Iqbal Quadir, founder of GrameenPhone, and Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation, recently “squared off” in the pages of Good magazine to debate the respective merits of two very different technologies.

Quadir, as you might expect, comes out in favor of cell phones, as a technology that is spreading fast on its own because of its immediate perceived and real economic value–which will allow adults to provide better education for their children.

Negroponte, as you might expect, favors laptops, for their value in offering children a “window” on the world and a medium that encourages learning and creativity–which will make them more productive adults.

It’s hard to argue with either side, but it’s pretty clear which side is winning the debate in the marketplace. It’s not exactly Ali-Frazier, but it’s a good debate with both sides accomodating their opponent’s perspective.

Maybe the next such debate will be Smartphones v. Netbooks.

Norwegian-based Telenor ASA,  the primary shareholder in GrameenPhone in Bangladesh with operations in Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand, bought a 60% stake in India’s Unitech Wireless at the end of 2008. The deal is expected to be finalized in Q1 of 2009.

Analysts were initally quite critical of the deal, as Unitech has no network to speak of, and Telenor’s stock dipped on the announcement.  However, Unitech Wireless holds licenses for all 22 mobile regions of India–the world’s 2nd biggest market after China–which would appear to be a valuable asset even in a very competitive market. Consider that a few years ago, Telenor spent $1.9 billion to buy a license in Serbia! Coupled with Telenor’s experience and success in South and Southeast Asia, an Indian play of this magnitude makes long-term strategic sense.

Telenor says the deal is contingent on sharing infrastructure, perhaps eyeing the 30,000-50,000 cell towers of its entrenched competitors. While unstated, Telenor is likely looking to the new company Indus Towers, started by Bharti, Vodafone Essar, and Idea Cellular,  to share network assets.

Since the announcement, Telenor has indicated it will not pay shareholder dividends in 2008 or 2009, and will take out a three-year loan to pay for its investment. Telenor’s share price, which lost 64% of its value in 2008, has recovered somewhat in early 2009 trading.

M-PESA, the extremely popular mobile-banking product offered by mobile carrier Safaricom in Kenya, is being audited by the Central Bank of Kenya.  In December, a cartel of local banks attacked M-PESA as a “Ponzi” scheme and asked the government to investigate.  See the story in allAfrica.com.

M-PESA, launched by Safaricom in 2007 in conjunction with Vodafone, has gotten the attention of bankers because of its quick growth. M-PESA now has 5 million users and 5,000 outlets–compared to 3 million with bank accounts at 750 banks.

Because M-PESA is primarily aimed at the “unbanked” population, the limit on a single transfer is under $500.

Safaricom overall counts 12 million users.