Here is another very good article. mitpress.mit.edu
(Wideranging topics, here are some teleco snips from it.)
ACCESS TO THE DIGITAL ECONOMY:
ISSUES IN RURAL AND DEVELOPING REGIONS
Heather E. Hudson, Ph.D., J.D.
Professor and Director
Telecommunications Management and Policy Program
University of San Francisco
and
Coordinator, Evaluation and Learning Systems
Acacia Program
International Development Research Centre
2.3. Innovative Strategies for Achieving Community Access
A variety innovative strategies have been adopted to provide access at the community level. Some countries such as Chile and Mexico have mandated requirements for operators to install payphones in rural communities; South Africa has required the wireless operator, Vodaphone, to install rural payphones. Franchised payphones have been introduced in Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and other countries in order to involve entrepreneurs, even when the operator is still government-owned. Indonesia introduced Wartels (Warung Telekomunikasi), franchised call offices operated by small entrepreneurs, in 1988. By 1994, over 1500 Wartels generated over $US 60 million or $9,000 per line, about 10 times more than Telkom?s average revenue per line. In Francophone Africa, franchised telephone booths operate in Burundi, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia.
Senegal initiated four telecentres prives (TCPs) in 1992, operated by entrepreneurs who rent lines from Sonatel. By the end of 1996, there were 5416 TCPs installed, accounting for 6 percent of telephone lines in the country (about two-thirds of the TCPs were in Dakar). The average revenue of per TCP is more than 4 times that of Sonatel?s phone booths, and TCPs have created more than 1,000 jobs.
4. Understanding Demand
Telecommunications operators often underestimate rural demand if projections are based on per capita income, which is typically lower than in urban areas. It is also difficult to estimate demand for telecommunications services among people who have never had access to them. However, rural per capita expenditures on telecommunications often exceed urban levels because of the high cost of alternative forms of communication, usually involving travel, and slow and/or unreliable postal services.
4.1. Income-based Estimates of Demand
One study estimates that rural users in developing countries are able collectively to pay 1 to 1.5 percent of their gross community income for telecommunications services. The ITU uses an estimate of 5 percent of household income as an affordability threshold. To generate revenues tocover capital and operating costs, the average household income required would be $2060; for a more efficiently run network, it would be $1340. Using the higher estimate, 20 percent of households in low income countries such as Vietnam, Uganda, Kenya, Guinea Bissau and Ghana could afford a telephone; in lower middle income countries the range could be from 40 percent to 80 percent, while in upper middle income countries such as Chile and Eastern Europe, more than 80 percent of households could afford telephone service. (It should be noted that this calculation appears to assume even distribution of income throughout the society at higher income levels, which is not necessarily true.)
In many developing countries, television sets are much more prevalent than telephone lines. In industrialized countries, both TV sets and telephone lines are almost universally accessible. However, in middle income countries there are twice as many TV sets as telephone lines, and in low income countries, there are more than 5 times as many TV sets as telephone lines (see Table 3). Even in the poorest countries, there may be much more disposable income available than economic data would indicate. It appears that where television is available, a significant percentage of families will find the money to buy TV sets. These data may indicate a potential pent-up demand for other communications services.
ú Wireless Payphones: Cellular installations can be used to provide fixed public payphones. For example, new cellular operators in South Africa were required to install 30,000 wireless payphones within five years as a condition of the license. By March 1997, almost 15,000 wireless payphones had been installed. Alternatively, a cellular subscriber may resell access. Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh offer payphone service using cell phones leased from Grameen Phone, which they carry by bicycle to various neighborhoods. |
