A Working Report on Grameen Phone Community Information Center (Gpcic) Essays

A Working Report on Grameen Phone Community Information Center (Gpcic) Essays A Working Report on Grameen Phone Community Information Center (Gpcic) Essay A Working Report on Grameen Phone Community Information Center (Gpcic) Essay have worked in Grameen phone Community Information Center ( GP CIC) as an intern from 1st June to 31st August, 2008. During this limited time, the completion of this report was possible because of the cooperation of many people. I offer my most sincere admirations to all of those who provided their invaluable advices and encouragements in this endeavor. I am truly grateful to all the employees of Grameen phone Community Information Center (GP CIC) especially my super visor, Mr. Md. Shafiqul Islam Sikdar. And to end with, I would like to express my extreme appreciation to my honorable supervisor, Mr. Md. Sohel Islam and to my respected instructor Mr. Md. Muzahid Akbar. Their precious contributions enhanced my self-belief and helped me to finish my study in time as well. III Executive Summary CIC initiative taken by Grameen phone – is a countrywide massive network grown in the last few years with over 500 centers across 450 Upazilla of the country which is designed to provide he benefits of internet service among the disadvantaged population and increase employment in this part of the country. Despite of such success of self-sustainability of most of the centers, around 10% of them are still struggling financially. In the point of time, when it is planned to expand the initiative, it is necessary to understand the dynamics behi nd success of such centers and take stock of work so far so as to effectively replicate the experiences and success stories. This report is basically prepared to asses the current business condition and future prospects of he project CIC, in the context of Grameen phone. Even though, I tried to gather as much information as possible relevant to the purpose of the study, still some necessary data might be missing in order to follow the rule of the company confidentiality. However, both primary and secondary sources were used to collect data for the study. Interviews were taken of the User, Non user, GP CIC employees and some Entrepreneurs of the CIC. Secondary data were collected from the Internet, Journals, and Newspapers and from the company Grameen phone itself. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Page No. Letter of Transmittal Acknowledgement Executive Summary 1. 0 AN OVERVIEW OF GRAMEEN PHONE LTD 1 1. 1 FLOW CHART OF THE COMPANY 2 2. 0 BACKGROUND OF THE REPORT 3 2. 1 OBJECTIVES OF THE REPORT 3 2. 2 METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY 4 2. LIMITATIONS OF THE REPORT 4 2. 4 OVER VIEW OF THE APPROACH 5 3. 0 GRAMEEN PHONE COMMUNITY INFORMATION CENTER (GPCIC) 6 3. 1 What is GPCIC? 6 3. 2 Objective of the CIC 7 3. 3 How to form a CIC 7 3. 4 General services available in the GPCIC 9 . 5 Target Market of the CICS 10 3. 6 Flow-Chart for CIC Support 10 3. 7 Impact/ Outcome of the project 11 4. 0 Activities that I performed during the Internship Program 14 5. 0 Challenges that I faced 15 6. Learning through the Internship Program 16 V 6. 1 New CIC Roll Out 16 6. 2 C CI IC C O Op pe er ra at ti io on ns s 1 17 7 6 6. .3 3 T Te ec ch hn ni ic ca al l S Su up pp po or rt t f fo or r t th he e E En nt tr re ep pr re en ne eu ur rs s 1 19 9 7. 0 Findings 20 7. 1 Positive findings 20 . 2 Negative Findings 21 8. 0 RECOMMENDATIONS 22 9. 0 CONCLUSION 23 10. 0 References 25 11. 0 Appendixes 26 1. 0 AN OVERVIEW OF GRAMEEN PHONE LTD. Grameen phone Ltd, the leading cell companies states its voyage with an aim? f ensuring affordable telephony service to entire population of Bangladesh. Grameen phone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on November 28, 1996 and launched its service on the Independence Day of Bangladesh on March 26, 1997. Grameen telecom, is a not for profit company and works in close collaboration with Grameen bank. Grameen telecom, with the help of Grameen Bank, manages the village phone program, through which Grameen phone Ltd provides its GSM services to the fast growing rural customers. Grameen telecom which owns 38% of the shares of Grameen phone Ltd and the rest 62% owns by Telenor AS, the leading cell company in Norway. It has listed both in Oslo and NASDAQ stock exchange. Grameen phone Ltd considers them as a medium to connect the people through their mobility. Management has brought a change in the organizational structure in view of need of time. As of the recent change, line function of the company comprises of the 7 major tasks. These are: Networks (IT Technical) Commercial (Sales, Marketing, Distribution, Logistics, Data New Business, segments, Regional Sales) Communications (Corporate Communications, Information, Public Relations, CSR) Finance (Finance, SCM,HSSE) HR Admin. Customer service Corporate Affairs Government Relations A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 2 1. 1 FLOW CHART OF THE COMPANY: A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 3 2. 