakistan Irfan Wahab Khan briefed participants on the details of apnaPCO.

He told the audience that the apnaPCO business-in-a-box solution contains a robust phone, a Telenor SIM with free balance, a scratch card, and promotional material, and is supplemented with training by NRSP staff. The project, which was informally rolled out in Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar districts, has shown solid business potential for local entrepreneurs and a healthy response from the targeted communities.

Irfan also mentioned the launching of TeleKisan ? Telenor Pakistan's new IVR service for the farming community. A Telenor Pakistan customer can now utilize the TeleKisan service by calling 1350 or 700 for information regarding weather forecasts, prices of different agricultural commodities in different local markets, major agricultural crops in Pakistan, agricultural problems and their remedies, agricultural news and updates, and Ahadith, Surahs, and timings of Namaz."

Posted to the site on 11th May 2007