The Grameen Sanchar Sewak (GSS) scheme, kickstarted by BSNL and the Department of Posts in 2002, is ready to be regularised and go national, after a resounding triumph in West Bengal. The catalyst: Grameen Sanchar Society (Grasso), a non-governmental organisation.

GSS originally seeked to provide rural mobile services to farflung rural areas by employing rural postmen to carry the mobile phones from door-to-door. Logistical issues forced them to do a rethink and shift to Grasso, which tapped into its 7000-strong network of self-employed people to carry phones into the rural heartland.

"In Bengal’s village haats, vegetable and fish sellers are carrying the BSNL mobile phones around and letting people make calls," says Nilotpal Basu who runs the NGO.