When satisfying the communication needs of a country, it is necessary to understand the culture and economic preconditions. In particular it is necessary to be aware of areas where assumptions made in other parts of the world do not fit the local realities. This chapter focuses on the micro-aspects of providing telecommunication in a low-income rural area – on the conditions of the individual user, not on the more general economic or organizational aspects. I have used my own observations during visits to the Philippines between 1997 and 2000 and those of my wife, who grew up close to the barangay (Philippine village) featured in this chapter.

Main results

In the barangay, communication, even by telephone, is generally not instantaneous: it takes between a few hours and several days to get a message to someone or to get him or her to the phone. In addition, the costs of calls are almost prohibitively high.

In contrast to Europe or the USA, where people tend to use the telephone whenever possible or convenient, people in the barangay go personally or send a message as the norm, using the phone only when there is no alternative. People may travel two hours to visit someone, who turns out not to be at home, and then either go back or wait hours, in the hopeful expectation of the occupant's return.