Rural telephony is the latest mantra among telecommunications service providers in countries like India, where majority of the population is concentrated in villages. With an aim to fill in the information gap in agriculture and education, Nokia announced its plans to launch Nokia Life Tools, a range of communications services targeted to non-urban consumers in emerging markets in Asia and Africa.

Nokia plans to launch Nokia Life Tools beginning in the first half of 2009 in India and expand to select countries in Asia and Africa later in 2009. The company announced it would offer the service on Nokia 2323 classic and Nokia 2330 classic in India.

“Nokia hopes to empower rural customers with the right tools to help them make informed decisions in their daily lives,” said Jawahar Kanjilal, global head of Emerging Market Services, Nokia. “Nokia Life Tools was developed to help bridge the digital divide in the emerging markets.”

“Education and English language, on the other hand, are springboards for a number of small town and rural youth to move into the employment market,” Shivakumar said. “Nokia, through services in agriculture and education, will fulfill these opportunities for the Indian population.”

The Education service of Nokia Life Tools aims to improve English language and general knowledge of the young generation in rural India. The service offered will include English language lessons, quizzes on English words and phrases, and general knowledge.

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