Telephone Systems in the Third World: A Research Project

Potential users of the telephone in the Third World are often frustrated by lack of good access to the system or by its poor performance in terms of call delays. A research project has been carried out for a period of over three years addressed to the management of this ‘mess’. The field work took place in Kenya and included a major survey of telephone users in two regions. Models have been developed in the areas of regional demand and corporate policy but it is argued that these are not necessarily the major contributors to the primary goal of increased understanding. The article describes the context of the research, gives an outline of the work which has been carried out and discusses implementation. Some inferences are drawn on the usefulness of O.R. in the Third World and on research into 'messes'.