Telecommunications - PANOS Briefing

Mon, 04/15/2002 - 00:00

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Summary

Communication Trends

Telecommunications PANOS Briefing

A critical look at telecommunication trends and their implications for the poorest countries and peoples

Strategic Importance of Telecommunication Trends

High teledensity ( number of phones per 100 people ) is now seen as a dynamo as well as an effect of wealth.
Even for the poorest, better access to modern telecoms can make a difference. For example farmers can find out for themselves how much their crops are fetching at market and bargain better.
Efficient telecoms can boost efficiency. In Ghana, up to 50% of working time in small firms is wasted by chasing up goods and services in person for want of reliable phone, telex or fax lines.
Many entrepreneurs now use mobile satellite linked or cellular phones to ‘leapfrog' delays in developing major cable networks.
There is concern that foreign investors will focus on urban areas in fast growing economies, while rural neighbourhoods and less rapidly industrialising countries lag still further behind.
The increasing liberalisation of telecommunication markets could threaten equitable access to telecommunication technology
For developing countries the new generation of wireless technology offers the opportunity to make telecommunications cheaper and more accessible to all.

Telecommunication

Selected Trend Data and Examples from the Report

75% of the world's telephones are installed in eight industrialised countries
Around 80% of the world's people have neither a phone nor regular access to one
China and India have a combined population of 2 billion people (40% of the world's population) but fewer than 2 in 100 people in these countries have phone lines – a ‘teledensity' rating of under 2
Sweden has a ‘teledensity (telephones per 100 people) rating of 68 and the USA rating is 57.
Examples of telephones per 100 people for other countries include:

Cambodia, Chad, Congo [ 0.01 + 1 per 1000 people ]

Afghanistan, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Somalia [ 0.02 = 1 per 500 people ]

Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Bangladesh [ all 0.5 or less ];

Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Pakistan [ 1.0 ]

Brazil [ 8 ]

South Africa [ 10 ]

Hungary, Yugoslavia [ 19 ]

Australia, Germany [ 50 ]
There are more mobile phones in Sao Paulo, Brazil than Paris, France.
About 80 % of Kenya's people live in places that have no phone.
In Uganda 2,000 government officials made 40,000 trips a year to handle matters that could have been handled by phone, the equivalent of 250 person years of government time.
In Zimbabwe 400,000 people are said to be waiting for a line to be installed.
A Chinese study concluded that USD 12 million invested in telecommunications would lead to an increase in a national income of US 160 million dollars over 10 years

Source:

"Telecommunications – Development and the market: The promises and the problems" PANOS Media Briefing No. 23, March 1997

Contact:

Panos Institute

info@panos.org.uk