Activity Description: Cellular service provider Escotel's Grameen Phone Sewa initiative aims at providing connectivity to the rural masses of India. The project is similiar in concept to the Grameen Phone project in Bangladesh, where each local entrepreneur owns and operates a cellular phone that typically serves an entire village plus surrounding kasbaas. The scheme has generated an overwhelming response with over 450 villages of UP (West) and Haryana being covered by this service. To create and sustain a viable business model, Escotel provided the service at highly subsidized rates for both handsets and airtime charges.