Nokia dials rural market with new services in India

A recent announcement said that Nokia Corporation aims to tap the fast-growing rural market with various new services. It would also look at lowering the affordability barrier for mobile phones by providing micro-financing facilities.

“We estimate 500 million people will have the benefit of mobility by 2010 and the telecom sector would be the biggest contributor to GDP. We also believe that much of the growth will take place in the non-urban markets, where penetration is still low at 13 per cent,” said Mr Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO, Nokia Corp. He added that India is the second biggest market in terms of revenues for Nokia.

The company also announced the national roll-out of Nokia Life Tools services, which would eventually cover 17 States. Targeted at the rural customer, Nokia Life Tools provides useful information on weather conditions, farm inputs and market prices. Nokia also announced that it plans to offer a micro-financing facility for its phones across 12 States, for which it is currently in talks with few institutions. This facility would be aimed largely at women in rural areas.