Whats the reason you e moving to incorporate technology in developing countries, lending cellphones to villagers, etc.?
I got very involved in information technology issues because of its influence in large advanced economies like the U.S. and Europe. The old relationships are changing in business — like in the value chain, middlemen are eliminated. This is changing the cost structure, changing the direct link between the consumer and producer…. It’s becoming a new society, not only a new economy. In my work in Bangladesh I’m trying to use information technology to address the issue of poverty. So we created Grameen Phone. The conventional mobile-phone company will be selling mobile phones to the rich people, the well-off people. But we decided to take to the villages and to the extreme poor people. It was convenient because we have Grameen Bank, so the financing part was easy. So we are financing the phone, and the woman sells the service of the telephone in the village and makes money. It’s a win-win situation all around. She never saw a telephone in her life. She never used one. In many cases she