Victor Mbarika ICT Weblog

Global Diffusion of the Internet VII- Teledensity Growth Strategies for Latin America: The Case of Columbia and Ecuador

Scott McCoy & Victor Mbarika

Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 16, 2005) 26- 56.

ABSTRACT
The Internet in developing countries grew substantially in recent years. Given the large income disparities and low telephone penetration. rates in most Latin American countries, only about 4% of the region’s population can access the Internet. The International Telecommunication Union reports that teledensity (the number of telephone land-lines per 100 people) in Latin America is currently at about 10.8%. Prior research identified specific factors that hinder growth of teledensity in developing countries and specific strategies used to overcome such limitations.

Teledensity Technological Growth Strategy for Africa’s LDCs

‘Viagra’ Development Strategy or Sustainable Development Strategy?—The African Telecommunications Stakeholders Speak

By Victor W. Mbarika, Patrick R. McMullen, John Warren

Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2001

Over-dependence of African countries on the West has been reflected in various socioeconomic dimensions. Such dependence has also been reflected in the telecommunications industry of Africa’s LDCs in a bid to solve its low teledensity (number of main telephone lines per one hundred inhabitants) problems. African LDCs are greatly behind other regions of the world in utilizing information and telecommunications technologies, which in turn, has repercussions such as the great digital divide that leaves African LDCs far behind other regions of the world. Various technological-oriented obstacles account for the low levels of teledensity in these countries.

Predictors of Growth of Teledensity in Developing Countries: A Focus on Middle and Low-Income Countries.

Victor W. Mbarika, Muhammadou M.O. Kah, Philip F. Musa, Peter Meso & John Warren

The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries (2003), 12, 1, 1-16

Investments in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) have been a major issue of concern in academia and industry. How much a country should invest in its telecommunications infrastructure so as to improve their levels of teledensity is a major challenge. This research examines investments in the telecommunications sector of low and middle-income developing countries. The findings suggest that increased investment in telecommunications infrastructure without the involvement of other socio-economic factors may not improve growth of teledensity in developing countries. The study, however, suggests a positive relationship between teledensity and other variables such as GDP per capita, telecommunications staff and length of wait times to acquire and maintain telephones. Some strategies are suggested as steps to take in order to improve the teledensity levels of the countries used in this study.

Investments in Telecommunications Infrastructure Are Not the Panacea for LDCs Leapfrogging Growth of Teledensity

by Victor W. Mbarika, Terry Anthony Byrd, Jennie E. Raymond, Patrick McMullen

JMM – The International Journal on Media Management Vol. 2 – No. III/IV – 2000

One of the major prerequisites of economic integration in a modern, complex society is the development of sound infrastructure in the telecommunications sector. The establishment of a modern, reliable, and rapidly expanding telecommunications infrastructure contributes considerably to the promotion of a variety of activities of economic expansion (World Bank Telecommunications Sector Reports, 1991). Some researchers have associated the level of a countryÕs telecommunications infrastructure to teledensity. (Saunders et al, 1994; Gille, 1986). Teledensity is used to refer to the number of main telephone lines for every one hundred inhabitants. Teledensity is also used to refer to the level of a countryÕs telecommunications infrastructure. (Saunders et al, 1994; Gille, 1986).