Uninor's project Sampark to bridge mobile gender gap

company to spend $1,83,654 on an initiative that aims to increase women's access to mobile phones

Norway-based cellular operator Telenor's Indian entity Uninor, on Monday, said the company will spend about $1,83,654 over a period of seven months on an initiative that aims to increase women's access to use of mobile phones. Global cellular body GSMA will provide $70,000 for the Project Sampark. The project will be implemented in UP West, UP East and Bihar.

As part of the initiative, Uninor will launch a pair of SIM cards that will be linked to each other and recharge of one SIM would result in additional bonus minutes added to the second SIM, the company said. However, one of the SIMs has to be used by a woman, and the SIM cards will also be made available at the customer door step through women promoters.

"Realising the need to provide mobile benefits to women living in the rural areas, we have developed a product, which will be a value proposition for women subscribers who still haven't experienced the mobile services," Uninor CMO Rajeev Sethi said.

Uninor plans to sell 6,000 connections every month under the project, which was launched last month in a pilot phase in 87 villages of Aligarh district.