Mobile communications has proven to be a blessing not only for business communications, but also for the empowerment of rural community.

Nokia’s (News - Alert) Ovi Life Tools, which enables information sharing related to agriculture, weather, education, entertainment and more, is a perfect example to show how communications technology can bring sudden socio-economic development in rural villages in countries like India.

As mobile penetration figure rises in rural India, Communications providers in the country are keen to implement these technologies to draw more customers from the rural sector. Of late, Reliance Communications (News - Alert), a leading communications provider based in India, has entered a partnership agreement with Nokia India for such services.

Through this deal Reliance will be able to offer its customers Nokia's Ovi Life Tools services, which cover agriculture, education and entertainment, as well as Ovi Music Unlimited services on a number of devices, including Nokia 5530, Nokia 5800, Nokia X6 16 GB, Nokia X6 8 GB and Nokia 5235, the company said.

Vrajesh Shelat, head wireless data services and alliances of Reliance Communications, said, “There has been a significant adoption of smartphones by Indian consumers in recent months. We have seen sales of smartphones on our network increase manifold. With the rollout of 3G, we see a huge opportunity in fostering a mutually beneficial business relationship to offer customers unique voice, data as well as VAS innovations with Nokia.”

V. Ramnath, Nokia India’s director, said, “To take mobility to the next level, Nokia is moving beyond products to add services like Ovi Life Tools and Ovi Music Unlimited on its devices.”

“These services have the potential to positively impact livelihoods on the one hand and provide entertainment platforms to our consumers on the other,” Ramnath added. “Our association with Reliance Communications is an important step in the direction of creating a strong ecosystem that will take these services to a larger consumer base.”

Ovi Life Tools is a range of innovative and personalized services, covering crop prices, education, health advice and entertainment at both urban and rural consumers. It is a transformational tool which has the ability to impact communities in emerging markets.

The agricultural services offered by Ovi Life Tools will make the customers reliable, tailored and informative with the cropping cycles. Nokia Life tools also offer education services and information in local languages. They also include entertainment supplement offerings.

Nokia’s Music Unlimited service gives access to the massive music library. There are two ways to download the music, one on PC and other on the registered mobile handset. Music can be transferred on the Mobile handset by downloading the music on the PC with a broadband connection. This technology thus saves on expensive GPRS data charges. The downloaded content can be legally kept for a period of three years.