Rural Ict Business in Bangladesh: A Credible Development Agent?

Abstract

Greater engagement of businesses in development in South Asia reflects a partial withdrawal of the state from providing all kinds of services. Advocates of ‘bottom of the pyramid’ approaches have argued that corporations can step in by simultaneously making profit and contributing to development goals, including rural poverty reduction. The article investigates such claims, by using two initiatives of Information and Communication Technology business designed to serve and uplift poor people by GrameenPhone Limited, a major mobile phone operator in Bangladesh, to gauge the probability of positive development outcomes for the rural poor.