Telecenters and Community Resource & Information Centres in Pakistan

279 Pages·2006·4.7 MB·English

by  Salman Ansari

Telecenters in Pakistan

Telecenters and Community Resource
and Information Centers
in
Pakistan

Report on setting up ‘Tele-centers’ in Pakistan under the USF Program.
Prepared for the World Bank

Volume I

October 17, 2006
Final Report

Salman Ansari Technology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd.
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Telecenters in Pakistan

Preface

This document is a brief study of the phenomenon of Telecenters as they have evolved in
different parts of the World and in Pakistan. Considerable useful information and case
studies are available on the Internet and I have made use of these in formulating thoughts
and referring to them as well as quoting from these sources. I have tried to clearly
acknowledge these where I have quoted from them but if there are any omissions I would
like to apologize for any oversight. Remainder of the materials is from our (SATC) own
internal documents and research

It was however necessary to create the proper context with reference to Pakistan and for
doing so, references of experiences from similar economies were studied, detailed
conversations with the people involved in this (especially in India and Sri Lanka) revealed the
challenges and pitfalls which need to be considered. A physical survey conducted in the
heartlands of the Punjab and the Frontier province, yielded excellent ground zero
information, which at times challenged preconceived notions.

Most of the time reports like this give outlines and general directions and can not be applied
directly. It was decided to take a thoroughly practical approach with reference to the
situation valid today. As such, this document also analyses different approaches to creating the
actual Telecenters and addressing challenges which will be faced. Another facet is the
involvement of prospective large size Telecenter operators and inserting their case studies
and directions.

While these would not constitute our (and I presume the World Bank’s) only
recommendations, these do come out as the best models in their respective categories.
Similar examples can then be extrapolated from these individual examples used. For example
the PSO case can be mapped by a large cellular, pharmaceutical or FMCG (Fast Moving
Consumer Goods) distribution company in opening up a chain of Telecenters where internal
usage synergies of these networks could complement social and developmental goals of their
Corporate Social Responsibility programs.

During our meetings with a whole range of organizations, we found a lot of confusion in
creating correct Business Models for these Telecenters; spreadsheets have been provided for
modeling by any user who would like to do so.

A consequent detailed Demand Analysis survey needs to be conducted to ascertain the areas
which should be addressed by the USF and how and with what services, this should be done.
A Telecenter Information Clearing House is needed right upfront to help coordinate the
activity and provide help and support to making sure that a coherent, interlinked, efficient
and consistent development can take place.

The report is structured into two volumes. The first one contains various details as
mentioned below and the second volume has details of the individual surveys. The excel
spreadsheets are given separately.

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The Volume 1 is divided into following Sections:

1. Executive Summary and Recommendations
2. Progress in the Telecenter initiatives and impact of Telecommunications growth in
Pakistan
3. Telecenters – Issues and suggested Regulatory and other interventions
4. Survey findings
5. International Experiences
6. Pakistan – the Country and Telecommunications
7. Examples of Models 1: Best practices
8. Examples of Models 2: Examples from Pakistan
9. Telecenter elements, current situation in Pakistan
10. Enabling Support structures
11. Business Models – sample calculations
12. Referencing guide

Volume 2 has details of the physical survey with pictures and forms filled out at each site

I would like to acknowledge the support of several organizations and people who provided
considerable insight and inputs to help create this document. Of these, the maximum critical
and insightful inputs came from Robert Schware and Kareem Abdel Aziz of the World
Bank, Muhammad Umer Somro for the survey and formatting of the document, Javed
Iqbal for the developmental aspects in Rural areas, Fouad Bajwa of FOSSP for his detailed
inputs into using Open Source Software in Telecenters. To all these people, I am truly
grateful.

