Telecoms in the developing world: At your service

Telecoms in the developing world: At your service
The idea of “universal service” is being extended from voice to broadband: The rapid growth of India’s telecoms industry is visible not just in the subscriber numbers — over 6m Indians now sign up for a mobile phone every month — but in other ways, too. This week the government was to have announced the winners of an auction of the rights to create and run networks in remote rural areas. Around the world, such networks are often subsidised by a “universal service fund” (USF) paid for by taxes on existing telecoms services. Auctions are held, and the network operators that demand the smallest subsidies win. They must then provide a certain number of public payphones, as well as signing up subscribers.
http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8931851