You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor To the Global Economy
Bangladeshi villagers sharing cell phones helped build what is now a thriving company with more than $200 million in annual profits. But what is the lesson for the rest of the world? This is a question author Nicholas P. Sullivan addresses in his tale of a new kind of entrepreneur, Iqbal Quadir, the visionary and catalyst behind the creation of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh.

GrameenPhone—a partnership between Norway's Telenor and Grameen Bank, co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize—defines a new approach to building business opportunities in the developing world. You Can Hear Me Now offers a compelling account of what Sullivan calls the "external combustion engine"—a combination of forces that is sparking economic growth and lifting people out of poverty in countries long dominated by aid-dependent governments. The "engine" comprises three forces: information technology, imported by native entrepreneurs trained in the West, backed by foreign investors.

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You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor To the Global Economy
Bangladeshi villagers sharing cell phones helped build what is now a thriving company with more than $200 million in annual profits. But what is the lesson for the rest of the world? This is a question author Nicholas P. Sullivan addresses in his tale of a new kind of entrepreneur, Iqbal Quadir, the visionary and catalyst behind the creation of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh.

GrameenPhone—a partnership between Norway's Telenor and Grameen Bank, co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize—defines a new approach to building business opportunities in the developing world. You Can Hear Me Now offers a compelling account of what Sullivan calls the "external combustion engine"—a combination of forces that is sparking economic growth and lifting people out of poverty in countries long dominated by aid-dependent governments. The "engine" comprises three forces: information technology, imported by native entrepreneurs trained in the West, backed by foreign investors.

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You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor To the Global Economy

You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor To the Global Economy

by Nicholas P. Sullivan
You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor To the Global Economy

You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor To the Global Economy

by Nicholas P. Sullivan

Overview

Bangladeshi villagers sharing cell phones helped build what is now a thriving company with more than $200 million in annual profits. But what is the lesson for the rest of the world? This is a question author Nicholas P. Sullivan addresses in his tale of a new kind of entrepreneur, Iqbal Quadir, the visionary and catalyst behind the creation of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh.

GrameenPhone—a partnership between Norway's Telenor and Grameen Bank, co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize—defines a new approach to building business opportunities in the developing world. You Can Hear Me Now offers a compelling account of what Sullivan calls the "external combustion engine"—a combination of forces that is sparking economic growth and lifting people out of poverty in countries long dominated by aid-dependent governments. The "engine" comprises three forces: information technology, imported by native entrepreneurs trained in the West, backed by foreign investors.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780787986094
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: 02/02/2007
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 9.00(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.99(d)

About the Author

Nicholas P. Sullivan has written widely about technology and entrepreneurship, as well as international development issues. He is publisher of the journal Innovations: Technology/Governance/Globalization (MIT Press), and a partner in the Global Horizon Fund, a private-equity fund for emerging markets. This is his second book.
www.youcanhearmenow.com

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Table of Contents

Preface vii

The Author xv

Introduction: The Three Forces of xvii

External Combustion

Part I: The GrameenPhone Story

1. Connectivity Is Productivity 3

2. Dish-Wallahs of Delhi (and Other 17 Early Models)

3. Cell Phone as Cow: A New Paradigm in Search of Investors 35

4. On the Money Trail in Scandinavia 51

5. Building a Company 71

6. Building a Network 87

Part II: Transformation Through Technology

7. Wildfire at the Bottom of the Pyramid 107

8. Cell Phone as Wallet 125

9. Wealth Creation and Rural Income Opportunities 145

10. Beyond Phones: In Search of a New “Cow” 161

11. Eyeing the Dhaka Stock Exchange 181

Epilogue 199

Notes 203

Resources 215

Index 217

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Grameen Bank has an impact on the poor, GrameenPhone on the entireeconomy."
—Muhammad Yunus,winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize

"You Can Hear Me Now is a powerful proof of the rolesthat the private sector can play in economic development. Sullivan,by picking one industry—wireless—and cleverly weavingthe economics and the growth of the industry with the humandimension, provides a distinctively new perspective on what ispossible. A must-read for all those who are concerned abouteradicating poverty. Equally, a must-read for managers who arelooking for new engines of growth."
—C.K. Prahalad, Paul and Ruth McCracken DistinguishedUniversity Professor, The Ross School of Business, the Universityof Michigan; author, The Fortune at the Bottom of thePyramid

"With the growing interest in how business can better serve the'bottom of the pyramid' there is great need for both practicalexamples of how to do it and better understanding of how suchstrategies can truly benefit those caught in the poverty trap. Thisbook delivers on both counts."
—Stuart L. Hart, S.C. Johnson Chair of Sustainable GlobalEnterprise, Cornell University; author, Capitalism at theCrossroads

"You Can Hear Me Now describes the human drama of thepoor adopting technology to enhance their productivity.Well-researched and engaging, it expertly walks the reader throughone surprising maze after another."
—V. Kasturi Rangan, Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing,Harvard Business School; coauthor, Business Solutions for theGlobal Poor

"The stories of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh, legendary indevelopment capital circles, and Celtel in Africa, among others,read as colorfully as any of the stories of the Gold Rush in theU.S. in the 1840s. Nicholas Sullivan has recounted the struggle andsubsequent success in an easy-to-read but factual manner that showsrisks countered by perseverance and guts—proving that you cando well by doing good."
—Alan Patricof, co-founder, Apax Partners and founder,Greycroft Partners

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