Telecommunications and Economic Development


Book Description




Business Models for Sustainable Telecoms Growth in Developing Economies


Book Description

A little more than 3 billion people have access to basic mobile telephony, with 48% living close to or below the poverty line. These people, the so-called ‘mass market’, lack access to basic communications technology. An ongoing issue facing communications providers is how to facilitate and promote communications access to those who live in rural areas of developing economies. The authors utilize their considerable ‘hands on’ experience of working in successful telecommunications companies in order to address the challenges of creating, facilitating and maintaining sustainable telecommunications growth in developing nations. With this focus in mind the authors present a snapshot of these countries through real life case studies. Sustainable Telecoms Growth in Developing Economies: Presents innovative and sustainable business models to address telecommunications adoption in developing countries. Identifies the inherent drivers and barriers in the mass-market adoption of mobile services in developing economies. Discusses the impact and importance of telecoms in developing nations including customer needs and Internet-based services. Highlights the current state of communications in such markets. Includes real-world case studies and interviews with telecoms CEOs from all over the world. The author team provides decision makers, professionals, and application developers in IT, telecommunications and media with a thorough understanding of the current state and future evolution of sustainable telecommunications in developing countries. The book will also be of interest to advanced students in electrical engineering and telecommunications, analysts, and consultants with an interest in growing economies.




Telecommunications


Book Description

The world economy has experienced an enormous growth the past 50 years. Yet the gap between the richest and the poorest countries has increased. There have been several attempts to explain the increased differences. Proponents of the endogenous growth theory claim that a technological revolution has created a new growth paradigm. Following the information technology revolution seen in the industrialised world in the 90s, information and communication technology has often been launched as a possible remedy for the slow or decelerating growth developing countries have faced. This paper seeks to explore the relationship between telecommunications development and economic growth by performing an econometrical analysis of 61 developing countries and 23 developed countries between 1990 and 1999. By estimating a simultaneous equation model where telecommunication infrastructure investments are endogenised into the aggregated economy and country specific fixed effects are included, simultaneous causality and spurious correlation are recognised. The results of the analysis indicate that there is a significant correlation between telecommunication and GDP growth. Overall, there seems to be larger growth effects from telecommunication development in developing countries than in developed countries, a result that contradicts earlier findings and the notion of network externalities. The report suggests that the indirect effects, i.e. the gain in productivity that other sectors experience as a result of development in the telecommunication sector, are more significant in developing countries, and this might explain the large growth effects found in these countries.




Telecommunications and Development in Africa


Book Description

This publication views Africa in a global perspective, in economic, regulatory and technological terms. Arguments are offered for ensuring that Africa keeps pace with global technology as the rest of the world is gearing towards multimedia communications and the associated productivity gains.




Telecommunications Challenges In Developing Countries


Book Description

Alternative implementation strategies are also considered, with an eye to practicality for developing countries. It concludes that the concept is feasible, and the study further provides ideas for piloting the concept in a limited number of countries."--Jacket.




Taxing Telecommunications in Developing Countries


Book Description

Developing countries apply numerous sector-specific taxes to telecommunications, whose buoyant revenues and formal enterprises provide a convenient “tax handle”. This paper explores whether there is an economic rationale for sector-specific taxes on telecommunications and, if so, what form they should take to balance the competing goals of promoting connectivity and mobilizing revenues. A survey of the literature finds that limited telecoms competition likely creates rents that could efficiently be taxed. We propose a “pecking order” of sector-specific taxes that could be levied in addition to standard income and value-added taxes, based on capturing rents and minimizing distortions. Taxes that target possible economic rents or profits are preferable, but their administrative challenges may necessitate reliance on service excises at the cost of higher consumer prices and lower connectivity. Taxes on capital inputs and consumer access, which distort production and restrict network access, should be avoided; so should tax incentives, which are not needed to attract foreign capital to tap a local market.




2006 Information and Communications for Development


Book Description

"""The report is essential reading for policy makers, government workers, and academics pursuing the goal of equitable, sustainable development across the world."" - N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor Infosys Technologies Ltd. Information and communication technology (ICT) is rapidly evolving, changing rich and poor societies alike. It has become a powerful tool for participating in the global economy and for offering new opportunities for development efforts. ICT can and should advance economic growth and reduce poverty in developing countries. It has been 20 years since the first telephone operator was privatized, a little over 10 since the World Wide Web emerged, and 5 since the telecommunications bubble burst. How have the ICT sector and its role in development evolved? What have we learned? How can we move forward? Information and Communications for Development 2006: Global Trends and Policies contains lessons from both developed and developing countries. It examines the roles of the public and private sectors, identifying the challenges and the benefits of adopting and expanding ICT use. The report assesses topics essential to building an information society, including investment, access, diffusion, and country policies and strategies. Assessing what has worked, what hasn't, and why, this report is an invaluable guide for understanding how to capture the benefits of ICT around the world."




New Communication Technologies in Developing Countries


Book Description

This volume explores how a number of developing countries -- including India, Malaysia, Columbia, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia -- are responding to the pressures of the information society. Infrastructural development, policies, and social systems are investigated, and models of information technologies and society are proposed in order to better reference the differences and similarities among the nations profiled. The authors identify the social technology perspective via the assimilation of technology in lifestyles and social systems. From this perspective, the diffusion of technologies is analyzed with a critical eye for theories of culture lag, diffusion and innovation, and technological determinism and liberalism. The social perspective is a new addition to development studies, and the reader may see how, as the global information society comes into focus, the social dimensions are more important than some theorists originally envisioned.







When Telephones Reach the Village


Book Description

The volume examines the role of telecommunications in the development process. While it seems obvious that telecommunications contribute to the efficient operation and productive growth of an economy, telecommunications may be a cause, a consequence, and a manifestation of development. There has been a growing interest among researches in examining the impact of telecommunications in both industrialized and developing societies. The purpose of this volume is to bring together the research in the field in order to make it more widely available, and to put research questions and findings within a development framework.