The telecommunication infrastructure: A model for optimum voice-data coverage Manisa Pipattanasomporn * , Saifur Rahman Center for Energy and the Global Environment, Advanced Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Arlington, VA 22203, USA Received 28 October 2005; received in revised form 23 December 2005; accepted 8 January 2006 Abstract Since voice and data services can greatly enhance the quality of life of people in rural areas, the expansion of the telecommunication infra- structure is one of the most important planning activities for governments especially in developing nations. This study presents an analytical tool for policy makers to evaluate various alternatives that expand telephone and Internet services to underserved and unserved remote areas. Based on Geographic Information System (GIS) datasets of existing infrastructures, a computer model is developed to generate Telecom-and-Internet access maps of a defined region. The map presents the least-cost plan to provide telephony and Internet services to a given percentage of pop- ulation in a specified area. A remote area of Bangladesh is selected as a case study. Several scenarios are simulated in order to explore the pos- sibility of extending the reach of telecommunication services to the last-mile customers, and to evaluate pilot projects as building blocks of a nationwide infrastructure. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Policy evaluation; Telecommunications expansion; Telecommunications infrastructure; Telephone and internet access; Optimization 1. Introduction Telecommunications, along with electricity, healthcare and education, are perceived as the most important infrastructures that can significantly enhance the quality of life for rural citi- zens. In fact, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in general, and telephone and the Internet in particular, have proven to be vital for access to the variety of information, creating new opportunities for the delivery of distance learn- ing, healthcare, agricultural extension services and trade. Sev- eral studies (Rao, 2004; Rajora, 2002; Dana, 2004; Gogoi, 2004; Garg, 2004) have demonstrated that ICT is a significant factor for social and economic development in developing nations. Despite various benefits of telecommunication systems and the Internet, only one fifth of the world’s population has access to ICT. Since only a few people in remote areas can afford telephone services, service providers do not find it profitable to develop the necessary infrastructures. At the same time, na- tional governments have other higher priority projects dealing with water supply, agriculture, education and healthcare. This tends to increase the ‘‘digital divide’’ between the rural and ur- ban populations. In order to bridge the digital gap, well built and cost-effective telecommunication infrastructures with both voice and data transmission capability are required. We propose to develop an optimization tool for planners and policy makers to help them examine costs and benefits of various policy options for expanding telecom services to underserved and unserved areas. Our study is motivated by the situation encountered in Bangladesh and experience learned from its neighboring country, India. For the total population of about 137 million, Bangladesh had fewer than 0.83 million telephone connections (0.61%) and fewer than 0.30 million Internet users (0.22%) in 2004 (ITU, * Corresponding author. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineer- ing, Advanced Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Arlington, VA 22203, USA. E-mail address: mpipatta@vt.edu (M. Pipattanasomporn). 0957-1787/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jup.2006.01.002 Utilities Policy 14 (2006) 278e287 www.elsevier.com/locate/jup