Suharshi Perera of the Sri Lanka Daily News reports today that Nokia Siemens Networks has introduced Village Connection, a concept "enabling village masses across the region to be connected with the rest of the world."

At a media workshop in New Delhi last Friday, Nokia Siemens' Rauno Granath said the company's aim is to reduce the total cost of owning of a mobile phone in Asia to about three dollars a month. "Rural coverage is still an unlocked potential where nearly three billion live," Granath said. "It is a great challenge to approach this market which comprises consumers with irregular income."

"[Village Connection] is based on cost-effective connectivity which seeks to link village by village," Perera writes. "A local entrepreneur works with a regional operator to offer facilities including flat rates for local calls, pre-paid and post-paid services. The entrepreneur also provides local product support, billing and invoicing to all subscribers."

More here from Moneycontrol India ... more here from Forbes ... and the press release is here.