[UgaBYTES] Rural communication: Is there still a need for telecentres now that there are mobile phones?

[Senfuka Samuel]

Dear members telecentre practioners and all those interested in ICT4D,

Here is an interesting study by APC on Mobile phones and other ICTs. I
know it will generate a lot of debate but it's a good read for you.

Best regards,

-- 
Senfuka Samuel
Program Officer
CEEWA-Uganda
P.O.Box 9063
Kampala-Uganda
Tel:+256-41-4269477/507
Fax:+256-41-4269469
Email:samuel.senfuka at ceewauganda.org
Website:www.ceewauganda.org
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/ceewa-uganda>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "APC" <webeditor at apc.org>
To: <samuel.senfuka at ceewauganda.org>
Subject: [APCNews/Text] APCNews - October 28 2008 - Year IX Issue 90
Date: Oct 28, 2008 20:34

------------APCNEWS - OCTOBER 28 2008 - YEAR IX ISSUE 90------------

————————————
APCNews - October 28 2008 - Year IX Issue 90
The news service on ICTs for social justice and sustainable development
————————————

Mobile phone towers dominate the landscape of many countries where
decent
internet access still remains a dream. The Economist is telling us that
mobile
is all that matters now and many donors have succumbed to this vision,
retreating en-masse from rural information and communication technology
development. The author of a new report commissioned by APC concludes
that "This
has left the development of ICTs in the hands of large,
highly-centralised
telecoms." This edition, APCNews looks at the rationale behind getting
internet
into rural areas via wireless and not leaving it all to mobile, and
reports back
on real-life community efforts that have been taking internet access to
parts of
Latin America ignored by large companies. We also cover a tiny new
hand-held
computer that runs for hours and hours and hours…

————————————

- NEWS -

Rural communication: Is there still a need for telecentres now that
there are
mobile phones?

MONTEVIDEO (Ian Howard for APCNews) - Following the initial rush of
information
and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) projects in rural
Africa,
many did not yield the anticipated outcomes, and interest has been dying
down.
People then began talking about "sustainable ICT" projects that would
become
self-sufficient after their initial set-up period. But with mobile
phones
gaining in popularity, popular rhetoric has begun to question the need
of ICTs
beyond the mobile phone. While mobiles have had a great impact in rural
areas, a
new study by Ian Howard, commissioned by APC, argues that the need for
telecentres and affordable internet connections exists, as such centres
cater to
rural and niche markets the way larger companies cannot.
[http://www.apc.org/en/node/7178/]

Read Howard's study
[http://www.apc.org/en/node/7237/]