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In partnership with ITU (the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies), the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh has brought mobile phone services to the most isolated villages. Poor rural women now operate small businesses providing public call services to their communities, providing an income for themselves as well as benefiting the community as a whole.

In Bangladesh, one of the least developed countries in the world, Microcredit from Grameen Bank has brought mobile phone services to the most isolated villages. Poor rural women now operate small businesses providing public call services to their communities. There are now more than 220,000 of these microentrepreneurs, connecting remote rural areas in Bangladesh. As well as providing a phone service to the community, women can now fund her children’s education and improve her own family’s living conditions and buy some land and cows. Both the family and community reap the rewards. Over the phone, farmers can know information such as the best price for their produce within minutes, improving their profits.