Dailog's 'eZ buddy' is a supervised public phone system where an individual user is allowed to share his mobile phone with another and charge a fee for the usage of the call, or text message.

Come Hither

"The 'eZ buddies' can be approached by individuals who wish to make a call. Once the call is completed, the caller pays a specified amount to the 'buddy' based on the charge indicated on the phone via an SMS (Short Message Service or text messages).

In this way, the 'eZ buddy' acts as a mobile phone booth," explains Supun Weerasinghe, head of Dialog's corporate planning department.

The call charges are similar to Dialog pre-paid tariffs -- between three rupees to seven rupees a minute -- and the consumer is also allowed to make an international call.

The 'eZ buddy' retailer covers his cost and makes money on a bulk discount given by Dialog.

Sri Lanka has about 10,000 payphones of which more than half are in the western province.

The service, which commercially began in May, has been rolled out from the south of the country, will gradually move up to Puttalam and spread to all parts of the island, except the embattled north and east provinces that have seen some heavy fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels over the past 35-years .

Dialog said they have roped in 1,000 'eZ buddies' through their pre-paid card distribution network -- KIT eZ Reload -- in the southern province. The concept also works around creating jobs for entrepreneurs, who own the mobile phone and sell calls for a fee.

"It's taken off quite well. We have had about 300 active calls per month generating about 3,000 rupees," Weerasinghe said.

"It's not a bad start, because we are targeting a low-income segment that has limited access to telecommunication services but is willing to pay to use it."

Big Market

Dialog estimates that low income users, or those at the bottom end of the pyramid, is a market worth eight billion rupees.

"If we can do about three thousand rupees of calls each month on 10,000 buddies, we get about 30 million rupees. That's not bad," said Weerasinghe who's company has over three point five million mobile phone susbcribers.

Sales from 'eZ buddy' is probably a drop in the bucket for a bigger phone operator like Dialog, who's annual revenues exceed 30 billion rupees.

However, with call rates of 5.00 rupees per minute too expensive for many people in this country of 19.5 million people who earn less than 100 dollars a month, 'eZ buddies' may come in handy to increase the penetration of telecommunication services.

A recent study by LIRNEAsia, a regional telecom think-tank, found surprisingly high levels of telephone use among the very poor. People in Sri Lanka averaged 23 calls per month, while those in India and Pakistan averaged more than 30 and the Philippines reported 16.

The poor, the study found, made more local calls -- over 80 percent of respondents in the Philippines and Thailand, more than 70 percent in India and Pakistan and 60 percent in Sri Lanka. Local long-distance calls made up the balance, with very few respondents making international calls.

The average telephone spending among these income groups is under 10 dollars a month, the study reported. Such users in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Pakistan spend more than seven dollars each month and Indian consumers spend an average of five dollars. Those in the Philippines spend rather less, on average two dollars each month

That said, there are significant differences in how telephones are accessed. In South Asia, about 30 percent of respondents in Pakistan and Sri Lanka and 70 percent of those in India used a public telephone. In Southeast Asia, more than 70 percent and 55 percent of respondents in Thailand and the Philippines, respectively, had their own mobile phones.

While mobile phone penetration is lower in South Asia, it is still significant. Little over 20 percent of respondents in Pakistan, 18 percent in Sri Lanka and eight percent in India reported owning a mobile phone.