Nokia to woo rural customers through new offerings

Fourteen years after it?s debut in India, Finnish company Nokia is changing from a plain vanilla devices maker to offering services relevant to the Indian market. Nokia is addressing all kind of market segments in India with the ?Ovi? store for the urban consumer to agri-services for farmers.

Says BV Natesh, head-emerging market services, Nokia India, ?Nokia Life Tools Agri services is one such offering that now will be commercially available for consumers across India in states such as AP, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.? The service was launched in Maharashtra this month.

?Agricultural services for farmers is a part of Nokia Life Tools solution and is an effort to be more connected with India and third world countries. Meant as a subscription based service, the service will initially be bundled with the Nokia 2330 model which has an in-built basic agri-pack,? Rajat Sinha, regional general manager, west, Nokia India said. The service will later to expanded to other devices. Farmers would be able to get information related to 5 mandis near their area and daily rates of 5 crops in English and Hindi through SMS, he explained.

The commercial launch comes close on the heels of a pilot study, which concluded in April 2009 in 10 districts of Maharashtra in association with Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB). ?The pilot phase not only provided us with feedback, but also information about how people were using the service as well as what they wanted to see in terms of improvements,? Natesh said. Life Tools includes agriculture, education, and entertainment services designed specially for consumers in small towns and rural areas of emerging markets. With the shipment of Nokia 2330 classic devices, the service will be available across India by the first week of July. MSAMB would provide information on commodity prices from their network of 291 local mandis. Nokia Life Tools Education service subscription is priced at Rs 30/month and the Agriculture service subscription is at Rs 60/month.