For at least a decade, governments and non-profit organizations, often supported by bilateral aid, have experimented with tele-centers as means to extend access to computers, the Internet, and other information, and communication services to rural, and low-income urban areas of developing...

Competitive markets go a long way toward making telecommunications services available throughout the population. But governments often seek to extend access to services beyond what the private sector will provide on its own. To widen access, governments must remove obstacles that prevent the...

In August 1999 the Moroccan government awarded a second mobile telecommunications license through international tender. All bidders made commitments on quality, coverage, and tariffs that would significantly expand and improve telecommunications services. The winning bidder, Medi Telecom, paid...

In the transition from state-owned monopolies to privately led and increasingly competitive market structures in telecommunications, poor performance of regulatory agencies limits the benefits of reform. This Note proposes measures for establishing a regulatory framework that enables better...

Market-oriented reforms of infrastructure in developing countries tend to focus primarily on commercially viable services in urban areas. Nevertheless, an increasing number of countries are beginning to experiment with extending the market paradigm to infrastructure services in rural areas that...

The study documents, and reviews the Chilean experience in rural telecommunications, by focusing on the principles, practical organization, basic design, and outstanding issues for extension of a more advanced form of approach to communication, and access to information. It examines in depth the...

This paper presents the case that opening international voice communication to competition is key to reform the telecommunications sector, is sustainable in developing countries, and results in major gains to consumers, businesses, and to the economy. Over the last 20 years full competition...