0 BACKGROUND OF THE REPORT After the completion of Four years (12 semesters) BBA Program of Independent University ? Bangladesh; 3 months organizational attachment is a must. I completed this internship period in ? Grameen phone Ltd (GP), the number one telecommunication company in Bangladesh. I worked he GPCIC (Grameen Phone Community Information Center) project under Data and new Business, Commercial Division. I focused on Roll Out, Operation Technical Support of the project. After the kind approval of my instructor, the report originated. 2. 1 OBJECTIVES OF THE REPORT The objective of this working report is to figure out debrief the over all process of the Roll Out, Operation Technical Support Team. Initia tive was also taken to find out the reason behind the GPCIC s success.? ? Understanding the need for information center in rural areas of Bangladesh. ? Understanding the reason behind successful CIC. Understanding the reason behind drop out CIC. ? Understanding the concept of CIC as a social business initiative. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 4 2. 2 METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY The study required a holistic approach to adequately diagnose the over all circumstance of the CICs. Thus it required a combination of Primary and secondary data collection. Primary – to get an in depth understanding of the entire CIC dynamics / issues from different respondent groups and help fine tune the KSF (Key Success Factors) determinants and Secondary – To capture all etails including cross examination of the KSFs, keeping the study objective in view. The proposed methodology is outlined below: Primary data collection: Primary data have been collected directly to solve the problem at hand. The primary data were collected through taking feedback from the under mentioned sources. CIC operators GP Employees related to CICs Users Non-users Secondary data collection: Secondary data were collected through Internet CIC Booklet CIC report in Media Other secondary source 2. 3 LIMITATIONS OF THE REPORT Alike most of the study time was a constraint for doing this treatise. Since I have been allotted a time frame of three months for my intern it was almost impossible to get the actual figure which can reflect the result of the study with 100% accuracy. The other restraint for executing the study A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 5 was the limited access to the internal issues. As an intern, I had very little access in the decision making and other sensitive confidential issues. On the other hand, different centers are located in the rural areas and it is hardly possible to contact with them. Thus, I had to take the interviews via Telephone. As a result, it was really inflexible to identify the actual outcome. Moreover, the financial statements of GP for 2009 have not been published yet. As a result, most of the data those have been provided in the organizational part is based on year 2008. 2. 4 OVER VIEW OF THE APPROACH GP employee Feedback: Partnership arrangement with CICs, Support services made available to the CICs. Need Gap analysis, Reasons for Good or Poor performance etc. Secondary data collection : Area profiling, verify population density, presence and location of important socio-economic, business, educational or other infrastructures ith particular relevance to CIC success. Non-user Feedback: Awareness on CICs service bundle Need/demand for CIC services, Reasons for not using CIC services. Way forward to attract non-users. Profile User Feedback: Awareness on service bundle, Services availed, Role of CIC in their life and living. Need Gap assessment, User profiling. CIC Feedback: CIC Entrepreneur Interview. To explore service bundle offered, services on demand, opportunity lost or problem encountered, complaint handling, customer services profitability etc. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 3. 0 GRAMEEN PHONE COMMUNITY INFORMATION CENTER (GPCIC) What is GPCIC? The Grameen phone Community Information Center is a shared premise where rural people may access a wide-range of state of art services such as Internet, voice communications, video conferencing and other information services. This initiative is part of Grameen phone s drive to ? do something good for the rural community, which is a major portion of the population of the country. CICs developed a unique business model that was highly applauded by local government the International community . Set up with technical assistance from the GSM Association, Grameen phone Community Information Centers (GPCICs) are equipped with the minimum of a computer, a printer, a scanner, a webcam and an EDGE-enabled modem, to access the Internet using Grameen phone s nation? -wide EDGE connectivity. The pilot project started in February 2006 with 16 CICs; today the project has become a massive operation with over 500 CICs operational in nearly 450 Upazilla s. The sho? rt-term plan of this initiative is to establish at least one CIC in each of the 462 Upazilla s. In the long? -run Grameen phone plans to increase the umber of CICs substantially so that very CIC can support the information needs of four adjacent villages. GPCICs are designed to be run independently as small businesses by local entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs are trained and are provided with continuous support from Grameen phone. To help the entrepreneurs earn a living, Community Information Centers also provide other Grameen phone services, such as payphones (again using Grameen phones mobile network) and electronic recharges (Flexi load) for prepaid and postpaid mobile accounts. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 7 Objective of the CICs: GP’s perspective: Create access to information Generate employment Produce business through self sustained economic activities Socio-economic upliftment of the rural masses Brighten GP s image as Social Entrepreneur? Bridging the digital-divide Entrepreneur’s perspective: Working with Viable business case Opportunity to promote ICT in the local community. How to form a CIC? Technical Option A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 8 CIC User User ` MS Windows XP/Linux USB UPS Backup Mainline Power Supply Internet Modem Basic Option Multiple Terminal CIC User CIC User 1GB link CIC User Terminal w/ keyboard mouse Terminal w/ keyboard mouse Terminal w/ keyboard mouse NIVO unit NIVO unit Mainline Power Supply USB EDGE Modem ` Linux Server UPS Backup Switch NIVO unit A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 9 General services available in the GPCIC : Internet surfing and e-mailing Content on health, agriculture, etc. Locally relevant customized and open content Chatting with Voice, Picture Video conferencing Typing Scanning, Printing Commercial Mobile Call E-governance services GP value added services such as Flexi Load, Ring tones downloading etc. E-Fax CD Writing Telemedicine services (to be introduced) Multimedia education for children (Meena Cartoon, courtesy of UNDP ) Target Market of the CICS: The inhabitants of the village community (generally). The Government (local central agency, utility services and for e-governance etc. ). Teachers, students and the youth (for internet browsing, distance learning etc. ) Professionals (such as Doctors, Paramedics, Midwives, Agriculturists telemedicine etc. ) Farmers the rural business community (for price applications, rural trading business etc. ) A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 0 NGO, Women (at least one worker in the CIC would be a woman) Community Workers etc. FLOW CHART FOR CIC SUPPORT START Problem found by CIC Operator Call CIC Helpline/Raise Workflow Mailer Ticketing System Can CIC Team Solve the problem ? Escalate the problem to other Dept as per SLA Can Concerned Dept. Solve the problem ? Call vendor END Yes Yes No No A Working Report on Gra meen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 11 Impact/ Outcome of the project: Socio Economic Impact on GP s Business? Impact on ICT Sector Education Agriculture Health Employment Gender Equity SOCIO-ECONOMIC Bangladesh is an agrarian country. Literacy rate is below 30%. There is a tendency in the populace to leave their village homes in search of livelihood in the already overcrowded cities. These situations must have to be altered and the trend need be reversed soon enough. By creating job opportunities in the villages positive impacts ? on the socio-economic sphere has been made. IMPACT ON GP’s BUSINESS The proposed business model implicated local entrepreneurs; generate business activities in the rural Bangladesh. Business had run as self sustained business units. This has eventually onsequent in positive financial impacts on the business of GP as well. IMPACT ON TELECOM AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR Telecom is the thrust sector in the country. To keep pace with the rest of the world, Bangladesh has no other alternative but to pace its advancement in telecommunications and tele-density in both voice and data. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Inform ation Center (GPCIC) 12 GP has noticeably performed in fulfilling its obligation towards Universal Service Obligation in telecom. This project has implemented at the initiatives of GP, has endear GP to the Regulator, he Government and the mass to a great extent. EDUCATION The inhabitants of the villages have come across many educational opportunities through these centers. These would enrich their knowledge. The training facility at the centers provides them the opportunity to learn more about ICT. The literacy rate has increased eventually. AGRICULTURE Bangladesh is mainly an agricultural country with nearly 75 percent of the population dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture accounts for approximately 30 percent of Bangladesh s GD? P. Improved farming techniques and the use of irrigation and high-yield grains ave greatly increased Bangladesh s ? agricultural output. This project provided the rural population of Bangladesh with information on issues related to ag riculture. These sites reckoned for information on plants, plant diseases, types of farming, use of pesticides and herbicides etc. Apart from having a vast reservoir of information, CICs keep farmers updated on various agriculture related Government schemes, their details, duration of offer and eligibility. Availing these schemes is beneficial to farmers and local entrepreneur will assist farmers in procuring other details, thus saving their time and energy. HEALTH Information on health helps the citizens remain healthy and fit. It has covered a wide range of topics from Pregnancy to Child health to First Aid tips. Project gives the shortcuts, the little- known tricks and proven methods to help everybody in their quest for good health. By A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 13 understanding the basic principles of healthy living and applying them with sense and moderation, people can vastly improve the quality and well increase the length of their lives. Through a section like Ask the Doctor citizen posts any query regarding health advice. CIC has forwarded this query to panel of specialists in Dhaka and people can get a reply. The advances in medicine have truly been staggering. Applying what we already know to the healthcare can lead to continued good health. The project introduces Telemedicine facilities in the long run. EMPLOYMENT It is appreciated from the implementation experience of the project in Bangladesh that there is a direct employment generation for at least one person for each center. After the activity peaks up, with passage of time, at least three persons are indirectly supported by each center which holds a romise for significant employment generation from this project. GENDER EQUITY Government of Bangladesh has announced equal opportunity for women. Parliament has reserved seats for women members. For other areas also, there are many opportunities forthcoming to the rural women for which information and knowledge are lacking. The Community Centers, established on the principle of inclusion, brought b etter knowledge to women. Knowledge brought options, options have created opportunities and opportunities lead to reduction of gender inequality and increase sustainable development of family and the ommunity. DIGITAL DIVIDE Out of 80% of Bangladesh population living in rural and remote areas has little to no access to information. There are many governmental poverty alleviation and development schemes, health A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 14 advisory bulletins, information pertaining to citizen-charter, legislation and so on for the rural people, information which do not reach them. But because of the implementation of the CIC empowerment of rural citizen has taken place through these ICT enabled centers by way of rapid flow of information on such issues. Thus the digital divide narrowed up in the long run in the rural Bangladesh. 4. 0 ACTIVITIES THAT I PERFORMED: CIC Identification: Sort out growth centers from LGRD database. A total of 6500 growth centers identified through out the country. Entrepreneur Selection: Archive CIC Entrepreneur application form in electronic database. Assigned weight to application form as per pre set criteria. Responded to entrepreneurs general query over email.? Database Creation: Created a simple database in excel format for closed CIC where commissioning to closing of the project activities was considered. Cut off date was 10 th August 2009. CIC Product Support: Mapped CIC with reload distributors according to their respected territory. Total 87 CICs were mapped with corresponding distributors for Flexi load / reload SIM handover to CIC entrepreneur. Follow up Flexi load out of stock balance for 550 GPCICs. Feed back collection: Collected post event feedback from the Entrepreneurs for various ATL and BTL activities undertaken by Grameen Phone. Assisted in ad hoc task of monitoring evaluation of implementing agency. Mentionable, both ATL and BTL program is carried out by GP to build awareness about GPCIC promote CIC s service ? o different target audience. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 15 Online Over phone training: Occasionally I was blessed with the responsibility to help CIC Training team members to train entrepreneurs over phone and email. The basic task was to guide the entrepreneurs to navigate to appropriate URL for fertilizer recommendation software. Total 3 0 CIC training were conducted by me. Assisted in other ad hoc tasks by CIC team members as and when it was necessary. 5. 0 CHALLENGES THAT I FACED GrameenPhone has a fair recruitment policy. This policy can be classified as a Regular, Contractual, and Part-Time Intern. Every individual Duties, Rights responsibilities have been clearly defined in the employment term. The organization environments are conducive of applying theoretical knowledge in to reality. Like many other big corporate houses GrameenPhone share information on need to know basis. Sometimes it has been felt that people in GP work under strict deadline. They focus more on their immediate deliverables. That time it is difficult to seek their valuable time on any issue for further clarification or to clear up my concept. During CIC field visit it was difficult to move independently. It can be said that CIC center are geographically dispersed. Visiting CIC from different category (e. g. state in their life cycle, revenue earning status, different level of enterprising quality, and varying service augmentation by end user, successful unsuccessful CIC) need considerable time, money energy. Due to their nation wide presence getting all kind of CIC in a single/ few short tour plans is not possible. Strong external competitor has not emerged for CIC till time. