TELECOMMUNICATION NEEDS AND PROVISION TO UNDERDEVELOPED BLACK AREAS IN SOUTH-AFRICA

As it did with most state-provided services, apartheid skewed the mann er in which the telecommunications infrastructure was allocated in Sou th Africa, the developed areas being well provided for and the underde veloped areas almost totally ignored. This paper examines the social a nd economic implications of access to a telephone at the household lev el in underdeveloped areas and the development implications of a telep hone network at the community level in order to develop an appropriate telecommunications technology at a regional and national level. Furth er, the authors introduce and provide feedback on their research on th eir variant of a community telephone.