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| Photo credit: ITU/Bastidas-Buch |
| Children enjoy surfing the Internet at the telecentre |
It has been more than ten years since ITU’s Area
Office for Central America began its first pilot project
to establish telecentres in this region. Since then, we
have gained vast experience in setting up these facilities,
which are now more widely known as multipurpose
community telecentres (MCT). They have
brought telephone and Internet services to remote
villages, as well as the potential for distance learning
and telemedicine.
Initially, a wide spectrum of pilot initiatives flourished
in all developing countries, but after ten years,
an evaluation of the different models revealed that
not all the telecentres have survived. The concept
of sustainability has now been widened to include
economic, technical, administrative, and political
aspects.
Achieving sustainability
Telecentres are built around the concept of a one-stop
facility where the user finds not only reliable
national and international telecommunications, but
also a basic set of such services as faxes, sending and
receiving e-mail, Internet access, document printing,
technical expertise and training. Solar energy, satellite
communications, new technologies, and a drop
in prices for setting up local area networks have enhanced
the technical viability of telecentres.
Governments embraced the concept of telecentres
and economic resources became available from
both the public and private sectors that enabled
these facilities to be established. However, the real
challenge has been to keep telecentres working on a
self-sustainable and permanent basis.
Another matter that had to be addressed was
building the capacity of local experts to operate and
maintain MCT. Training was the solution for technical
and administrative sustainability. At the same time,
groups of individuals in communities were trained to
manage their telecentres. In Honduras, rural communities
across the country were soon taking on this
management responsibility.
It was several years before it became clear that
political issues were also affecting the sustainability
of telecentres. In some cases, where a new government
was not in agreement with the social policies
of the former one, MCT were declared to be a failed
initiative. Trained administrative and technical personnel
at telecentres were replaced by newly elected
governments and all the training and experience was
lost. As a solution, it was deemed important to begin
basing telecentres on self-management by their communities,
rather than relying on government support. This was the case with the Montaña Grande
Multipurpose Community Telecentre, in the rugged
terrain of southern Honduras.
The Montaña Grande MCT
The Montaña Grande MCT was established in
2007 and from the beginning it was planned to be
managed by the rural community it serves, with no
government involvement. It uses solar energy to
power a local area network of four computers, a laser
printer, a television set, multimedia equipment,
and a telecommunication link using Wi-fi technologies
carrying both voice and data. The telecentre is
managed by a group of young villagers and provides
several services to the community, including e-mail
and Internet access for all students. The charges for
all services and the use of the facilities are affordable
for the local community, and the management group
is planning to replace the first computers using their
own resources.
Keeping the Montaña Grande MCT locally managed
since it opened has maintained its viability in the
community — and it continues to grow. As a result,
the village of Montaña Grande, located in the foothills
of a beautiful mountain, is supported in its production
of more than 30 per cent of the vegetables
consumed in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras,
while new technologies provide telecommunications
and other benefits for the community and businesses.
This MCT is a good example of how we keep
working to achieve the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals.
* This article was contributed by the ITU Central American Office.
For more information, please contact Roberto Bastidas-Buch (roberto.bastidas@itu.int).
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