Article
Part of the problem with looking at issues of universal access is that the African context is vastly different from that of Europe or North America, but prevailing models of how to regulate telecommunications are based on the theory and experience of developed economies. Business models for wireless phones have developed in a setting where the vast majority of the population already has easy access to a fixed-line telephone. Moreover, strategies for providing universal access to telecommunications services (such as fixed-line telephones) were likewise developed in a context where only a tiny percentage of the population lacks access to a fixed line. This article examines telecom research with an African perspective.