The Impact Investing Case for Telecom Companies


credit: ChinaFile

"We are so used to being almost permanently online that we don't really appreciate what we have and do not really know what to do when we're not," Joni Mitchell wrote in her 1970s song "Big Yellow Taxi."

Well, telecom companies "provided the services and products that we have gotten to regard as a basic need: connection," writesjoerd Rozing in an article for the Guardian.

And it's telecom companies that provide that basic service.

In fact, Rozing writes, telecom companies "primarily contribute to the societal transition by facilitating access to key products, services, and markets that broaden opportunities for marginalised groups and individuals to participate in cultural, political, and social spaces."

Examples include providing access to broadband Internet, mobile phones, TV, and so on, as well as "material improvement in their personal financial situation, which enhances their possibilities to participate, when people upgrade from a 3G phone to a very affordable 4G smartphone, as research from Safaricom shows."

In fact, telecom companies "represent one of the least diverse sectors to work in" in emerging markets, but in developed markets, "they are therefore more stable and predictable, as they generate most of their revenues from subscriptions."

They also tend to offer an attractive dividend Read the Entire Article


Selected Grant News Headlines

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

School Boards Discuss Bond, Budget Requests with Orange County Commissioners

"We know money is tight and we know it's tough times," says the chair of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board in North Carolina. "And everybody knows public education is under attack from...more

Top Honor For A Tuolumne County School Administrator

A high school principal in Big Oak Flat Groveland, Calif., has been named the state's principal of the year by the California Association of School Administrators. Claire Lamm, principal of Don...more

Earth Matters: Honoring a local hero: After 40 years, Hitchcock Center bids farewell to ...

Colleen Kelley is leaving her post as education director at the Hitchcock Center in Springfield, Mass., at the end of the month after 40 years with the nonprofit. In a letter to staff, she says...more

Umaine Recognizes Top Student Research and Creative Projects at 2024 Symposium

The University of Maine at Orono recently hosted its annual Student Symposium for Research and Creative Activity, where more than 1,000 student researchers, co-authors, faculty, and community...more

Reservoir Gifted Academy Opens Outdoor Classroom

"We are reimagining the ways in which our children can learn, and this new outdoor classroom is a testament to that." That's what the Reservoir Gifted Academy in Peoria, Ill., is banking on when...more

Students build winning designs at Canstructure Competition

Students in Newport News, Va., collected 4,000 cans at the annual Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads Canstructure Competition to create a three-dimensional work of art, the Virginian-Pilot...more

'Massive opportunities' to create cultural content for future leaders and Arabic society

"We don't learn much about the history of some of the greatest Arab thinkers that really changed the pathway of the world we see today," says Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi's...more

Trilogy Studios Is Building Three 'State-Of-The-Art' Virtual Production Stages in Fort Worth

If you've ever wanted to shoot a movie in the palm of your hand, you'll soon be able to do so in Fort Worth, Texas. A company called Trilogy Studios is building three virtual production stages in...more

Minnesota Women'S Press 2024 Youth Resource Guide: Jobs and Activities

It's that time of year again: time for parents to start thinking about summer camps for their kids. If you're looking for a place where your kids will have fun while learning about the world...more

Bellefonte School District Destination Imagination teams bring home gold

A Pennsylvania school district is winning rave reviews for its Destination Imagination competition, which encourages students to think outside the box. The Centre Daily Times reports three...more





Education News from...




Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight



Influencing Social Good Through Retail


When Hannah Davis   traveled to China to teach English, she noticed how Chinese workers and farmers were often sporting olive green army-style shoes. Those shoes served as her inspiration to create her own social enterprise, Bangs Shoes.