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— Ramesh Sharma

Connecting rural: Mr Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President & CEO, Nokia Corporation, calling on Mr A. Raja, Minister for IT & Communications, in the Capital on Thursday.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, June 26 With the next 100 million mobile subscribers expected to come from non-urban areas, mobile handset manufacturer Nokia outlined several initiatives for the rural markets in the areas of microfinance, distribution and value-added services specifically for farmers.

The company, which has forayed into Internet services on a global scale, is also looking to launch entry-level handsets to cater to the non-urban consumers.

Mr Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO of Nokia Corporation, during his visit to India said, “India is not an emerging market any more as far as mobile phones are concerned. It is a leading market. India’s consumption of mobiles is growing at a phenomenal pace and it has the potential to make a major contribution to the country’s socio-economic development. Nokia recognises its responsibility and our aim will be to try and bring more consumers into the folds of mobility by maximising value creation.”

The handset maker said it was looking at microfinance as a major initiative to increase mobile penetration in India from the current 26 per cent.

The company is running pilots and trials to gauge consumer response in select markets and will soon come out with specific offerings to make buying mobile phones more affordable.

On Nokia’s new Internet services strategy, Mr Kallasvuo said that agreements were being concluded with various Indian operators to take the Ovi brand to more number of cities.

Ovi is Nokia’s Internet services brand under which the company plans to offer a range of features such as GPS-enabled navigation, music store and games.

According to Mr D. Shivakumar, Vice-President and Managing Director, Nokia India, “Language, content and affordability will play a critical role in connecting the next billion consumers. At Nokia, our endeavour is to drive down the accessibility barriers and make universal access a reality.”

With its large distribution network in the country and nine Indian language support, the company is also providing agriculture-based solutions catering to the vast farmer community in India.

It is working with a host of content providers and has started programmes for farmers, which include providing solutions from information on market prices for agricultural products to weather updates to financing options.

To access difficult and under-served markets, Nokia aims to leverage its distribution network to expand into rural geographies.

In addition to increasing its existing fleet of rural vans, the company will also be reaching out to villages across India to showcase the relevant product portfolio and solutions to create awareness on the use of mobile technology.

Several educational programmes will also be launched in the rural areas for consumers.

Recognising the need for a rural care network to match its expanding rural distribution footprint, Nokia is simultaneously focusing on increasing its Care Service Centres in the rural geographies.

According to IDC, Nokia accounted for 52 per cent of the handsets shipped into India during the quarter ended March 31, 2008.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Rural Marketing

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