Nokia to provide free phones to 500 rural households

Five villages in Raebareli to have 100% mobility

PTI | July 30, 2010



Cellphone maker Nokia today said it would provide free phones, preloaded with information on agriculture, education and entertainment, to over 500 households in five villages of Uttar Pradesh.

Celebrating its 15 years in India, the Finland-based firm announced the project -- Ujjwal -- to drive 100 per cent household mobility in 5 villages in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.

Nokia said the initiative aims at driving inclusive growth and pushing socio-economic development in the region through mobile connectivity.

The cellphones being distributed will be preloaded with Nokia Ovi Life Tools, a service that provides information on a range of issues related to Agriculture, Education and Entertainment. It also provides up-to-date price information on agricultural produce so that farmers can benefit from it.

"We believe that Nokia Ovi Life Tools is a transformational tool -it has the ability to impact communities in emerging markets such as ours. Through this initiative we aim to demonstrate how mobile intervention can drive inclusive growth," Nokia India Managing Director D Shivakumar told reporters here.

He said through Ovi services, rural consumers will be able to access information related to weather forecasts, crop advisory services like information on probable diseases, weather-based disruptions and tips for successful harvests.

Ovi is available on five Nokia models and in 11 languages -- Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya and English.

The company has tied up with Datamation Foundation, a dedicated NGO working in the area, to implement the initiative in the selected villages.
 

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