The concepts introduced in this chapter of the continuum along which projects may be located are intended to give a mental framework for thinking about how to organize the work ahead. In some cases, one might decide that a static version of a model is the objective. In those cases, one would design a program that tries to create a permanent social enterprise model. If the local community were not yet ready to move directly to that objective, one might design a program that started out at the “social” end of the continuum and gradually moved toward being a social enterprise. In a different situation, one might conclude that the challenge was to design an intervention in which the shared access evolved naturally toward a commercial model, but had a social component that could become institutionally embedded in the concerns of the private sector. There is no “correct” model and no obvious path; the participants in each situation will have to assess their own circumstances and craft a plan that fits their conditions. In Chapter 9, the ideas and tools presented in these chapters will be presented as an integrated sequence, including techniques for business and financial planning that can help you decide what the community can afford.

4.11. Take-Aways

In Chapter 3 we talked about the need to understand local realities. Part of the local reality is level of maturity of the market for various telecommunications and related services. This chapter has taken a more detailed look at “markets” through an analysis of the two-gap model, and helped to make connections between “market zones” and organizational models. In developing a typology of zones, it is important to think in terms of markets for different services and the capacity of specific geographic areas and communities to generate sufficient demand for telecenter services.

• Organizational models exist on a continuum from purely subsidized models to purely commercial ones. Most real-world examples are hybrids that tend to fall somewhere in the middle rather than at either of the two extremes. They differ as well along other dimensions, such as the sector in which they are rooted, and the degree of social and economic development that prevails in their geographic or target population segment. In addition, there are significant variations in the extent to which telecenter initiatives view the provision of telecommunication and related services as a public good, worthy of government and donor funding, rather than as private goods to be provided through market mechanisms. These dimensions of description can be used to approximate where in a conceptual map any given organization or activity might be categorized.

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