Cost effective rural telecommunications by means of cellular telephony

Two developments have dramatically changed the economics of local loop provision in rural areas, i.e., the rapidly declining prices of radio-based technology and the advent of digital transmission which offers "equal access." It is noted that the Pan-European cellular system known as GSM, although developed for the mobile demands of Europe, provides an ideal base from which to provide fixed subscribers a "radio drop" into the fixed network. With the prospect of switches which can combine both fixed and mobile services, GSM can provide a cost-effective solution for rural telephony in Africa