Wellenius, Bjorn2012-08-132012-08-132003-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/11330For 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 countries. Results have been mixed. This note proposes a guide for government policy on tele-centers conceived as private businesses - though with development functions - that are commercially sustainable beyond initial public support.CC BY 3.0 IGOTELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKSGOVERNMENT POLICYNONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONSBILATERAL AIDTELECOM SERVICE DATAACCESS TO DATA BASESACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESSIBLE SERVICESINFORMATION DISSEMINATIONCOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURERURAL SERVICES DELIVERYRURAL TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMSLOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDSURBAN POVERTYPRIVATE COMPANYCOMMERCIAL POLICY TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKSGOVERNMENT POLICYNONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONSBILATERAL AIDTELECOM SERVICE DATAACCESS TO DATA BASESACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESSIBLE SERVICESINFORMATION DISSEMINATIONCOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURERURAL SERVICES DELIVERYRURAL TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMSLOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDSURBAN POVERTYPRIVATE COMPANYCOMMERCIAL POLICYACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESS TO THE INTERNETBANDWIDTHBASICBEST PRACTICESBROADBANDBROADBAND NETWORKSBROADCASTINGBULK PROCUREMENTBUSINESS MODELBUSINESS PLANBUSINESS PLANSBUSINESS STRATEGIESBUSINESS TOOLSBUSINESSESCALL CHARGESCALLSCAPABILITIESCD-ROMCD-ROM SEARCHESCHARGINGCOMMERCIAL VIABILITYCOMMON NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURECOMMUNICATION SERVICESCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIESCOMMUNITIESCOMMUNITY TELECENTERSCOMPUTERSCONNECTING TELECENTERSCONNECTIVITYCONTENT PLATFORMSDATA TRAFFICDATA TRANSMISSIONDATA TRANSMISSION CAPABILITIESDAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIESDELIVERING SERVICESDESKTOP PUBLISHINGDISTANCE EDUCATIONELECTRICITYELECTRONIC COMMERCEENTERTAINMENTEQUIPMENTEQUITY REASONSFACSIMILEFACSIMILE LINESFAX MACHINEFAXESFINANCIAL SUPPORTFRANCHISING COMPANYGOVERNMENT POLICYHEALTH CENTERSHUMAN RESOURCESINDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONINFORMATION NETWORKSINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINNOVATIONSINSTALLATIONSINSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKINTERNATIONAL CALLSINTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE SERVICELARGE TELECENTERSLEARNINGLEASED CIRCUITSLICENSESLOCAL ADD-ONSLONG-DISTANCE CALLMAINTENANCE COSTSMANAGING TELECENTERSMARKET DEMANDMATERIALMULTIMEDIAMULTIMEDIA SERVICESMULTIMEDIA TELECENTERMULTIPURPOSE COMMUNITY TELECENTERSNAME BRANDINGNETWORK INFRASTRUCTURENETWORKSPERSONAL COMPUTERPHONE CARDSPILOT PROJECTSPORTALSPOST OFFICESPRIVATE SECTORPROCUREMENTPROGRAMSPUBLIC ACCESSPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SUPPORTPUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONSPUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKRADIORADIO BROADCASTINGRECURRENT COSTSRELIABILITYRESULTSRURAL TELEPHONESEARCHESSINGLE-COMPUTER FACILITYSOFTWARE LICENSESSOFTWARE PLATFORMSPREADSHEETSSTANDARD TELECENTERSTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETECHNICAL SUPPORTTECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICESTECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONTELECENTER OPERATORSTELECENTER PROGRAMTELECENTER PROJECTTELECENTER PROPOSALSTELECENTER REVENUETELECENTER SUSTAINABILITYTELECENTERSTELECOMMUNICATIONSTELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISERTELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPMENTTELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURETELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKTELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKSTELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICYTELEPHONETELEPHONE CALLSTELEPHONE COMPANYTELEPHONE LINESTELEPHONE NETWORKTELEPHONE SERVICETELEPHONE SHOPSTELEPHONYTELEVISIONTRAINING GUIDELINESUSERSUSESVOICE MAILWEBWORD PROCESSINGWorld Bank10.1596/11330