While believing that info-kiosks can reduce poverty, especially in rural areas, we espouse the socio-economic role of an info-kiosk in a rural community. Given the decreasing costs of wireless access equipment in general, access to rural wireless networks seems to be profitably feasible in some areas -- areas where agricultural and SME productivity, literacy and an enbling infrastructure exists.
For those areas, a multi stakeholder collaboration involving private, public and civil society institutions can start and operate small to large scale community wireless networks. Private sector Telcos can think of BOT mechanism, taking loans to build the infrastructure to later transfer to the rural entrepreneurs. While the role of public organisations would essentially be to facilitate the entrepreneurial venture availing the infrastructural, regulatory and financial facilities. Civil society institutions can be instrumental in feeding knowledge-based products into the network's services that can enhance the knowledge of rural communities. But what about those areas where the profitability seems to be a distant dream? How can we address that issue? What would be the role of government, private sector and civil society in that case? For developing countries, grant mechanisms, be it through a USO model or donor-funded model, seems to be only solution as of now. We shall really seek an answer to this issue. Can we think of giving access to info-structures like community info-kiosks as essential as giving access to primary education or healthcare? -- Atanu Garai ICT Advocacy Officer OneWorld South Asia C-2/6 Safdarjung Development Area New Delhi - 110016. T (91 11) 517-56975 F (91 11) 517-56976 E [EMAIL PROTECTED] On 11/11/04, Al Hammond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Adriana Labardini raises a very important question--how to get > infrastructure and connectivity into rural areas. She poises the > question of prices, but the real failure of old-line telcos is that they > are wedded to a subscription model--the right business model (shared > use, pre-paid in small units, local entreprenuers as resellers) would > open up service in many places. Grameen Phone's village phone model, > Vodacom's community phone shops, and others show this approach can be > very profitable, and also provide affordable service where it is needed. ..snip... ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by USAID's dot-ORG Cooperative Agreement with AED, in partnership with World Resources Institute's Digital Dividend Project, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org and http://www.digitaldividend.org provide more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html>
