India's Huge Market for Cheap Phones
By Nandini Lakshman, Business Week, January 8, 2007
To get a sense of how India's revolution in mobile telephony is changing people's lives, consider the case of Dashrath Pujari, a plumber who shares a modest shop with a cobbler in suburban Mumbai. People in his neighborhood seek him out to fix their faucets, washing machines, and water leaks, but when he's out on call it falls to his 14-year-old son to pass on any messages. And sometimes the boy, who attends night school, doesn't follow through.
In the past, that cost Pujari precious business, but no more, thanks to a $32 Motofone handset he purchased from Motorola a while back. Today, he fields about eight calls a day on his no-frills, black and white screen mobile phone anytime, anywhere. His monthly income has shot up 30% to $135 a month. He can't read, but knows how to take and make calls guided by the Hindi voice prompt on his phone. "It has changed my life completely," he marvels.
>> View Article | created on: 01/12/2007
