Grameenphone CellBazaar nominated for Global Award

Grameenphone CellBazaar nominated for Global Award

CellBazaar, an innovative market-access service from Grameenphone Ltd., has been nominated for the 3GSMA Global Mobile Awards 2008, in the category of "Best Use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development."

The 3GSMA Global Mobile Awards - the 'Oscars' of an industry that serves a third of the world's population - represents a stage for all players in the mobile world to attract the attention of their peers and the global media.

Using Grameenphone CellBazaar, buyers and sellers are able to trade basic goods (eg, rice, fish, motorcycle, used goods) from their mobile phones, bringing the benefits of information exchange, community networking and one-to-many trading to a previously unwired rural population.
Grameenphone CellBazaar is a user-generated market, accessible via mobile phone or computers in Bangladesh. It is a low cost, pay-as-you-use service where users pay the standard SMS or GPRS charges each time the service is accessed. There are no monthly or posting fees.
With CellBazaar, the seller and buyer can use their mobile phones to check market prices, or use the information to attain favorable prices or make an informed purchase decision in the market. The value proposition is in the ability to create a many-to-many community.

Speaking on the nominations for this award, GSMA CEO Rob Conway said that "The 2008 Global Mobile Awards have once again attracted a widely diverse range of entries from all corners of the world, demonstrating the social, business and economic impact that mobile communications is having on society. I congratulate the nominees on their achievement thus far, being short-listed by our independent judging panel is no mean feat given the caliber of subject matter experts it comprises, and the quality and quantity of submissions received. We await the announcement of the winners at the Global Mobile Awards evening during the Mobile World Congress with keen interest."

The other four nominees in the same category with CellBazaar are: Grameen Foundation for Village Phone Direct; Motorola for Solar & wind powered GSM macro cellsite; Nokia Siemens Networks for Village Connection; and Safaricom for M-PESA.

The 3GSMA Global Mobile Awards 2008 will be presented at the world's largest and most successful mobile industry event, the Mobile World Congress (formerly the 3GSM World Congress) at Barcelona, Spain, from the 11-15 February 2008.

It should be mentioned that last year in February Grameenphone was presented with the 3GSMA Global Mobile Award 2007 for its HealthLine service in the category of "Best Use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development," and was awarded the "GSM in the Community Award" for its Village Phone program in February, 2000.

Information DepartmentGrameenphone Ltd.Phone: 9882990email: info@grameenphone.com