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] 63

P

RODUCTIVITY GROWTH IS

the key factor for any country’s

economic development, and this is also one of the signif-

icant contributions of telecommunications. The

telecommunications infrastructure contributes towards the

growth of productivity in many ways; one of the most important

is enabling the sharing of information between areas and coun-

tries around the world. There is a lot of information that

countries can share with others that stimulates economic devel-

opment, like technological expertise, software development,

hardware manufacturing, educational aspects and projects,

cultural artefacts and activities such as art.

Unfolding a telecommunications infrastructure and promoting

access to this infrastructure has a range of direct effects on the

economic development of a country, from the diffusion of new

ideas to facilitation of the coordination of economic activity.

Developed countries are already experiencing these benefits

through well-established telecommunications systems and contin-

uous modernization of their telecommunications networks. On

the other hand, the developing countries have realized the impor-

tance of a modern telecommunications and information infra-

structure for achieving a high growth rate and economic

development. But existing social constraints to the ownership and

use of telecommunications technology, and the proper adoption

and utilization of rapidly changing IT, are major challenges to them.

It is imperative that developing countries make use of the infor-

mation opportunities provided by information and

communication technology (ICT) like the Internet to increase

their communication with other countries. In the least devel-

oped countries (LDCs), where the Internet and

telecommunications technologies are unavailable, it is time that

governments and the private sector made such services available

to most people. This accessibility to ICT will, in the long run,

reduce illiteracy rates, increase opportunities for employability,

and reduce poverty.

Information flow as a pillar for economic development

In any developing country, one of the prime ingredients of devel-

opment is information. Through communication via ICT, the

world is a global village where people from one country learn

about events in many other countries as soon as the news

breaks. ICT and traditional mass media such as television and

newspapers are therefore some of the most important compo-

nents of the information transfer system in international

communication.

The sharing of information through ICT, thanks to telecommu-

nications, allows countries to leapfrog stages of economic growth

by being able to modernize their production systems and increase

their competitiveness faster than in the past. Countries should

therefore build telecommunications infrastructures, as these

contribute towards socioeconomic development. In the global

information society we now live in, there is a clear direct correla-

tion between access to telecommunications and socioeconomic

development: telecommunications is no longer the consequence

of development; rather it is a necessary precondition for develop-

ment. Improved teledensity in a country, for example, and the use

of international communication by that country, will improve both

its development and its economic status.

Local payphone or shared mobile phone access experiences in

remote African villages have yielded incredible success due to the

reduction of the entry barrier to placing either local or interna-

tional calls. Belgacom International Carrier Services – as the

partner for the international leg of these calls – has indirectly

facilitated access to the world to a part of the population that was

totally isolated before.

Other examples included SMS-push delivery of the local market

prices for cereals and vegetables. Through this, the local farmers

Telecommunications and socioeconomic

development in developing countries

Belgacom International Carrier Services