D.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Promotion of ICT usage in developing countries, even under rigorous government initia- tives and policies, is a discouraging undertaking and a very di cult one. One of the many challenges government of developing countries is facing in the promotion of ICT adoption is how to incorporate a subsidy rate discount into a price model as expressed in the following sentiments: Until now, USAASA has used very little of the money in the USAF. It must justify its spending plans each year before it is given access to any of Information on how price a ects the number of users was generated by asking users on how much the spent on internet usage. The sensitivity of users was determined by asking users how many hours they spent on the internet. Analysis of the information gathered showed that there was a substantial amount of money in USAASA and ZICTA co ers which was not utilized. Furthermore users expressed desire to have their prices subsidized. In rural areas internet prices were more expensive, on comparative terms, than those in the urban areas. Analysis of data or results concerning the price and the number of users showed that there was a positive relationship between the number of users and the price of the internet service. The relationship showed that a low price attracted a lot of users, while a high price attracted few users or none at all. The mathematical analysis of the pricing model proved that at a certain subsidy discount rate and price sensitivity, the model was able to reach equilibrium while maximizing the ISP's revenue. In conclusion the price of internet services for the information \have nots" depend on the price sensitivity and the level of subsidy given by the government. the funds". \Universal access of ICT services with particular reference to rural areas is an issue that has been on the agenda of most countries in the whole world today. You are aware that while some countries are currently e ectively extending services to rural areas using various means, others have found this challenging and have ended up with unutilized funds in the banks". Subsidies, though seen as the means of promoting social and economic agendas in developing countries, can create the tragedies associated with public resources usage or something-for-nothing resources. Given a subsidy discount rate or a low price, consumers usually anticipate a net bene t derived from free resources due to subsidy. Anticipation of net a bene t from such resources may generate a damaging rush from consumers to exploit the resource, which may result in the tragedy of the commons. On the contrary, when no subsidy is given, consumers face no di erential between the perceived utility and the price of the resource creating a no social and pecuniary bene t to users, as such very few consumers or users will utilize the resource. The contribution this research develops is as follows: To show the extent of ICT usage patterns in developing countries.To determine why ICT usage in developing countries is low even under rigorous government initiatives and policies. To determine how price a ects the number of users using the internet resource. To incorporate a subsidy discount rate in a price model for unserved or rural areas of developing countries. To proposes a subsidy driven pricing framework that helps both the internet service providers and users to maximize their utilities and prevent the tragedies associated with resource use i.e. the tragedy of the commons and the tragedy of the anti- commons. To apply a non-cooperative game theoretic model to investigate the con ict between ISPs and consumers or consumers in a heterogeneous communities i.e. the infor- mation \haves" and \have-nots". We de ne utility-based decision rules for both providers and users under varying prices and subsidy requirements. We provide a decision model under a non-cooperative, incomplete-information game environment. To investigates the properties of the NE (under di erent optimization rules) and to study whether there exists an optimal solution to the game. The basic hypothesis that this research addresses is: A pricing model, with correct subsidy discount rate allows for better resource usage (preventing the tragedy of the commons and anti-commons) and makes the attainment of the objective of \ICT access for all" more likely. The methodology used for collecting statistical data was a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The purpose of research was to collect data that would later be used to propose a pricing framework for heterogeneous communities. The strategy was to use three important variables in the subsidy driven pricing model to validate the hypothesis i.e. subsidy discount rate, the relationship between price and the number of users and the sensitivity (elasticity of demand) of users towards price. Incorporation of subsidy discount rate into the pricing model was driven by the fact that institutional frameworks such as universal service and access agency of South Africa (USAASA) and the Zambia information and communications tech- nology authority (ZICTA) were sitting with unutilized universal service and access fund (USAF). Additionally, users of internet services in underserviced areas of the two countries advocated for subsidized prices towards internet provision.

In a world that is increasingly united in time and distance, I examine why the world is increasingly divided socially, economically, and digitally. Using data for 35 variables from 93 countries, I separate the countries into groups of 31 each by gross domestic product per capita. These groups of developed, lesser developed and least developed countries are used in comparative analysis. Through a review of relevant literature and tests of bivariate correlation, I select eight key variables that are significantly related to information communication technology development and to human development. For this research, adoption of the Internet in the developing world is the innovation of particular interest. Thus, for comparative purposes, I chose Internet Users per 1000 persons per country and the Human Development Index as the dependent variables upon which the independent variables are regressed. Although small in numbers among the least developed countries, I find Internet Users as the most powerful influence on human development for the poorest countries. The research focuses on key obstacles as well as variables of opportunity for Internet usage in developing countries. The greatest obstacles are in fact related to Internet availability and the cost/need ratio for infrastructure expansion. However, innovations for expanded Internet usage in developing countries are expected to show positive results for increased Internet usage, as well as for greater human development and human capital. In addition to the diffusion of innovations in terms of the Internet, the diffusion of cultures through migration is also discussed in terms of the effect on social capital and the drain on human capital from developing countries.

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished