Indian villagers pedal wireless (fwd)

["Ashish Kotamkar" <ashish@mithi.com>]

Thanks to Andy Carvin of Benton Foundation. - Ashish

-----Original Message-----

>From today's Benton headlines.... -ac

INDIAN VILLAGERS PEDAL WIRELESS
This month, 5,000 young men on bicycles will carry mobile phones equipped
with CDMA Wireless Local Loop into 5,000 West Bengal villages, bringing
telephone services to village doorsteps for the first time. The initiative
is orgainized by Grameen Sanchar Seva Organization (GRASSO), which strives
to use information and communications technologies to strengthen the
distribution network of agricultural produce. Soumitra Shankar Das, GRASSO's
working chairman said that many of the villages "lack even their own
transport to carry produce to markets, so digital connectivity is like half
a circle." To complete the rest of the circle, GRASSO will help villagers
become owners of telephone booths, Internet kiosks and vehicles that will
carry the produce. "The idea is to build three networks -- phones, Internet
and transport -- each sustaining the other," said Das.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Anuradha Kumar]
(http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,56663,00.html)

***********************************
Andy Carvin
Senior Associate
Benton Foundation

acarvin@benton.org
http://www.benton.org
http://www.digitalopportunity.org
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org
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