Nokia Sets Eye On Rural Market

Pune: The rural markets account for around 5 per cent of the national GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) handset sales. The figure is likely to increase to 25-30 per cent, adding around 100 million new cellular subscribers by 2009. The statistics are significant for vendors such as Nokia, LG and Motorola, who are engaged in major brand-building initiatives across villages via touch-and-feel experiences. Under the initiatives, the handset firms will introduce low-priced entry-level handsets and make them available in mandis, haats and rural retail chains. Nokia, for instance, has already announced localisation measures, which include developing strong regional content capabilities. Mobiles have the potential to increase a family''s savings by reducing the rural consumers unnecessary travel expenses for procurement of raw materials. Nokia has declared a partnership with Malayala Manoroma and launched a portal, where all the Nokia GPRS-enabled handsets users in Kerala will be able to get national and international news in their native language.