Comparing Urban and Rural Telecenters Costs

Abstract

If deployed in both urban and rural areas, telecenters can decrease the gap in social services and economic opportunities that often exist between the two. However, establishing and operating rural telecenters is perceived to be more costly than urban ones. This paper presents a cost comparison of establishing urban and rural telecenter in Costa Rica. It shows that telecenter operations in rural areas disconnected from the power and telecommunication grids may not be significantly more expensive than those of an urban telecenter. Utilization of stand-alone communication and power systems, combined with low-power equipment can bring rural operating costs within range of those of a typical urban telecenter. The analysis is based on the Little Intelligent Communities (LINCOS) telecenter project, an initiative of the Foundation for Sustainable Development of Costa Rica.