[bgill]

They can’t afford bus fare but still want their cell phones?

[battousai]

They can’t afford bus fare but still want their cell phones?

In many developing countries cell phones are much cheaper than we get in North America, and its cheaper to throw up cell towers than land line infrastructure so that's what the majority end up using in place of traditional phones. So instead of change they were giving people air time credits to phones they already owned.