Telecommunications and information services for the poor : toward a strategy for universal access / Juan Navas-Sabater, Andrew Dymond, Niina Juntunen.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 99-101).

1 Telecommunications, Information and Poverty Reduction 1 -- 1.1 Knowledge and Development 1 -- 1.2 Role of Information and Communications Technologies in Poverty Reduction 1 -- 1.3 The Digital Divide 3 -- 1.4 The World Bank Group's Strategic Role 4 -- 2 Overview of the Access Problem 7 -- 2.1 The Two Dimensions of the Access Problem 7 -- 2.2 The Two Access Gaps 7 -- 2.3 Basic Access Indicators 9 -- 2.4 Access to Information Technology and the Internet 13 -- 3 Technology and Market Solutions for the Access Gaps 15 -- 3.1 Technology and Cost Trends 15 -- 3.2 Retailing Innovations and Community Access Trends 18 -- 4 Policy and Regulatory Models for Improving Access 25 -- 4.2 Country Groupings Based on Liberalization and Geoeconomic Dimensions 25 -- 4.3 Policy and Regulatory Options for the Market Efficiency Gap 27 -- 4.4 Bridging the Access Gap in a Less than Liberalized Environment 28 -- 4.5 Bridging the Access Gap in a Liberalizing Environment 31 -- 4.6 Smart Subsidies and Other Financial Schemes to Promote Universal Access 33 -- 4.7 The Emerging New Breed of "Rural" Operators 38 -- 5 World Bank Group Experience to Date 41 -- 5.1 World Bank Experience 41 -- 5.2 IFC Experience 44 -- 5.3 Emerging Lessons from World Bank Group Operations 44 -- 6 Toward A Strategy for Universal Access 47 -- 6.2 Strategic Directions 48 -- 6.3 Implementation and Monitoring 56 -- Annex 1 Regulatory and Market Structure of Selected Countries 63 -- Annex 2 Universal Service / Access Approach in Selected Countries 67 -- Annex 3 Universal Access Profiles of Selected Countries 73 -- Annex 4 Methodology for Country Groupings 89 -- Annex 5 Methodology to Approximate Universal Access Costs 93.