Selling Mobile in Rural Markets

Further to my post on Mobile Telephony in the Hinterland (Aug 7, 2008), I have received some interesting comments and experiences from readers, which I want to share with you all. This comment has been posted by Vivek Dwivedi, owner, Rural Connect. Here goes:

Ayushi Vodafone (at that time it was Hutch) had initiated (with me as MART's Consultant) a pilot in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh to introduce "Hutch Saathi", two years back to promote its value added services(VAS) in rural areas. The idea was that Hutch Saathis will cover two-three villages and one haat per day according to their pre decided PJP and teach villagers how to use the cell phone and how to type the messages. At a later stage, they were taught to use the mobile to know the mandi rates. The Hutch Saathis also had a daily sales targets of RCVs(recharge vouchers) and new connections. They were paid Rs 100 per new connection as commission and their average was 2-3 connections per day per hutch saathi plus margins on RCV sale.
I invite others to please share their thoughts and experiences about activations, programmes, promotions under taken in both urban and rural market.