The GSMA Connected Women programme is pleased to announce that it has awarded a grant to Uninor, the Indian subsidiary of the Telenor Group. Uninor is the programme’s first MNO grantee in India and it is third overall in the country with Accion International and Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) – both of which we were awarded a grant in December last year.
The programme has been working with Uninor over the past year to implement a commercial project to target new women subscribers in rural markets. The project was officially launched in the first week of September, and includes a product concept of a combo-SIM plan that will be marketed and sold by a network of women retailers. Along with this, Uninor plans to conduct street plays to sensitise the community on the benefits of women owning a mobile phone, so as to overcome cultural barriers that hinder women’s access to mobile services.
The project is currently being piloted in the Western Uttar Pradesh circle, after which it is expected to be scaled-up to other circles. Uninor has set up a project steering committee consisting of senior executives at the corporate office and members of the circle team to monitor the pilot, as well as plan for scale up.
Prior to launching the project, Uninor and GSMA did a joint research study to understand access and use of mobile phone services among men and women in the pilot area. Data from the study indicates that there is a large gender gap, with only 29% of women respondents owning a SIM as compared to 76% men. The study also shows that women retailers could help operators better serve women customers; nearly 90% of women respondents mentioned that they feel more comfortable purchasing SIMs and talktime (mobile recharge) from women retailers.
The GSMA Connected Women programme looks forward to working closely with Uninor over the coming months to implement the project, as well as to generate insights and share them within its network in India and outside.
Uninor will be the final organisation to receive a GSMA Connected Women Innovation Fund grant, joining the other 11 grantees that are implementing projects to increase access to and use of mobile services among women in emerging markets. These grantees include: Tigo in Tanzania, Etisalat in West Africa, Orange in Mali, Airtel in Uganda, Accion International and SEWA in India, Grameen Foundation in Nigeria, Ooredoo in Myanmar, HNI in Madagascar and BRAC in Bangladesh. More information on these grantees can be found here.
The GSMA Connected Women Global Development Alliance is a programme in partnership with USAID, DFAT, GSMA and Visa Inc.