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 16 6. 0 LEARNING THROUGH THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM NEW CIC ROLL OUT To establish new CIC in uncovered Upazilla GP follow bellow mentioned steps. 1. Site Identification: Identify Upazilla establish CIC considering demography, growth center, and long term Business viability. 2. Press advertisement: GP go for press Advertisement for getting application from prospective entrepreneur. 3. Site Selection Data collection: So many technical details e. g. Serving cell, / neighboring cell longitude latitude, radio condition, shop dimension data collected to choose from competing center. Finally CIC team Short list CIC site according to field data. 4. Entrepreneurs Selection: CIC team Evaluate application among competing alternatives. Then Follow competitive selection process, Call for interview, Select the entrepreneur. Finally, pass the selected entrepreneur list to training team. 5. Agreement Signing Logistics Distribution: Following steps are taken in to account ? Administer agreement signing with Individual entrepreneur Immediately after training session ? Compliance issue ? Distribute GP WAN GPPP SIM ? Distribute banner, festoon Poster, leaflet, other POSM. 6. Soft Launch: at this stage under mentioned steps need consideration ? Activate Sim. Verify soft launch status through BSCS, TAPS other tools. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 17 7. Channel Dedication / FPDCH Definition ? Sending request to concerned technical department to Identify of serving cell and needful channel dedication. ? Getting feedback from networks test performance. ? Update in life cycle database ? Collect extern al antenna for CIC with Poor network quality. 8. Shop Profiling ? Raise Purchase Requisitions for all kind of Branding, Profiling marketing materials ? Communicate with Brand or Creative for design related issue ? Allocate work among vendor to maximize efficiency ? Confirm work completion quality in delivery with entrepreneur ? Create move order to disburse bill from finance. 9. Reload SIM Handover: ? send request to reload department ? reload verifies according to agreed process ? reload register SIM send to regional reload ? Regional reload distribute Flexi load SIM to distributor ? Distributor handover Flexi load SIM to entrepreneur. C CI IC C O OP PE ER RA AT TI IO ON NS S 1. CIC Product maintenance: under mentioned things are taken into account for CIC Product maintenance. ? GP WAN ,GPPP, Flexi load Bar – Unbar issue ? Sim Replacement A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 18 ? Credit Limit fixation ? Grace period issue ? Update sales report in ERP ? Providing necessary VAT TAX Treatment ? Ensure smooth operation of CIC operation ? Follow up bill collection ? Follow up agreement terms 2. Make shift of apparatus for disqualified Entrepreneurs: under mentioned things are taken into account for Make shift cases Inform regional team regarding disqualification ? Collect SIM from CIC entrepreneur ? Collect marketing materials from CIC entrepreneur ? Collect Signboard from CIC 3. Adjacent CIC Survey: Following steps are done ? Identify CIC/ telecenter Close to one another ? Collect data according to checklist ? Making decision based on collected data ? Inform entrepreneur 4. Organizing Event: It includes following tasks. ? Taking necessary budgetary approval from concern ? Determining suitable alternatives ? Do the needful to organize event ? Bill settlement with finance A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 19 5. Marketing promotional material Production delivery ? Determine Marketing Promotional material for Production ? Communicate with Brand or Creative for design related issue ? Determine Ideal Quantity for each CIC Raise PR ? Receive goods from vendor ? Ensure delivery ? Create necessary move order ? Issue work completion certificate ? Expedite bill to finance for settlement T TE EC CH HN NI IC CA AL L S SU UP PP PO OR RT T F FO OR R T TH HE E E EN NT TR RE EP PR RE EN NE EU UR RS S 1 Receiving customer complaints: here activities involved are as under ? Online tic ket system. ? E-mail ? Support Over phone ? Physical visit ? Ad hoc requirement 2. Verification of the complaints: It includes following tasks ? Contact entrepreneurs over phone to verify complain. ? Involve CTC to verify complain for network problem in required cases. ? Visit when necessary 3. Troubleshooting complain resolution: It includes following tasks ? Contact entrepreneurs over phone to verify. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 20 ? Involve CTC to verify complain for network problem. ? Visit as necessary regarding complain. 4. Escalation: It includes following tasks ? Escalated SIM related issues to activation-HLR reset.. ? Escalate Network related issue CTC through GPTTS ? Hardware issues escalated to respective vendors 5. Feedback: It includes following tasks are done ? Feedback from respective departments. ? Provide feedback to the entrepreneur. . Future follows up: At this stage following tasks ? Optimization request to concerned network department for unresolved complaints. ? Advice and support for other technological enhancement related issue for business expansion. 7. 0 FINDINGS: Positive Findings Although, till date the society is not much prepared for the services based on such advanced technolo gy and the understanding on the services are not much clear because of the existing socio-economic condition of the specially in the rural part of the country, however the overall condition of the country is moving forward may be slowly but steadily. And the long existing traditional practices are being changed. Examples are the changed practice of checking results of government exams through the internet, looking for education related information using internet, increased level of email use, seeking different government forms through internet. Off course it requires time and effort for behavioral change of people. However, the change is taking place. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 21 The other important aspect is the absence of strong competitor in the market in the areas of such services. And a large space for work exists related to service development focused to not only the rural part of the country but also for the urban part. This creates a huge opportunity for the service providers to grab the market before other competitors and remain ahead of them. Negative Findings: ? Pricing strategy The current pricing strategy is resulting disadvantage for the CICs as any potential shop can have an internet SIM and start providing internet service. This situation keeps no competitive edge for the CICs in some short term business cases. ? Lack of skill among the entrepreneurs: The average computer skill English language comprehension skill are barely minimum to support CIC operation . However GP is taking manifold program to develop entrepreneurs skill set. Practicality is human capacity development is very costly time taking matter. Sometimes people can actually visualize true benefit of ICT. ? Image crisis of the CICs: The image of CIC is not much different from a „Flexi-load shop and suffering from image crisis. ? The main reasons are inability of the CICs to introduce itself strongly as „Information shop and ? signboards/POS materials with similar color/design with other STP service providers. Sustainability: Insufficient revenue due to low entrepreneurs commitment level, sometimes experiencing Slow internet speed, Communication gap between the CIC owner and Operator, change in entrepreneur s business scope, tendency to exploit grace period, technological advancement and ? so on causes short time sustainability of some CICs. A Working Rep ort on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 22 8. 0RECOMMENDATIONS The key issue for sustainability is sufficient revenue which can be obtained through creating demand in the form of awareness building. Well designed communication should e carried out which would be understandable to the target community. Both ATL and BTL are required to generate sufficient awareness and understanding on the services. Promotional programs should be developed around the benefits of the services and success stories should be highlighted. Within the process technical terms/words should be avoided. Service bundle should be designed based on the demand and profitability and new service line should be added. Usage of existing information service i. e. contents has to be increased as well. Monthly internet charge for the CICs should be reduced compared to others providing ompetitive edge for the entrepreneurs. Educated young person with higher educational level, higher computer skill and plea sant personality should be preferred. Partner organizations should also be requested to recommend for such candidates. Sufficient speed for internet should be ensured for smooth running of the business. Skill of the entrepreneurs should ensured by providing proper training to the entrepreneurs specially in the area of identifying proper address/ source of information ability to find appropriate information from right place and deliver the service to the users with faster speed. To keep the motivation level of the entrepreneurs, increased communication should be ensured. Regular workshops and training programs can serve the purpose. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 23 Technical support should also be strengthened and appropriate method of communication should be developed for faster service. Local influential persons should be involved with this initiative as they have a strong influence and reliability within the community. And finally, image crisis of the CICs should be overcome. The CICs should be differentiated from a „Flexi-load shop . Different colors and designs from other shops can ? be used for differentiating purpose. 9. 0 CONCLUSION The internship program helped me discover a new era of ICT innovation for the latest world of art technology. Telephone internet (Mobile plus Landline) Penetration in Bangladesh is less than 30 % 3% respectively. It s a green field market for CIC (generic name Telecenter) in ? Bangladesh. Here I found that ICT can bring meaningful changes for the country people. Other landline PSTN operator can also initiate such project as social business. The business model is self sustainable. Unlike many other projects, there is no fear of shutting down the project after the expiry of project fund. Entrepreneurship is being promoted by GP in Collaboration with Public Private Partnership. There should have Clear Policy from Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission to promote this short of ICT Initiative through out the country. Technology itself can not bring changes for the community peoples lives. Moreover Capacity building is required for the person who will be using this technology to exploit the benefit from technology. Additionally some other organizations are evolving as content developer to isseminate digitized content for a fee. A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 24 REFERENCES: ? www. grameenphone. com ? www. gpcic. org ? anovatechbd. com A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 25 ANNEXURE-1 Table: CIC services Sl. Category Services 1. Agriculture 1. 1 Crop production (Seed Varieties, Irrigation e tc. ) 1. 2 Tools (Procurement, Marketing, Hiring) 1. 3 Marketing 1. 4 Pricing 1. 5 Financing (Micro credit) 1. 6 Crop Insurance 1. 7 Weather reports 1. 8 Disaster warnings 2. Animal Husbandry 2. 1 Animal Health Veterinary Services . 3 Finance Schemes 2. 4 Production (Best practices) 2. 5 Livestock development 3. Citizen Services 3. 1 Procedures 3. 2 Documentation 3. 3 Forms 3. 4 Contact Directory 3. 5 Grievances/ Redressal 3. 6 Schemes Benefits 3. 7 Birth Death Certificates 3. 8 Matrimonial 3. 9 STD, PCO, Cyber Cafe 3. 10 FAQs 4. Health 4. 1 Vaccination Schedule 4. 2 Maternity Care 4. 3 Family Planning 4. 4 Medicines 4. 5 Ambulance Services and Transportation 4. 6 Hospitals / Primary Health Centers Information 4. 7 Blood Bank 4. 8 Life Saving Drugs 4. 9 Doctor’s Database 4. 10 Appointment with doctors 4. 11 e-Diagnostics 4. 2 Material Management Systems (Medicine) 5. Education 5. 1 School/College/University 5. 2 Syllabus 5. 3 Education Results 5. 4 Education Abroad 5. 5 S chemes/Scholarships 5. 6 Counselling/FAQs 6. Land/Property 6. 1 Land Records 6. 2 Property Transfer and Registration 6. 3 Property tax 6. 4 Property Rules and Regulation 6. 5 Land Income Certificates A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 26 7 Employment 7. 1 Job Opportunity (Exchange) 7. 2 Registration 7. 3 Self employment scheme 8 Social Welfare 8. 1 Schemes and Benefits 8. 2 Directory of NGO 8. 3 Citizen Rights 9 Utility Services 9. Applications 9. 2 Outstanding bill Statements 9. 4 Bill Collection on various Utilities 10 Business 10. 1 Procedures 10. 2 Documentation 10. 3 Forms 10. 4 Schemes (Subsidy loans) 10. 5 Compliances with Rules Law (Vat etc) 10. 6 Desktop Publishing 11 Union Parishad Matters 11. 1 Birth 11. 2 Death 11. 3 Utility Connection (Water, electricity etc. ) 11. 4 Property Transfer Registration 11. 5 Tax Rules 11. 6 Tax Payments 11. 7 License and Concession 11. 8 Permits 12 Consumer Welfare 12. 1 Consumer Rights 12. 2 Consumer Co urts 12. 3 Legal Assistance 13 Environment 13. 1 Pollution Control Information/ forms 13. 2 Environment 3. 3 Grievances/Redressal 14 Tourism Transport 14. 1 Room Availability/Booking 14. 2 Booking of Long Distance Bus Tickets 14. 3 Information on Transport Routes, Sight seeing places 15 Entertainment 15. 1 Video Cable TV Total Category: 15 Total Services: 80 A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 27 ANNEXURE-2 FINANCIALS OF THE GPCIC A A. . C Co os st t o of f t th he e P Pr ro oj je ec ct t: : Sl Items Quantity Actual Cost 1 Fuel generator 1 18,000 2 Local PC 6 200,000 3 Internationally branded PC 1 42,000 4 Clone PC 6 170,000 5 Laptop 3 180,000 Printer 16 36,000 7 Scanner 16 30,000 8 UPS 8 20,000 9 Web cam (0. 3 MPx) 16 24,000 10 Web cam (1. 3 MPx) 2 10,600 11 Release fee for Solar Panel 1 0 12 Portal Development 1 25,000 13 Terminal 3 0 14 Internet switch 1 2,500 15 Clone PC 1 30,000 16 1 GB cable 1 2,000 17 UPS 5 10,000 18 Motorola C117 2 10,000 19 e-Trust antivirus 16 25,000 20 Clone PC 3 88,500 21 UPS 3 6,000 22 Digital banner 16 23,000 23 Business card 4800 8,000 24 Poster 320 13,000 25 Leaflet 4800 11,000 26 Motorola C117 2 5,580 27 Windows XP CD 3 170 28 Cosonic headphone 2 500 29 DKU 5 cable 2 1000 0 Spiral binding 15 3000 31 Spiral binding 11 200 32 Power strip 2 200 33 FDD 1. 44 MB 12 4,680 34 FDD cable 12 360 35 Headphone 19 2,800 36 USB camera cable 16 3,500 37 Power strip 10 2,300 38 Blank CD 10 300 39 Spiral binding 28 550 40 Multi Socket 14 580 41 Miscellaneous cost 3 20,000 Total cost of the CIC Project BDT 1,030,320 USD 15,152 A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 28 B: Table: Income forecast for the established CIC Income Head 1st Month / day 2nd Month / day 3rd Month / day Internet Browsing 1hrs X Tk 20 20 2hrs X Tk 20 40 3hrs X Tk 20 60 Computer Compose 5 page X Tk 10 50 10 page X Tk 10 100 15 page X Tk 10 150 Printing 5 page X Tk 5 25 7 page X Tk 5 35 10 page X Tk 5 50 Scanning 2 nos X Tk 5 10 5 nos X Tk 5 25 10 nos X Tk 5 50 Digital Photo using web cam 2 nos X Tk 20 40 2 nos X Tk 20 40 3 nos X Tk 30 90 PC Phone 10 Min X Tk 15 150 15 Min X Tk 15 225 20 Min X Tk 15 300 Information Service (Health, Agri, Education) Lump sum 20 Lump sum 50 Lump sum 70 Total Daily Sales 315 465 700 Total Monthly Sales ( 25 days) 7,875. 00 11,625. 00 17,500. 