Village Phones

Based on the pioneering work of the Grameen Village Phone in Bangladesh, Village Phone and Village Phone Direct extends the benefits of affordable telecommunications access in a sustainable, profitable and empowering way. This relatively inexpensive technology can solve many of the problems the poor in rural villages have faced for decades. Grameen Foundation serves as a catalyst and creates the linkage between the telecommunications sector and the microfinance sector to enable microfinance clients to borrow the money needed to purchase a “Village Phone business” – literally, a business in a box. These grassroots entrepreneurs, or Village Phone Operators (VPOs), operate their businesses in rural villages where no telecommunications services previously existed; they rent the use of the phone to their community on a per-call basis. The VPOs provide affordable rates to their patrons while earning enough to repay their loans and earn profits that allow them to make investments in their children’s health, Village Phone has become recognized as a solid business model for reaching rural populations. It is also acknowledged as a sustainable development tool by governments and development agencies such as the World Bank, the United Nations, the International Finance Corporation and USAID.
Village Phone projects are currently underway in the Rwanda, and Uganda. For further information on Village Phone, please contact villagephone@grameenfoundation.org.