Salman Ansari
Islamabad, October 17, 2006

[email protected]
[phone]
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Contents
Volume 1

Sections

1. Executive Summary and Recommendations……………………………… 5
2. Progress in the Telecenter initiatives and impact of Telecommunications
growth in Pakistan……………………………………………………….. 12
3. Telecenters – Issues and suggested Regulatory and other interventions…… 22
4. Survey findings…………………………………………………………… 32
5. International Experiences…………………………………………………. 54
6. Pakistan – the Country and its Telecommunications………………………. 78
7. Examples of Models 1: Best practices……………………………………… 91
8. Examples of Models 2: Examples from Pakistan………………………….. 120
9. Telecenter elements, current situation in Pakistan………………………….. 180
10. Enabling Support structures……………………………………………….. 187
11. Business Models – Sample Calculations...………….……………………… 260
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Telecenters and Community Resource and
Information Centers in Pakistan

Report on various models for setting up and sustaining different
models in Pakistan under the USF (Universal Service Fund)

Volume 1

Part 1

Executive Summary & Recommendations

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Executive Summary

The World Bank commissioned this report as a part of the USF Policy implementation
support for bringing the fruits of the telecom revolution in the rural areas. This is foreseen
to bring access to services, resources, information and access to opportunities using voice
and internet by the rural populace.

However, unlike other general purpose technology such as agriculture, energy, transport, etc.,
support for accepting ICT as a technology is needed from all stakeholders especially
government and people. Mere provision of hardware, software components does not help
the rural population to draw benefits from this technology, but a systematic and convergent
approach of policy makers, business drivers would be necessary for its use. As such the four
key players who will make the Telecenter program a success by their interactions and
ownership at all levels are:

• Community being served
• Government support in terms of Regulatory and Policy interventions and
automation and cleaning up the back end processes for e-Services
• Telecenter operators
• Telecenter support institutions including the Telecommunications, content
providers, financing institutions

It is not necessary to adopt a very high-end ICT infrastructure to support but needs an
optimized approach to select, develop and implement the technology, its components and
allow the rural citizens to use the technology as needed. Potential of ICT infrastructure use
lies in rightly identifying the need of rural citizens and their social fabric1.

To derive complete benefits from these Centers, a variety of supplementary services need to
be offered from here. These could be physical services (easy to implement like photocopies,
photos, printing) while the really useful ones (e-government services, farmer pricing and
crop information, etc) are relatively more complicated since they need third party readiness
and approvals and agreements.

Rural Support Network (RSPN) can be considered as a potential partner for outreach in
rural Pakistan. There are 13 RSPs in Pakistan, with the current coverage of about 12% of the
rural population in Pakistan and this may go up to 50% in the next few years since the
Government is considering a large project to scale up the RSP concept in Pakistan with
funding support from the World Bank, Multilateral Investment Agencies and other donors.

The clear message which has emerged is that most entities (PTA, etc) have a simple
Telecenter model (phone and internet) as an access service. The true impact comes about

1 Hiremath & Misra, MICs for rurals, www.i4donline.net, Aug 2006
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only when this becomes a resource and information center. Hence the suggested change in
titles as mentioned later in this document.

For this purpose extensive study, interviews and physical surveys were carried out. Existing
and planned initiatives by different entities were examined; suggestions and proposals were
put up. This document is the result of these activities outlines not only the process of
acquisition of data but comes out with some suggestions in the context of the environment
in Pakistan.

The contents of this report cover:

• Telecenters and Telekiosks in the Rural areas in Pakistan
• The key players involved in this activity
• The corporate entities with the highest probability of success for setting up a
large number of Telecenters
• The key resources available for making these operational
• Details of addressing the key issues of setting up Telecenters
• Templates for creating Business Plans for setting up Telecenters in the
context of Pakistan

An attempt has been made to give a:

• Detailed research and analysis of International experience
• Suggestions for Policy and regulatory interventions
• Key Issues and practical suggestions for solutions
• Some Models for fast track roll out with key partners

Practical plans

The current deployment and plans of Telecenters which could be used for the initialization
since they are quite far down the thought process and area good fit for the parameters laid
out for sustainability and scalability. Some of these are:

• Pakistan State Oils (PSO) – conversion from non-functioning kiosks to
comprehensive Telecenters in all 3500 locations
• Post Office – planning for a comprehensive rollout of Post Office related
services including e-Government, Banking, insurance, Agriculture extension
– ultimately reaching 12,000 locations across Pakistan
• Agha Khan Rural Support Program – over 200 targeted in the short term
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• KADO – Karakorum Development Authority – over 100 targeted
• AIOU - Allama Iqbal Open University. Over 350 sites across Pakistan and
planning a deployment of over 2000 in the future based on their own VSAT
connectivity.
• Telecard, Mobilink, Telenor – over 250 sites
• Entrepreneurs – individuals and franchisees several hundred

