Reports

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An Investigation of the Replicability of a Microfinance Approach to Extending Telecommunications Access to Marginal Customers
(LIRNEasia, 2005-12) Knight-John, Malathy; Zainudeen, Ayesha; Khan, Abu-Saeed
This study is an attempt to examine and document particular sets of solutions that have emerged for the extension of telecommunications access to marginal customers in Bangladesh, under the Grameen Village Phone (VP) program. The study looks at the fundamental problem of access to telecommunications, and focuses on one of the ‘solutions’ that have emerged in response to this problem, in specific that adopted by Grameen of Bangladesh. The solution adopted by Grameen, which has also proven to be an extremely successful business model, stems from the organization’s desires to (a) promote development and poverty alleviation through the use of ICTs and (b) increase telecom access to the rural poor. It is examined closely to establish the factors that have contributed to its success, including the roles of microfinance and infrastructure sharing in the approach. The replicability of the Grameen ‘model’ is then discussed, attempting to answer questions such as how replicable is this model? and if so which parts?