Telecommunication needs and provision to underdeveloped black areas in South Africa

Abstract

As it did with most state-provided services, apartheid skewed the manner in which the telecommunications infrastructure was allocated in South Africa, the developed areas being well provided for and the underdeveloped areas almost totally ignored. This paper examines the social and economic implications of access to a telephone at the household level in underdeveloped areas and the development implications of a telephone network at the community level in order to develop an appropriate telecommunications technology at a regional and national level. Further, the authors introduce and provide feedback on their research on their variant of a community telephone.