Village Phone (VP)

A Revaluation in Micro-finance

Bangladesh

Independence from: Pakistan

(1971)

Border shared: India,

Myanmar

Area: 147570km sq(94th )

56977sq mil

6.9 water (more than 2/3rd )

Population : 164.4million

GDP: $641

Economy: Rural Economy

(Agriculture)

Division: 7, Villages: 68,000

Capital: Dhaka (13%p)

Religious: Islam (Muslims)

Politics: Parliamentary

Democracy

Culture Tradition

Farming

FishingGolden Fiber

Tea

Microfinance: is the provision of financial

services to low-income clients or solidaritylending groups including consumers and theself-employed, who traditionally lack access tobanking and related services.

Two types of Microfinance:

1. Savings-led (Community/household based)

2. Credits-led (GrameenBank)

The objectives of Village Phone (VP) are:

• Access to rural communication of Bangladesh

• Introduce a new income generating source for poor

• Bring the potential of the Information Revolution to the doorsteps of villagers;

• Introduce telecommunications as a new weapon against poverty.

Criteria:

• Very good record of repayment of Grameen Bank loans;

• Good business, preferably a village grocery store, and have the spare time

to function as the VP operator.

• Literate or at least she must have children who can read and write;

• Residence should be near the centre of the village.

Village Phone

Village Phone Program is a noble effort by tri

party (GP-GTC-GB) to eliminate poverty by

providing self-employment opportunity

Replicated in a number of countries including

Uganda and Rwanda.

Launched Date: 26 March, 1997, the same day

commercial service of Grameenphone was launched

Currently 530K (approx.) Village Phone

Operators are doing business all over rural

Bangladesh

Received 'GSMA in the Community Award' in

2000

Received 'Commonwealth Innovation Award' in 2003

& "Petersburg Prize" awarded by the Gateway

Foundation in 2005.

Village Phone (contd.)

The profit for VPO is the difference between end

customer tariff & operator’s tariff

VP is mainly available at rural areas where

most of the people don’t own personal handset

& connection (65,000 villages)

VP program has created an income-earning

opportunity for the VP operators, mostly poor

women and borrower members of GB, who are

now able to make their opinions count. They are

popularly known as VPO

The Village Phone (VP) initiative has made tremendous

social and economic impact in the rural areas of

Bangladesh, creating a 'substantial consumer surplus'

for the users.

This profit enables them to meet not only basic need

like food, shelter, health etc. but also entertainment

need

Only GB members can get the VP connection

at very lucrative product & price plan.

How it works..

Selection, Subscription and Training

Billing- GP prepares a monthly bill at the bulk airtime rate for VP for total airtime used by all VPs.GP

sent the bills to GB each month. GTC disburse the bills to all VP operators and collect the bills and pay

back. . This process provides an interesting solution to the problem of revenue collection that

sometimes plagues the operators of rural telephone systems.

After Sales Support- GTC has established Unit Offices to

cover the VP operation in the field.

Purchase & Payment- The basic VP package costs 10,000

Taka, or approx.$140. VP operator pays for the phone through

weekly loan payment installments of 146 Taka or approx $2. These

payments are made through the local GB branch.

Electricity- Widespread access to electricity in rural Bangladesh enables the phone operator to

recharge batteries or power the phone directly from an electrical outlet. Solar power sources are

provided in some Village Phones in non-electrified villages which produces 16-12volt.

Call Charges & Profit- GP charges GT Tk.1 ($.0138) flat rate, whereas urban GP subscribers

pay Tk.up to tk 4($.055)

What they Sell

Air time (incoming/outgoing for

Local/NWD/ISD)

Fax

Remittance (Local/International)

Internet Packages

Information

FlexiLoad

Collect bills (Water/Electricity/Gas)

Net Income: On average, the VPO earns min a net profit of 580 tk per week =$8.05

VPO earns an income of 27,840 tk =$387 per year

GDP per capita $641 (2010 est), GDP growth 5.5% (2010 est.)

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=140346

Contribution to economy:

Monthly ARPU is BDT 270 = $3.75

Monthly Revenue generating: 135 million

Product Feature Village Phone

(Prepaid with 10% mark up)

Startup Price Taka 149

(1st November-2010)

Startup Freebies - Tk. 50 Preloaded talk time with validity of 30 days

CUG (Community Tariff) 0.75 paisa (VP to VP)

Minimum Bill Amount/Bundle Fee/Line Rent N/A

Pulse On-net/Off-net 1 sec

Peak On-net/

Off-net

0.49/min 0.99/min

(12 pm-3.59 pm) (4 pm -11.59 am)

0.99 /min(24 hr)

or

0.49/min (GP to GP) and 0.65/min (GP to other operator) with 60 sec pulse on

recharge of minimum BDT 300

Off-Peak On-net/

Off-net

Recharge Based Bonus

SMS

456 Hotline and 4567 port (VP Managers)

121 hotline (VP Subscriber)

10% instant bonus amount on minimum BDT 50 of Recharge (only applicable for

default tariff except 0.49/min cases)

On-net-0.50/Off-net- 0.50

Toll Free

1.00 Tk/min

Key Features

-Prepaid Price Plan

-Make and Receive Calls from any phone (Mobile, PSTN,ISD)

-Electronic and Scratch Card Based Recharge

-Data Service (EDGE P1/P4/P5/P6)

-VP Community Pricing

-Vat and Conditions Apply

Photo album..

Photo album..

Thank You

World’s largest

Mangrove forestry

Rain forest

World’s longest sandy beach