Friday, December 05, 2003
Mobile Public Call Offices
Elizabeth Biddlecombe writes an interesting article on how Shyam Telecom, a GSM provider in Rajasthan is using rickshaws to provide mobile public telephone services.
The company has equipped a fleet of rickshaws with a mobile phone. Drivers pedal these mobile payphones throughout the state capital, Jaipur, and the surrounding countryside. The rickshaw drivers, numbering around 200, are largely drawn from those at the margins of society - the disabled and women.
The company came up with the idea of its mobile public calling office, dubbed Chalta Flirta PCO, as a solution. The hand-pedalled rickshaws are equipped with a battery, a billing machine and a printer.
The drivers take a 20% on every call, earning between 6,000 (US$131) to 9,000 ($197) rupees per month. The telecoms company charges nothing for the initial set-up costs despite the 75,000 rupee ($1,641) price of the tricycle and equipment.
The company is apparently planning to provide Internet access in a similar as well. Clearly, this experiment is very similar to the Grameen Telecom project in Bangladesh, though Shyam Telecom haven't figured out how to make money of the service just yet. I don't see why using mobile phones in PCO's should be such a wow idea. Sometime in the near future (one hopes, with tariff rebalancing), mobile calling rates will begin to drop to and below landline rates in India. At that point, why on earth should anyone use a landline at a PCO, especially since cellcos offer instant connectivity and better service. For that matter, why would anyone even bother with owning a more expensive landline, especially if Internet connectivity can also be moved to the always on/non dial-up model?
The company has equipped a fleet of rickshaws with a mobile phone. Drivers pedal these mobile payphones throughout the state capital, Jaipur, and the surrounding countryside. The rickshaw drivers, numbering around 200, are largely drawn from those at the margins of society - the disabled and women.
The company came up with the idea of its mobile public calling office, dubbed Chalta Flirta PCO, as a solution. The hand-pedalled rickshaws are equipped with a battery, a billing machine and a printer.
The drivers take a 20% on every call, earning between 6,000 (US$131) to 9,000 ($197) rupees per month. The telecoms company charges nothing for the initial set-up costs despite the 75,000 rupee ($1,641) price of the tricycle and equipment.
The company is apparently planning to provide Internet access in a similar as well. Clearly, this experiment is very similar to the Grameen Telecom project in Bangladesh, though Shyam Telecom haven't figured out how to make money of the service just yet. I don't see why using mobile phones in PCO's should be such a wow idea. Sometime in the near future (one hopes, with tariff rebalancing), mobile calling rates will begin to drop to and below landline rates in India. At that point, why on earth should anyone use a landline at a PCO, especially since cellcos offer instant connectivity and better service. For that matter, why would anyone even bother with owning a more expensive landline, especially if Internet connectivity can also be moved to the always on/non dial-up model?
