Can new mobile phone services in rural India promote economic empowerment?

The Wall Street Journal has published an extensive article on how new mobile phone services can promote economic empowerment in rural communities of India.

The company NOKIA says that much of the growth in India is coming from outside the major urban centers and the Nokia Life Tools (NLT) service's development has happened through partnerships that Nokia has forged locally. This includes a content-sharing agreement with partners. This partnering strategy isn't confined to agriculture. "But it's in agriculture that the entire ecosystem is coming together," as D. Shivakumar, of Nokia India, puts it.