An alliance between Grameen Foundation, Indonesia’s Bakrie Telecom and Qualcomm has rolled out a Village Phone Programme in rural Indonesia, which allows renting the use of the phone on a per-call basis in rural villages where telecom services did not previously exist.
“Microfinance helps to put technology within financial reach of the poor and we are pleased to work with Qualcomm and Bakrie Telecom to help Indonesia’s rural microentrepreneurs build self-sustaining businesses that also enhance the socio-economic development of their wider communities,” said Alex Counts, president and CEO of Grameen Foundation. Read more.
2 Comments
Chanuka Wattegama
We have received the following correspondence from Grameen Foundation. We apologise for our unintentional error. (Text is corrected now.)
Dear Sir/Madam:
Thank you for highlighting the launch of Uber Esia, the new Village Phone program in Indonesia. I would like to correct one error. Grameen Foundation is not based in Bangladesh; it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Our founding was inspired by the work of Professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, but we are completely separate organizations. I would appreciate it if you would make that correction.
Sincerely,
Liselle Yorke
Senior Marketing Officer
Grameen Foundation
Abu Saeed Khan
That is an editorial error of Telecom TV. Thanks for pointing it out, anyway.
Missed opportunities in Philippine data governance
Even though the Constitution of the Philippines protects citizens’ right to access official records and research data used in policymaking, the absence of a comprehensive right-to-information law has left implementation subject to executive discretion. In a recent article published in InsiderPH on April 6, 2026, J.
Rethinking Sri Lanka’s Data Centre Hub Ambition
The idea of turning Sri Lanka into a regional data centre hub is an attractive one, particularly in the context of growing global demand for digital infrastructure and AI-driven services. However, it raises important economic questions, especially whether this is a viable and high-return investment strategy for a small, fiscally constrained economy like Sri Lanka.
Nepal’s digital crossroads: building a transparent data governance framework
Nepal’s evolving digital landscape highlights a growing tension between constitutional guarantees of privacy and access to information, and a fragmented, outdated data governance framework. In a recent article published in Republica on March 17, 2026, Avash Mainali, Country Researcher for Nepal for LIRNEasia’s D4D Asia project, argues that while the introduction of the Personal Data Protection Policy, 2082 (2025), marks a positive step, its impact will depend on whether it can move beyond aspirational language to enforceable rights.
Links
User Login
Themes
Social
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed
Contact
9A 1/1, Balcombe Place
Colombo 08
Sri Lanka
+94 (0)11 267 1160
+94 (0)11 267 5212
info [at] lirneasia [dot] net
Copyright © 2026 LIRNEasia
a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific