Mobile Telephony in the hinterland

I have travelled across Himachal, Eastern UP, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and each time I marvel at the way mobile telephony is making further in-roads into the hinterland. Even if it's a population of only 1000 plus, the single shop within the village stocks recharge coupons or mobile accessories. The signages of Airtel, Idea, Vodafone to name a few adorn these shops. It's amazing that service providers have reached the last point of contact with the customers through these shops, which even FMCG companies have not touched so far.
These shops are grocer shops or kirana outlets, who now double up as mobile services outlets as well. In one instance, a tailor based in a small highway town along the Kalka-Shimla highway has become a mobile retailer, having converted half his shop into a mobile services outlet. And he's reaping the benefit, getting wooed by mobile services companies with freebies and margins. The sales team from companies are constantly on the lookout for such retailers who help them get an entry into such virgins markets. And as the next big battle for mobile services companies is the rural markets, expect more and more interesting marketing activities across rural India.