From Rural Village to Global Village: Telecommunications for Development in the Information Age (Telecommunications) (Telecommunications)

193 Pages·2006·2.01 MB·English

by  Heather E. Hudson

FFRROOMM RRUURRAALL VVIILLLLAAGGEE
TTOO GGLLOOBBAALL VVIILLLLAAGGEE
Telecommunications for Development
in the Information Age
Heather E. Hudson
FROM RURAL VILLAGE
TO GLOBAL VILLAGE
Telecommunications for Development
in the Information Age
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
A Series of Volumes Edited
by Christopher H. Sterling
Selected titles include:
Borden/Harvey (cid:1) The Electronic Grapevine: Rumor, Reputation, and Reporting
in the New On-Line Environment
Cherry/Wildman/Hammond (cid:1) Making Universal Service Policy: Enhancing the
Process Through Multidisciplinary Evaluation
Gattiker (cid:1) The Internet as a Diverse Community: Cultural, Organizational, and
Political Issues
Gillett/Vogelsang (cid:1) Competition, Regulation, and Convergence: Current Trends
in Telecommunication Policy Research
Hudson (cid:1) From Rural Village to Global Village: Telecommunications for
Development in the Information Age
MacKie-Mason/Waterman (cid:1) Telephony, the Internet, and the Media: Selected
Papers From the 1997 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference
Mody/Bauer/Straubhaar (cid:1) Telecommunications Politics: Ownership and
Control of the Information Highway in Developing Countries
Noll (cid:1) Highway of Dreams: A Critical View Along the Information Superhighway
Pelton/Oslund/Marshall (cid:1) Communications Satellites: Global Change Agents
Regli (cid:1) Wireless: Strategically Liberalizing the Telecommunications Market
Sterling/Bernt/Weiss (cid:1) Shaping American Telecommunications: A History of
Technology, Policy, and Economics
FROM RURAL VILLAGE
TO GLOBAL VILLAGE
Telecommunications for Development
in the Information Age
Heather E. Hudson
University of San Francisco
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
2006 Mahwah, New Jersey London
CopyrightÓ2006byHeatherE.Hudson.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedin
anyform,byphotostat, microform,retrievalsystem,oranyother
means,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc., Publishers
10IndustrialAvenue
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www.erlbaum.com
CoverdesignbyTomaiMaridou
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Hudson,HeatherE.
Fromruralvillagetoglobalvillage:telecommunicationsfordevelopmentinthe
informationage/HeatherE.Hudson.
p. cm.—(Telecommunications)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8058-5667-6(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN0-8058-6016-9(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Ruraltelecommunication. 2.Ruraldevelopment. I.Title.
II.Telecommunications.
HE7631.H827 2006
384.3¢09173¢4—dc22 2005051238
CIP
BookspublishedbyLawrenceErlbaumAssociatesareprintedonacid-freepaper,
andtheirbindingsarechosenforstrengthanddurability.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the many people in rural and developing regions
around the world who have taught me
about the importance of communication.

Contents
Preface xi
1 The Death of Distance? 1
Information: The Development Link 2
Changing Contexts 3
The Digital Divide 5
From Rural Village to Global Village 8
2 Telecommunications and Rural Development 10
The Power of Information Sharing 10
The Benefits of Connectivity 12
Agriculture and Fisheries 13
Extending Reach: Global Markets 14
Measuring Economic Benefits 15
Social Benefits of Using ICTs 18
Characteristics of Users and “Infomediaries” 19
Gender Issues: Women as Users and Beneficiaries 21
ICTs as Complement: Necessary but Not Sufficient . . . 23
3 Applications of ICTs for Education and Training 26
Goals of Using ICTs in Education 27
Improving Classroom Instruction 28
Access to Classroom Materials 29
Access to Continuing Education and Training 30
vii
viii CONTENTS
Job Training for Youth 31
Combating Illiteracy and Other Community Problems 32
Computers for Schools 33
Distance Education 34
ICTs in Education: Findings and Issues 37
Case Study: Rankin Inlet: An Arctic Window 41
Case Study: Linking Remote University Extension Centers:
USP and UWI 41
4 Telemedicine and Telehealth: Applications of ICTs
for Health Care Delivery 45
The Context 45
Telemedicine and Telehealth 47
Targeting Priority Problems 55
The Allure of Bandwidth 56
The Institutional Context 57
Case Study: Telemedicine in Alaska 58
Case Study: HealthNet: Medical Links in Cyberspace 60
5 Digital Divides: Gaps in Connectivity 62
The Current State of Connectivity 62
From NII to GII 63
Digital Divide Initiatives 67
Bilateral Initiatives 69
Foundation and Corporate Initiatives 71
Rural Projects in Industrialized Countries 72
Critical Issues 75
Sustainability 77
Case Study: USAID’s Leland Initiative 78
Case Study: Canada’s Smart Communities 79
6 Toward Universal Access: Strategies for Bridging
Digital Divides 83
Changing Concepts of Universal Service 83
Access Versus Service 84
Universal Access: A Moving Target 86
Technological Trends 87
Discovering Demand for Communication Services 88
Rural Benchmarks Need Not Be Set Lower Than
Urban Benchmarks 91
Strategies to Extend Access 91
Funding Subsidies 93
Community Access: Telecenters 94
CONTENTS ix
Internet Access Through Schools 96
Case Study: Telecenters: Bulgaria’s PC3 Project 97
Case Study: Targeted Subsidies: The E-Rate 98
7 Technologies for Extending Connectivity 100
Technological Trends 100
The Backbone and the Last Mile 100
The Wireless Connection 101
Terrestrial Wireless Technologies 102
Satellite Technologies 104
Wireline Technologies 107
Electronic Messaging 108
Other Communication Technologies 109
Trends in Connectivity Costs 110
Technical Support for ICT Projects 113
Is the Fixed Network Facing Extinction? 114
Case Study: Technology Lessons for ICT Projects 115
8 Restructuring the Telecommunications Sector
in Developing Regions 117
The Need for Liberalization 117
The Impact of Competition 118
Investment Indicators 119
The Revenue Gap 119
Improving Telecommunications Management 121
Limiting Periods of Exclusivity 122
Extending Access Through Resale 123
Legalizing Bypass 123
Reducing Local Barriers 124
Local Franchises 124
Competitive Rural Operators 125
Innovative Pricing 125
Regulation and Policy Issues 127
9 Evaluation: Issues and Strategies 130
The Purposes of Evaluation 131
Information and the Development Process 132
The Chain of Inference 132
Short-Term Versus Long-Term Impact 133
Evaluation as Learning 134
Identifying Objectives 135
Research Design: Beyond Anecdotes 136
Testing Hypotheses: Research Design 137