00 Total Monthly Sales from 16 Center 126,000. 00 186,000. 0 280,000. 00 Total Sales in 1st Year (per center avg. ) 194,500 Total Sales in 1st year from 16 Center 3,112,000 A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 29 C. Operating Expenditure (per month) Item of Cost 1st Month 2nd Month 3rd Month House Rent 1,000. 00 1,000. 00 1,000. 00 Electricity 800 1,000. 00 1,000. 00 Internet 600 600 600 Spare, Ink, Cartridge, etc 2,000. 00 3,000. 00 4,000. 00 Stati oneries 200 300 500 Telephone Bill 4,500. 00 5,000. 00 6,000. 00 Net-2 Phone Card cost 100 100 200 Staff Salary 2,000. 00 2,000. 00 3,000. 00 Content 500 500 1,000. 0 Travel and conveyance 500 500 700 Maintenance 0 0 500 Others 500 600 1,000. 00 Total monthly expenditure for 1 Center 8,200 9,600 13,500 Total monthly expenditure for 16 Center 131,200 153,600 216,000 Total expenditure in 1st year for 16 Centers 2,444,800 Particulars 1st Month 2nd Month 3rd Month Monthly Operating Profit from 1 Center (325. 00) 2,025. 00 4,000. 00 Monthly Operating Profit from 16 Center (5,200. 00) 32,400. 00 64,000. 00 Operating Profit in 1st Year 1,051,200. 00 A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 30 1. Name in capital letter 1. 2 Family Name 1. 3 Other Names 1. 4 Gender Put a cross (x) in the relevant box Male Female 1. 6 Date of Birth D D M M Y Y Y Y 1. 8 Nationality Photograph (Passport Size) 1. 5 Marital status Put a cross (x) in the relevant box Single Married 1. 7 Place of Birth About you Part 1 GPCIC Application Form 2008 A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 31 2. 1 Your full permanent address 2. 6 Contact details if different from above Degree Institution 2. 2 Father’s name 2. 3 Mother’s name 2. 4 How long have you lived at this address Years Months 2. 5 Contact number(s) 2. 7 E-mail address Year Result Your contact details Part 2 Your institutional education Part 3 A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 32 3. 1 Full address of proposed site/shop 3. 3 Distance of nearest internet service provider from proposed site 3. 5 Distance of nearest GP BTS 3. 7 Type of ownership of the proposed site. Self owned Rented If ‘rented’ please complete part 3. 6 3. 9 Agreement signing date. 3. 2 Location address of nearest internet service provider 3. 4 Area measurement of proposed site 3. Type of proposed shop/site 3. 8 Do you have any agreement with the shop owner? Yes No If ‘yes’ please complete part 3. 7 3. 8 3. 10 Agreement expiry date. Your professional expertise Part 4 Proposed site information Part 5 A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 33 Please put a cross (x) in the relevant boxes to show that these necessary hardware you already have Computer Scanner Webcam Headphone Digital Camera EDGE modem Printer UPS Ensure you submit all relevant documents. If you submit false document it will adversely affect your pplication. Please put a cross (x) in the relevant boxes to show that these document will be submitted with your application Passport size photograph (4 copy) attested by 1st class gadgeted officer Photocopy of all academic and professional certificates attested by proper authority. Photographs of proposed site/shop. Signed Agreement/deed in between site owner/vendor and Entrepreneur, applicable only in the cases when the site is an rental basis Attested photocopy of original title deed (sub-kabala/heba/exchange)/agreement for long-term possession (Verified with the original), applicable in all cases. Mutation Parcha along with DCR in the name site owner in respect of the site, land and building. Succession certificate (if the site owner acquires the title and possession by way of inheritance). Registered Power of Attorney (if the site is controlled, managed, supervised and possessed by the constituted lawful attorney on behalf of the actual site owner) Resolution of Governing Body including by-laws (applicable only in the cases when the site belongs to any school, college, trust, society or similar institution/organization. ) Approval for construction, plan and structural design of the site building from concerned local overnment authority Approval for commercial use of the site building from concerned local government authority, if the building is located within any residential area Holding Tax Receipt, if the site building is located within any city corporation/municipality area Copy Of recent Utility Bill Trade License of the Entrepreneur Supporting documents checklist Part 7 Business compliance documents Part 8 Hardware checklist Part 6 A Working Report on Grameen phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) 34 You must now read the declaration below and sign it. This must be signed by the applicant personally nd not by a representative or other person acting on his/her behalf. I hereby apply for owning a GPCIC. The information I have given is complete and true to the best of my knowledge. I also declare that the photograph submitted with this form is a true likeness of myself. I understand that all information provided by me will be processed for evaluation of my candidature for GPCIC entrepreneurship and I also consent the processing of information provided by me by GPCIC. Applicant’s signature Date D D M M Y Y Y Y Declaration Part 9