Internet Innovation in India

07 December 2003 · 0 comments

In BBC NEWS Technology we learn: Shyam Telecom, a regional mobile phone company in the state of Rajasthan, has equipped a fleet of 200 rickshaws with a mobile phone. Drivers, largely disabled and women, pedal these mobile payphones throughout the state capital, Jaipur, and the surrounding countryside. The hand-pedalled rickshaws are equipped with a battery, [...]

 

In BBC NEWS Technology we learn:

Shyam Telecom, a regional mobile phone company in the state of Rajasthan, has equipped a fleet of 200 rickshaws with a mobile phone. Drivers, largely disabled and women, pedal these mobile payphones throughout the state capital, Jaipur, and the surrounding countryside.

The hand-pedalled rickshaws are equipped with a battery, a billing machine and a printer. The drivers take 20% on every call. Shyam is also planning to add internet-ready laptops to the rickshaws. The company’s latest innovation is a camel equipped with a wirelessly connected computer, for use in the desert, though just two animals are currently in commission at present.

Only around 23 million Indians have access to mobiles out of a population of 1.1 billion.

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