State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

LIRNE Asia has this interesting article about guides for mobile phone repairs in local languages. Obviously the question came to my mind that this could be a very good social business opportunity for developing countries. Larger Urban centers usually have decent mobile service shops and technicians but the real need is probably in smaller cities and far-flung villages. Due to limited resources there is not enough training and materials. In these situations even a simple illustrated guide in local language can make a big difference. I am quite certain that this is already a group of young folks who are doing mobile phone repairs without any formal training – why not make it a bit easier?

Internet has loads of technical information about repairing, but in English. That is why guides like the above, published by Wijeya Newspapers, Sri Lanka and priced at Rs. 75 (US cents 70) are useful. Written in the local language with ample colour illustrations it provides step by step guidelines to repair mobile phones. We hope the technicians at ground level get the best use of it.

The concept is working in China as well. See this blog post.