A variety of support infrastructures are emerging and should be utilized for this purpose. These include:

• Financial – NBP ‘rozgar’ scheme
• Software – Microsoft, FOSSP (Free and Open Source Software Pakistan)
• Hardware – Intel, local manufacturers
• Urdu – NU (National University) Lahore
• Service providers – Telecom
• Service providers – content and services
• Capacity building/training – FOSS, Universities, computer training institutes
and training partners like Intel

Summary recommendations

• There should be a clear definition of ‘Rural’ for the USF in general and the
Telecenter program in particular
• After the availability of voice communications at very low costs via Cellular
and WLL, it is necessary to eliminate PCO licenses as these are now
irrelevant and may cause unnecessary confusion
• Eliminate regulatory obstacles for Telecenters such that no licenses are
necessary and some form of registration and special contracts should be
sufficient condition for getting support and assistance.
• Emphasize as a policy the implementation of Broadband for rural even
before urban roll out, since competition will drive the urban markets but this
is vitally needed for services like telemedicine and video calls and
conferencing in the rural areas for achieving developmental objectives.
• Create a well thought out interconnect transfer costs for Internet and voice
communications for the Telecenters
• It is crucially important to include civil society, political and other relevant
stake holders in the decision making process for the USF users for
Telecenter projects
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• Broaden the base of the USF recipients to include those who are not
contributing telecommunications companies. This can be achieved by
creating relationships between the licensees and the Telecenters operators
where the recipient is the former. Examples of such recipients are:
o Public Services (PakPost, Railways),
o Developmental objectives (KADO, AKRSP, Provincial
Governments, PPAF, NGOs),
o CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility – (PSO, Pakistan Tobacco,
political leadership),
o Enhancement of existing services (Cellular, WLL),
o Entrepreneurs and for profit (PCOs, Kiosk owners)
Key interventions needed are:
• Creation of a National Strategy for Telecenters
• Creation of a broad stakeholder support
• Publicize the program extensively along with an education and awareness
campaign
• Set up a Telecenter Information Clearing House
• Create a training infrastructure for the Telecenter operators
• Provide assistance in implementation
Content
While the proposed e-government programs which provide service delivery to the
citizens are designed and implemented, Select the low hanging fruit - develop and use
current services. Some examples:
• NADRA payment Kiosks
• Catalyse the automation of payments of Utility bills via different payment
mechanisms
• Convert key static forms into interactive forms which can be filled out over
the internet – see the HEC initiatives
• Access to NADRA’s Verisys for CNIC validation
• Integration of the different Police department’s automation programs for
FIR, driving licence and car registration

Basic services at Telecenters,

These can be offered as a startup – the business cases are built around this concept – as
content generation catches up. Pilots of Telemedicine, Agriculture, etc exist and can be built
up once focused attention is given to these:

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• Access to phone, fax and IT equipment
• Access to email and internet
• Access to printing, typing and other PC related services
• Access to basic education
• Photocopying
• Pictures
• Telemedicine
• Farming * Free guideline, Weather forecast, Pesticide information, Livestock
healthcare, seeds information. Some of this is also being piloted on cell
phones via SMS by the private sector.

Telecenter Models

There are some clear Models (not just one) which can be mapped against the current
initiatives as well:
• Public Sector model – Post Office
• Public – Private sector model - PSO
• Private sector commercial model – Telecommunications companies setting
up and operating these
• Private sector Telecom Operator driven model
• Development NGO model – AKRSP and KADO
• Privatete entrpreneur model – Telecenters and cybercafes run by
entrepreuners

Sustainability

There are four elements of sustainability of Telecenters, not just financial as normally
assumed. These are:
• Social & Cultural: unless this fits into the scheme of things in the locations
selected, the end users would not be convinced to go beyond the basic
services of telephones and e-mails thereby defeating the broad objectives of
the program
• Financial of course being the key, especially for the time when subsidies and
policy support are withdrawn. Under these circumstances the best running
programs will wither away
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