Since launching in 2007, the Negros Women of Tomorrow Foundation’s (NWTF) Village Phone program has grown exponentially. Today, more than 300 Village Phone businesses have been created in most parts of the Visayas Region in the Philippines, in the islands of Negros, Cebu, Samar, Bohol and Palawan. These businesses are helping to increase vital access to reliable and affordable telecommunications.

Village Phone Operators have been very happy with their businesses thus far, concentrating not only on renting out the phones for SMS and calls, but also on distributing airtime to people in the community. This has earned for them on average an additional P150-300 ($3-$6) per day for their phone business.

NWTF has been surprised that clients, even in areas where they thought Village Phone would not be necessary, have been interested in running this type of business. Demand has been high and continues to grow, with an expected 500 new businesses created by the end of the year.

"The program has generated a lot of interest among our clients." said Raymond Serios, Village Phone Manager at NWTF. "Rural people are happy that they now have convenient access to mobile phones, which is almost a necessity in the Philippines. With this technology now reaching even the farthest area, NWTF is optimistic that this will serve as a platform for other applications which would not only increase the income of VPOs but ultimately, bridge the divide between rural and urban communities."

In April, NWTF also hosted the first regional Village Phone Training for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and Telecoms working to implement their own programs. Participants from the Philippines, India, Cambodia, Samoa, and Indonesia were in attendance for the 3-day training, which included a field visit to meet Village Phone Operators.

Training participants discuss the various relationships involved in implementing Village Phone

Participants demonstrate how to attach an external antenna to the phone

NWTF is positioning the Village Phone Program to be an enabler that will bring about other solutions to both the community and the organization. Aside from strongly supporting the clients in selling airtime credits, NWTF is also working on getting clients to pay and receive their micro loans through their phones and use the devices to remit money. The introduction of these new activities would mean new revenue streams for the VPOs.

With the goal of establishing 10,000 Village Phone businesses by 2012, Cambodia Village Phone (CVP) has set its sights high. Established in June 2007, after a successful 6 month pilot, CVP seeks to connect rural communities through mobile phone technology by creating socially responsible and sustainable Village Phone businesses throughout Cambodia. 

Village Phone Operators in Kantreang

Cambodia has a population of approximately 14 million, with 85% of its citizens residing in rural areas. According to the 2007 International Telecommunications Union statistics, there are 0.26 fixed lines and 17.88 mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants. Clearly the mobile industry is growing faster than the fixed line infrastructure, yet more than 80% of the population continues to be left behind.

Demonstrating the C-fone by CVP sales representative through AMK introduction

The Cambodia Village Phone Managing Director participated this past Spring in the Grameen Foundation sponsored Village Phone Training in the Philippines along with representatives from the three Cambodian MFI partners and one telecom partner. They had the opportunity to work together to strengthen their relationship and make plans for further outreach.

Village Phone Training for Vision Fund Cambodia in Takie Province

  For more information, visit Cambodia Village Phone's website.

Roughly 84% of the lower-income population in rural areas of the Philippines finds it difficult to access a telephone. This is a figure that the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), a regional microfinance institution, is setting out to change.

From July to October 2006, the NWTF conducted a pilot program in four towns located in the southern part of Negros Island. Twenty five Village Phone Operator (VPO) businesses were created and monitored, with the aim of determining whether a larger program would be a success.

The VPOs found their new phone businesses to be useful sources of extra income. Average earnings increased by around $5 to $6 per week, in addition to a higher volume of sales in their primary industry (small retail stores, local eateries and the like).

As part of the program, NWTF carried out sales monitoring and dialogue with the loan clients throughout the pilot phase, leading to the discovery of several additional telecom-related services the microfinance institution could help provide through the VPO network. One such area of expansion was to meet the high rural demand for airtime credit. NWTF decided to provide a means for VPOs to sell airtime cards to other mobile phone owners in their respective villages, thus further increasing VPO earnings by $3 to $9 per week.

“The phone business has really brought me and my family a lot of positive things,” says Roselyn Mondia, a Village Phone Operator in Barangay Basak. “We are now a landmark in our barangay [a regional term for a village]; our house is a place where local people discuss current issues and they always thank us for bringing to them an easy way to communicate.” Before Roselyn started her Village Phone business, people in her barangay had to hire a tricycle to take them 15km to the local town to make a phone call. Now people in her community can reach affordable telecommunications within minutes, and Roselyn makes an average net income of $14 to $18 a week.

Maria Juliet Barredo, who lives in Barangay Bonawon, is another VPO who benefits from the project. She operates the Village Phone business in addition to running a sari-sari store. People in her barangay save travel expenses and time, and her family benefits directly from the extra $14 a week (on average) she earns.

Although NWTF originally started the program in partnership with Globe Telecom – a regional telephone provider – and the Grameen Foundation, they quickly switched to the Village Phone Direct model, in order to provide the most flexible and need-tailored solution to their VPOs. The choice of telecom operator could now be based on the best service and lowest call tariff, which was not a possibility when operating under a single network provider.

NWTF has hired an extra staff member to deal with the supplementary marketing, targeting, monitoring and technical duties associated with this new approach. Moving forward, the microfinance institution is looking at more cost effective sources for SIM cards and airtime. Having proved through the pilot that the Village Phone Direct model can be a success, NWTF is on the verge of deploying 500 phones through its network of local branches.