It was June 2009, and D Shivakumar, Vice- President and managing

director, Nokia India, pondered over the presentation on Nokia Life

Tools (NLT) by Jawahar Kanjilal, Nokias global head of Emerging
Market Ser vices (EMS). Nokia developed NLT in response to an inhouse sur vey on consumer preferences for mobile phone ser vices and
applications in emerging markets in 2008. NLT- related applications were
aimed primarily at r ural and semi-urban populations, offering
agricultural information and education and entertainment ser vices
without requiring the use of general packet radio ser vice (GPRS) or
Internet connectivity. The NLT pilot was a r unaway success, with over
70% consumer adoption and retention rates.
The key question on Shivakumars mind was this: Should Nokia India
launch the NLT ser vice based on the encouraging results of the recentlyconcluded pilot programme? Was the optimism of the EMS team
justified, given that several crucial elements of the new ser vice were still
works in progress?